Photo by lululemon athletica

My husband was prepping for a presentation for one of the classes he takes at the local university when I happened to ask him how he felt about speaking in front of a group of people. He said it had gotten much easier with time, but that it would be even easier if he didn’t have to do it in English. That was surprising!

I’ve always considered him just as bilingual and biliterate as I am. Both of us attended bilingual schools in our home countries and finished our high school education in the US. We are able to communicate in both languages with the same ease — or so I thought. The thing is that I totally understand where he is coming from because I feel exactly the same way, but I never really stopped to think about it. In other words, although I hate giving speeches period, I can’t deny the dread would be diminished if I can do it in Spanish.

Why? I guess at the end of the day, Spanish is my native language and although I’ve gotten past it, I’ve always been conscious that I have a Spanish accent when I speak English and that there are many words I don’t pronounce correctly. In fact, I was corrected when I said the name of this, my very own blog, in front of a group of parents recently. The worst part is that, in some cases, the difference in pronunciation is so subtle, that I can’t really tell, but native English speakers can.

Coincidentally, just last week, all this came into play in two separate occasions. The first incident was during a phone conversation with someone at a government agency. We had been talking for at least ten minutes and I just needed one more piece of information before we were done. All of a sudden, she blatantly, albeit politely, told me she could detect an accent when I spoke and asked if I’d rather talk to someone in Spanish. I proceeded to decline her incredulous offer by explaining politely that I was bilingual.

The second incident took place at my neighborhood’s craft store while I was explaining the materials I was looking for to a employee at the framing department. I think she was frustrated because they really didn’t carry one of the products I was looking for and ended up asking me if I’d rather talk to someone in Spanish. I thanked her for the offer, but declined and went on to finish the rest of my shopping…mad. I can’t remember the last time something like this happened to me — certainly not in Miami, where speaking English with a Spanish accent is “normal”. My husband couldn’t understand why I was angry, but I guess it really bothered me that TWICE in one week, someone thought I didn’t know how to speak English because I have a Spanish accent when I speak it.

Anyhow, all this got me thinking about how it’ll be for my children when they get older. Will they have an English accent when they speak Spanish? Will they ever not feel comfortable giving a class presentation in Spanish? Can I prevent that from happening?

This brings up an interesting point about second language acquisition and timing. It should be common knowledge that the younger you learn a second (or third) language, the better chances you have of speaking like a native. So besides the fact that it’s easier for children to learn a second language the younger they are, one of the most important benefits is that they’ll actually learn to speak it with a native or near-native accent. A child’s ability to hear different phonetic pronunciation is most acute before the age of three. Countless studies, including this recent one, have shown that babies and toddlers are better able to tell the difference among a wider variety of languages than older children and adults.

In her book, Raising a Bilingual Child, our own bilingualism expert, Barbara Zurer Pearson, says that “infants are very good at hearing sound contrasts from birth and are also very good at learning to ignore then from shortly after six months, if they do not continue to hear them in their surroundings.” Eventually, children learn to only make the distinctions pertinent to the languages by which they are surrounded.

In my case, for example, since I learned my second language after the first one was already in place, I had already learned to ignore any sound contrasts that were not relevant to the Spanish spoken around me. In order to learn the sound differences in English I had to “forget” the ones I already knew in Spanish and almost start from scratch.

In my children’s case; however, it seems like the opposite will be true. They are basically exposed to both English and Spanish at the same time. I can already detect, for example, that my daughter will have native accents in both languages as she already makes a distinction even with such simple things as pronouncing her name.

Photo by shonna1968

Although sometimes I long for a few minutes of silence, the reality is that I love the fact that my three-year-old daughter, Vanessa, talks non-stop. Her vocabulary in Spanish is extensive and I know it has to do with the fact that I’ve talked to her since she was in my belly.

In fact, many studies show that the amount of conversations and the variety of words that children listen to have a direct influence on the pace at which they develop language skills. Children that are exposed to both more words and uncommon words in their conversations with adults tend to develop broader vocabularies.

So, how do you do this? Expose your children to a vast variety of experiences making sure you turn them into an opportunity for them to learn:

MEAL TIME

From cooking terms to the origin of a specif dish, the chances to teach your children tons of vocabulary abound in the kitchen. Just the other day, after Vanessa finished eating ice cream with her new-found-love, cajeta, she asked me to please wipe her hands with a wet towel because she hates being sticky. So I did and we went finger by finger saying their name in Spanish a couple of times for each hand.

PLAY TIME

Some children are more prone to have a conversation if they have something concrete to talk about, such as a toy or another material thing. Vanessa makes up all kinds of stories about her plush animals and she loves to tell me all about them. I encourage her to do so by asking probing questions and making relevant comments.

TRAVEL TIME

Oh, how I love to travel! I think there’s no better way to learn than this one. When traveling with children, it’s a good idea to learn about the place you’ll be going to before the actual trip. This will probably make them more eager to get there and will make them pay better attention to their surroundings once there. We recently took a road trip about six hours southwest of Denver to a spot famed for it’s healing hot springs. A few days before the trip, I showed Vanessa the route we were going to take on a big map I have hanging in my office and we talked about what we would find there. She was fascinated before we even got there and now, a few weeks later, she still talks about the trip.

ROUTINE TIME

As you probably know by now, children crave routines and I do too because they offer great opportunities for interaction. Every afternoon, after I pick up my daughter from preschool and we’re in the car ready to go home, I ask her about her day. We have great conversations and she’s come to expect them by now. Some times she has a funny story to tell me about what happened, other times she shares a song she learned in music class, and still others she has a question about something one of her teachers said. And, as we talk about all these things, her vocabulary continues to expand.

What are some of the experiences you like to turn into learning opportunities?

Photo by koka_sexton

I was recently talking to somebody of Hispanic descent who wasn’t taught Spanish at home, but learned it later on in life. She vowed she wouldn’t follow her parents’ footsteps, but ended up doing exactly the same thing with her kids who are now elementary school-aged. “And, now it’s too late!” she lamented. I immediately reassured her that it’s never too late – that’s just a common myth. It is, however, definitely much easier the younger they are.

If you’re raising bilingual children, you’ve probably heard of the ‘critical period’ or ‘language learning window’, but what exactly does all this mean?

There is significant disagreement among language experts as to how long this period lasts and whether the ‘window’ actually closes – if at all.

“We think of a window closing and the opportunity going away forever. I don’t think that is an accurate perspective,” said Barbara Zurer Pearson, one of our own Ask an Expert contributors. “Learning a second language is easier for children under 10, and even easier for children under 5, compared to the much greater effort it takes adults.”

Many experts do agree that there seems to be an ‘optimal’ time period for learning a second language: from birth to three years. In other words, right along the period when a child is learning the first language. The time when his mind is still open and flexible. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know this describes the learning scenario of parents raising their children bilingual by using the OPOL method – which means the kids are exposed to two languages at the same time and hopefully with the same frequency and intensity.

After that, the second best time for learning a second (or third and even a fourth) language appears to be when they are between two and seven years old. (This is one of the reasons why we should all push for public schools to start foreign language education as soon as our kids enter through their doors – instead of when they get to high school.)

If your child is older than seven and you’ve been thinking about raising him bilingual, don’t think all is lost. A third period for learning a second language in childhood is before puberty, from about 10 to 13 years of age.

The main thing to remember is that it is never too late. If this is something you’ve been wanting to do, but have said to yourself that the time has passed, think again. Keep in mind, though, that it will take a lot of work from all the parts involved to change your behavior. Be consistent, but also flexible.

“You might want to call children’s early facility an opportunity we want to take advantage of.  But the window is never nailed shut,” reassured Zurer Pearson. “Given the right environment and motivation, one can learn another language at any age.”

Photo by sergis blog

While I was registering to get the H1N1 vaccine this weekend at the local high school, the lady who was taking in the forms very politely asked if I’d rather get the information in Spanish. (I guess she’d overheard us while we were making the line.) I, also very politely, answered that it didn’t matter because I was bilingual. I don’t know if, at first, she didn’t understand me because she asked the question again. So, I repeated that either language was fine since I was bilingual. Then she smiled and said: “You’re so lucky! I wish I were bilingual,” and proceeded to give me the flyer in English.

So that got me thinking… What does it actually mean to be bilingual? As with many other subjective questions, let’s begin by establishing that there’s no right or wrong definition. I mean, there’s the definition given by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: “using or able to use two languages especially with equal fluency.” But does “using” mean speaking, writing and reading? A lot of people consider themselves bilingual and they only know how to speak the language, but can’t write or read it properly.

For me, it has always come down to this: As a journalist, could I apply for a job that requires me to do research, interviews and then write a story in English and Spanish? In other words, can I write, read, understand and speak both languages well enough to succeed in the job described above? The answer is yes, not only because I believe I can do it, but because that’s basically what I’ve done since I became a journalist almost 20 years ago.

As a Latina writer who is very proud of her heritage – and I think I’ve mentioned this before – nothing would be more distressing to me than to raise children who are only able to speak my mother tongue, but can’t write it or read it. Especially the way things continue to go in this country. According to this article, bilingual Hispanics make almost 3% more money than their monolingual counterparts. Can you just imagine what the percentage will be when our children enter the workforce in 15 to 20 years?

But it’s more than that. For me, it’s a very personal thing. I can’t imagine my daughter – who I’m training to be a bookworm like her mami - reading Mario Vargas Llosa in English (kudos to those who have, but I’d be lying if I said it was the same) or my son unable to write a Christmas card to his monolingual bisabuela in Spanish.

For some reason, I tend to take for granted that, even though I was raised mostly in South America (Perú, México and Argentina), English was always a part of my life, one way or the other. Not only did I attend a bilingual British school in Perú for several years before we moved to the States, but I also lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, for an entire year when I was 10. In other words, I was exposed to English in a school setting from the time I was very little.

That is why when we moved to Miami after my fourteenth birthday, although it was definitely a culture shock for me, at least I didn’t have the added pressure of not knowing the language and having to enroll in ESL courses. As for my Spanish? My foundations were pretty strong to begin with, so I just cemented them by reading and writing as much as I could. I also used my Dad as a walking dictionary. 

Today, I feel as comfortable in English as I do in Spanish. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I prefer to read books in English. Other times, I’ll only read books in Spanish for a while. But mostly, I read other stuff in both. Magazines, newspapers, blogs. Same thing when it comes to writing. My life is definitely richer because of it.

Ojalá un día mis hijos puedan decir lo mismo.

I hope my kids can say the same one day.

So, what is your definition of bilingual? What kind of bilinguals are you raising your children to be? What kind of bilingual are you?

“Does it hurt the child’s development to emphasize more than one language? I am bilingual in both Chinese and English and my husband only speaks English. My baby goes to a daycare that speaks Chinese to him. However, since we live in CA, I wanted to expose the baby to Spanish as well, which I am proficient in but no expert. We read Spanish story books as well as Chinese ones and I speak Chinese to him when I am alone with him (since my husband only understands and speaks a little Chinese, I was worried it wasn’t fair to him to speak it all the time around the house when he’s there). We also occasionally read other language picture books for fun – like French even though I can’t be sure of the pronunciation. Is being too exposed to multiple languages weakening his grasp of Chinese? I’m not worried about English since he’ll get that at school and around our friends since everyone but my family and at daycare speaks English.”

Dear Leslie,

It’s fantastic that you are exposing your child to such a variety of languages.

In the first year of life children are learning to differentiate the sounds of language.  The earlier a child is exposed to a language, the easier it is for him to differentiate and produce the sounds of that language.  This is the same reason that adult second language learners have difficulty sounding like native speakers of their second language, even if their vocabulary and syntax are perfect.

And speaking of vocabulary and syntax, you might see that your child picks up some words in Chinese, some in English, and maybe others in Spanish but does not know the word for one thing in both or all of his languages.  It is common that 70% of the words a bilingual toddler uses are unique to one language or the other while only 30% are words used in both languages.

It is also common to see the child use the syntax, or structure, of one language in the other.  For example, Spanish word order requires a noun followed by an adjective (el zapato azul/the shoe blue), whereas English word order requires the adjective first (the blue shoe).  It is very normal for children to use rules from language when producing another when they are in the learning process.  This does not mean they have a delay or that they are confused—just that they are learning.

Keep up the multi-language immersion!

Sincerely,

Ellen Kester, Ph.D. CCC-SLP
Bilinguistics

Ellen Stubbe Kester, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Ellen Stubbe Kester, Ph.D, CCS-LLP – A bilingual (English/Spanish) speech language professional who earned her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology and her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish at The University of Texas at Austin. She has provided bilingual Spanish/English speech-language services in schools, hospitals, and early intervention settings. Her research focus is on the acquisition of semantic language skills in bilingual children, with emphasis on assessment practices for the bilingual population. She is the President of Bilinguistics, which is “dedicated to enhancing speech and language services for Spanish-English bilingual children, enabling those children to achieve their highest communicative and academic potential.” You can read her answers here.

As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or advice about this in the comments below. You can also leave your own question for the Experts here.

We invite you to visit our new sister site, SpanglishBabyFinds, where we review the coolest products made with Latino and/or bilingual kids in mind. There’s a giveaway every week!

I‘ve gotta say it:  Qué ingeniosos los de Ingenio! There.  By now you’ve learned about several of their products and you probably already agree with me.  I had a hard time choosing which products I would receive to review because my daughter is only two years old and most of their toys and games are for the 3+ gang.  Roxana figured Camila was ready to learn her opposites and that these bilingual learning cards could be a fun way to do it, with the added benefit that she could grow into it.  She was right (she tends to do that!)

This portable game has 20 Magic Motion cards that flip between the two opposite images when you tilt it a bit.  So, let’s say you’re looking at the above picture of the day/night opposites, when the card is standing normal it’s Day/Día and when you tilt it up a bit the picture turns into Night/Noche.  Yeah, you get it.  These are no ordinary flash cards.  Ingenio has ingeniously managed to make the learning of opposites and their names in two languages creatively fun!

I have to admit, though, that my girl is still at the stage of being in awe by the pictures changing and carrying around the cards by its handle on her arm while waving “¡Adios!”  We’ll get to the learning part soon enough…

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available via Amazon.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to our winner:  Tina R!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win Opposites Learning Cards simply by leaving a comment telling us why you would like to win this.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Thursday, August 27, at midnight EST.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of the giveaway of one Ingenio bilingual toy every day this week and of the many, many more finds to come.}

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Photo by allspice1

No matter which method we´re using to raise our children bilingually, we all know that once the majority language takes over their lives we ´ll be facing the true challenge to keep them motivated to speak the minority language at home and when necessary.

Today´s Ask an Expert question was sent by a mom, Sandra Salazar, who´s facing the realization that she neglected encouraging Spanish at home with her two older boys once they started refusing to speak it and is concerned the same doesn´t happen with her little one.  This is an issue I´m sure we can all identify with.  We want to applaud Sandra for knowing it´s never too late to seek advice or to motivate the use of her heritage language with her sons.

Here to answer Sandra´s question is Lori Langer de Ramirez, bilingual educator who began her career as a teacher of Spanish, French and ESL. She holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University.  If you want to learn more about Lori please click here to read her previous entries and visit her interactive website, MisCositas.

How Can I encourage my 11 and 9 year olds to speak Spanish?

“I was happy to find you guys!!. I have three boys: 11, 9 and 20 months. My 11 and 9 year olds don’t speak Spanish, they only understand it. I hate myself to have let this happen. I only spoke Spanish to my firstborn but when he entered preschool he switched to only English and I let him. Then my middle would only speak English because his brother would speak to him in English. Now that I have realized my mistake I ask them to try to talk in Spanish but, of course, they refuse.  I would love to put them in lessons but they are too expensive. I am so sad and I hope it´s not too late. Also, I don’t want to make the same mistake with my little one. Please help me!!!. Both my husband and I speak fluent Spanish. Thank you so much!!!”

HI Sandra! I totally understand your feeling guilty about your sons’ proficiency in Spanish. I often feel the same way.

Lori Langer de Ramirez, Ed.D

My husband is a native Spanish speaker and I am a native speaker of English. When my son was born we agreed to split the language duties: he would speak Spanish and I would speak English. Well… as you noticed in your own experience, it’s not that easy to maintain Spanish in an English-language environment. With strong influences like school, TV and friends speaking English, it’s easy to let Spanish lapse. At this point, our son understands Spanish perfectly, but his production is not nearly as strong as it is in English. What to do?

I would recommend that both you and your husband simply speak Spanish to all your boys – no matter what. The family language can be Spanish, even if the boys respond in English. Little by little, try introducing fun videos or TV in Spanish to the boys. If at all possible, try to spend a summer in a Spanish-speaking country (this is reported to do wonders for kids!). Praise your boys at any attempt to use their Spanish. Don’t be discouraged, it’s not too late!

In lieu of lessons, you can go online for fun activities and websites dedicated to language learning. For the 9 and 11 year-olds, try:

• Mexico Para Niños

• Las Tres Mellizas

• Kokone

• BrainPOP en espanol

• GoGoLingo

For the little one, just keep it up with Spanish, read to him, etc. Again, don’t be discouraged, it’s not too late! Buena suerte!

We invite you to click on the Ask an Expert tab in the navigation menu to meet the panel, learn more about their areas of expertise and to send us your question.

Do you have any thoughts or words of advice for Sandra?  They’re always welcomed!

Photo by cesarastudillo

Our weekly Ask an Expert series continues to grow into a treasure cove of information and advice concerning bilingual families. The experts in the panel all shine in their own right; amongst them is bilingual English/Spanish speech language professional, Ellen Stubbe Kester, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, who recently debunked three common myths about speech development in bilingual children. Now, we are excited to announce that Dr. Kester has joined the impressive panel of bilingual experts that collaborate in our weekly series-Ask an Expert.

We invite you to visit Dr. Kester’s website, Bilinguistics, to learn more about her and her team.

They are “dedicated to enhancing speech and language services for Spanish-English bilingual children, enabling those children to achieve their highest communicative and academic potential.”

Click here to send her your questions regarding speech development in bilingual children.

Should I start teaching my son how to read in Spanish?

A couple of weeks ago author and celebrated researcher Barbara Zurer Pearson answered the question: “When should my child learn to read in a second language?”
Today’s question, sent by Claudia Hadad, digs in deeper into the issue of teaching young bilinguals to read in the minority language.

“We use both English and Spanish at home but our native language is Spanish. My son is 5 and already reads in English. Should I start teaching him how to read in Spanish? Would he be confused with the fact that we use the same alphabet but the sounds are different.”

Hi Claudia,

Ellen Stubbe Kester, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Children are just as capable of becoming bi-literate as they are of becoming bilingual. Dual language learning does not confuse children. Will your child make mistakes in the process of learning to read in two languages? Yes. Just as monolingual, mono-literate children make mistakes when learning to read, bilinguals will as well. Many of the mistakes bilinguals make in development may be the result of influence from the other language but this is part of the learning process. Some people call that “confused” but with feedback, bilingual children learn to correct those errors, just as monolingual children learn to correct their errors with feedback. Children quickly learn to to use both systems. Recent research also suggests that the earlier a child learns two languages, the better off he will be for dual language reading development .

If your son is already reading in English, he should have a relatively easy time learning to read in Spanish. Spanish is considered a “transparent” language because of its mostly one-to-one letter-to-sound correspondence, while English is considered an “opaque” language because there is often more than one sound associated with a letter. Transparent languages are generally easier to learn because their rules are more consistent than opaque languages. Additionally, the orthographies of English and Spanish are very similar, making it easier for children to transfer knowledge from one language to the other.

For a lot of detail on the differences in the orthographies and sound systems of English and Spanish, please see Gorman & Kester (2004) at the following link:
http://bilinguistics.com/education/abad_0701/abad_0701.pdf

Happy reading!

Ellen Kester, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

The following review was written by Silvia, mom of two bilingual sons ages 5 years and 18 months. You can catch up with Silvia blogging at: Mamá Latina Tips.

The Bilingual Fun Company was created with the purpose of exposing young children to the Spanish language. Mark and Jennifer Manriquez use their knowledge and experience both as educators and as bilingual parents to create these videos with music, chants, movement and basic activities that make learning Spanish fun.

My children enjoyed watching the videos; my 5 year old sat focused while my 18 month old couldn’t stop dancing to the music.

Spanish for Children Volume 1 covers “Los Colores (Colors),” “Los Números (Numbers),” and “Los Animales (Animals)”.

Spanish for Children Volume 2 covers “Los Saludos (Greetings),” “El Cuerpo (The Body),” “La Comida (Food),” plus a practice quiz.

Both videos are for children 1-10 years of age and come with vocabulary and lyrics to follow along.

The videos are designed so that each chapter has at least one group activity, one song, pictures and subtitles. Repetition is key to learning a language and the videos use this tool very well, changing locations and objects to reinforce the words. I also like that you can watch all chapters together or you can choose just one (this comes in handy when you have a child who loves one and wants to watch it over and over again).

My 5 year old, who is bilingual, knew pretty much every word, and still he was very focused on the video, he danced and sang and participated with the activities. He just started reading in Spanish and reading the subtitles gave him a lot of pleasure, too. My 18 month old enjoyed the music, he clapped and danced with it, and while he is still too young to focus for the duration of the video, he perked up when the children appeared, especially during the songs.

The singing was fun, not always completely in tune to be honest, but this just gives it an authentic charm. Children love to sing and dance and the videos have plenty of that. A couple of the songs I remember singing myself as a child in Mexico, so it was fun to hear them again and to be able to share them with my own children.

I wish they had used “Por Favor and Gracias” a little more. However, overall, I think these videos would be great for both parents who speak English only and want to introduce Spanish to their children, and for Spanish-speaking, bilingual parents or OPOL families who want to have something fun for the kids to watch while reinforcing Spanish language learning. Your kids will love them and you will love listening to their Spanish grow.

Jennifer Marquez, or Maestra Jen, a fellow mamá bloguera and owner of Bilingual Fun is giving one of our readers the two DVDs in the award-winning Spanish for Children series.

To enter to WIN:

All you have to do for your chance to win is head over to the Bilingual Fun website and then come back here and tell us one thing you learned about teaching Spanish to your children. That´s it!

If you want to increase your chances of winning you can get additional entries by doing any of the following.  If you did any of these for yesterday´s giveaway then it will count for today as well;  just let us know in the comments:

1.  Blog and/or tweet about this giveaway or about our whole week of Bilingual Summer Fun giveaways. Please leave an additional comment with the link.

2. Subscribe to our feed via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with. And please do verify the subscription once you receive the email to do so. We will check in order to validate the entry.

3. Subscribe via RSS. Once you do, or if you’re already a subscriber, email us the “Secret Phrase” at the bottom of the post to: giveaways@SpanglishBaby.com.

4.  Become a fan of our Facebook page.  Leave us another comment letting us know you did so.

This contest will close tonight at midnight PST…so don’t hesitate and enter now. It could be yours!!!

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Make sure you come back tomorrow and the rest of this week for more Bilingual Summer Fun giveaways!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcSAkZrea-g&feature=channel

I had heard of the Little Pim foreign language immersion DVD´s and had made a note to learn more about them soon.  This week I found clips of their Spanish language series on YouTube and I´m now fascinated with the quality of the videos, the cute panda and their method of immersion, repetition and relatable images to teach babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers another language.

And by “another language” I mean any of these:  Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Hebrew and English (ESL);  with seven more on the works.  Talk about language options!  Maybe I’ll try the Chinese with Camila just as an experiment.

Here’s a five minute clip from the Spanish DVD which teaches words such as manzana-leche-plátanos-comer-beber-agua.

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