“My wife is Vietnamese and bilingual (Vietnamese and English). I speak only English. We are teaching our son, who is presently 2 1/2 both Vietnamese and English, primarily by having my wife speak to him almost exclusively in Vietnamese and reinforcing his learning of this language through Vietnamese books and videos. This process seems to be going very well, as our son can now speak short sentences in both languages.

It is going so well, in fact, that we are giving some consideration to enrolling our son in a Spanish-language immersion preschool to take advantage of this special time in his life when acquiring language is easier. Our question is this: Do you think that giving our son the opportunity to learn a third language (Spanish) at preschool is a good idea, given that (a) neither my wife nor I speak this language and (b) our son may not interact with many Spanish speakers outside of the preschool? We are excited by the prospect of our son being multilingual, but don’t want to do anything that may degrade his acquisition of English or Vietnamese or set him back in some other way. Your thoughts on these issues would be much appreciated.”

Hi James,

What a gift for your son to have the opportunity to become trilingual! Children at your son’s age are language sponges and will acquire new languages with ease. They will develop a perfect accent and can acquire multiple languages simultaneously. Any language your son learns at this stage in his life will be learned as a first language. That means that he will learn it in the same way he learned his first languages and will be able to develop native fluency. A language learned after adolescence is believed to be stored in a different part of the brain and is learned as a second language. So the short answer is, yes, your son can learn three languages. It is actually common in many parts of the world for children to learn three or more languages. The important thing to remember is that in order to become successful in the languages you need to allow for ample exposure to each one, especially Vietnamese and Spanish.

It really doesn’t matter that you don’t speak the language. As long as he is getting plenty of exposure at school he will be able to pick it up. I know many families who do not speak Spanish and yet their children are fluent after attending a Spanish immersion program. Perhaps some parents viewing this blog can share their experience in that respect. You will, however, need to assure that he has ample Spanish opportunities during times when he is not in school, especially during the long summer months in order for his language acquisition to be successful. This could be as easy as getting some videos in Spanish and listening to songs, but the more personal interaction the better.

It takes many years to achieve the full advantages of becoming trilingual. Just sending your son to a Spanish immersion preschool will not ensure he develops the cognitive and social benefits of becoming a true trilingual. He will need to continue his education through the upper grades. Also, remember that since he is learning three languages at the same time he may make some mistakes or temporarily confuse words or grammatical structures from the different languages. Monolingual children also make mistakes but they are only learning one language. It may take him a bit longer to appear as fluent as his peers but he will soon surpass their abilities.

Some of the benefits of a multilingual education:

1)     Learning three languages will strengthen the neurological pathways responsible for language. The more children strengthen those pathways the easier it becomes to learn language. This will actually benefit his acquisition of Vietnamese and English. This strengthening also lends itself to overall intellectual growth, more flexible thinking and even greater creativity.

2)     He will likely develop a better attitude about speaking Vietnamese with mom. Hearing children who speak multiple languages will reinforce the belief that speaking in different languages is normal. He will likely hear parents speaking to their children in Spanish or English or another language.

3)     Of course the best part of giving him a trilingual education is that it will open many doors and opportunities for him. Of course, speaking another language opens up social opportunities but it also opens up job opportunities as well. The ability to speak Spanish and/or Vietnamese will be a huge asset in many careers. Ability to speak in multiple languages is believed to be a prerequisite for success in the 21st century. You will be giving your son a great advantage in that respect.

So, as far as I can see, there is really no reason not to give your son a trilingual education. I hope you will write back and let us know how things are going. We wish you much luck to you and your son.

For more information on this topic please take a look at the following websites:

• Center for Applied Linguistics

• Center for Advanced Research on Language Education (CARLA)

• Ñanduti (Foreign Language Learning Grades Pre-K-8)

Liza Sánchez – A bilingual education specialist who received her MA in Education at UC Berkeley and has spent many years teaching in both public and independent schools. She is the founder and Board Chair of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is fluent in Spanish and English, speaks conversational German and can understand quite a bit of French, Portuguese and Italian. You can read her answers here.

This week’s Ask an Expert question was sent by Katherine Chavez.

“Hello.  I am a Hispanic mother who lives in the USA. My husband and I speak Spanish at home, and I heard that teaching Spanish as a first language is convenient for my 2 year-old daughter. They said (friends of ours) that she will learn English at school. Since I am a Spanish journalist I have a passion for the language.  I am trying to teach my toddler to be very precise and broad using Spanish, but I am also afraid that this could become a problem for her development when she starts school. What is the best for her success in both languages? I do not want her to learn some kind of “spanglish.”  Thanks, and best regards.“

Hello Katherine,

Many parents share your concerns that their child’s languages will become all mixed up and turn into a hodgepodge of words that no one else can understand. But these concerns are not necessary. Children are built to learn languages and they can identify different languages with ease. From a young age they will learn to speak Spanish with their abuelita and English with their teacher at school. They may make a few mistakes as they learn to sort out the languages. Even monolingual children make mistakes when learning to speak. Bilingual and trilingual children do the same thing but are actually learning more than one language simultaneously.

The most important thing is to be sure that your child is hearing the languages they are learning mostly from fluent and native speakers who speak correctly, without an accent, and have a rich vocabulary. Your child is most likely to develop strong language skills by hearing it used by native speakers. They pick up on the vocabulary, idioms and the grammar they hear so you want to make sure they have good language role models . As a parent you want to be sure to use your strongest language for most of the communication between you and your child. That way they can learn the richness of the language you speak best. And yes, they will learn English very quickly. As I have said many times, you may realize soon that your biggest challenge is in keeping them speaking Spanish.

Best of luck to you and your bilingual child.

Sincerely,
Liza

Liza Sanchez

Liza Sánchez – A bilingual education specialist who received her MA in Education at UC Berkeley and has spent many years teaching in both public and independent schools. She is the founder ann Director of Admissions and Outreach of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is fluent in Spanish and English, speaks conversational German and can understand quite a bit of French, Portuguese and Italian. You can read her answers here.

“I’d love an opportunity to Ask an Expert. I’m trying to develop a plan for teaching my children Spanish in addition to their learning English. Spanish is my second language (my parent’s first language which I learned growing up). I plan on speaking Spanish to my little ones, but I want to read to them in English so that they can develop strong early reading skills. So I guess the method would be direct speaking in Spanish, community would be English, and reading would be English. What I’m not sure about is should I speak in Spanish while reading in English or switch to English completely?”

Dear Lisbeth,

Thanks for your question! It’s great that you are focused on helping your little ones become bilingual and reading to them is a big part of making that happen.

Given the difficulty of maintaining Spanish in an English-speaking community, I would highly recommend you read to them in Spanish, at the very least during their early years. Reading in one language and discussing what is being read in another is quite challenging and will likely sabotage your efforts of keeping your relationship in Spanish. Most importantly, the strong reading skills they develop while reading with you in Spanish will transfer to English when they start reading in English.

The best thing you can offer your children is a love of reading, an appreciation for the written word and exposure to letters, sounds, symbols and the structure of books while maintaining your home language. I wish you luck with your bilingual and biliterate children. Lucky them!

Liza Sanchez

Liza Sánchez – A bilingual education specialist who received her MA in Education at UC Berkeley and has spent many years teaching in both public and independent schools. She is the founder and Board Chair of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is fluent in Spanish and English, speaks conversational German and can understand quite a bit of French, Portuguese and Italian. 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!

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Welcome back to another Monday of Ask an Expert-our very popular weekly series where you get to have your questions answered by one of the outstanding experts on bilingual matters that have joined the SpanglishBaby panel.

We welcome any and all questions you might have regarding bilingual and cultural matters.  The experts are well-known educators, speech therapists, authors and researchers specializing in bilingualism and culture.  Learn more about them and send us your questions here.  Why would you pass up FREE expert advice?

Liza Sanchez

Answering today’s question is Liza Sánchez, founder and Board Chair of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. You can also find this mamá of four multilingual daughters blogging at Bilingual Talk.

Allison, who follows SpanglishBaby from her hometown in Canada, wrote to us about her concern:

Should I Speak in Spanish to my Child if I’m not Fluent in the Language?

“Hola,
I am an English-speaking Canadian and my husband, from Costa Rica, speaks both Spanish and English fluently. Our son is 14 months old and my husband speaks only Spanish to him and I speak mostly English to him. I do try to mix in the little Spanish that I know, as I am trying to learn the language. Our community language and the language my husband and I speak to each other in English. I am worried that I am going to confuse my son or teach him the wrong pronunciation and grammar with my broken Spanish? Is it better for me just to speak only English to our son? I am worried if I do he wont’ get enough exposure to Spanish. Thanks for your help!”

Dear Allison,

You ask a very important question and one with which I believe many parents struggle.  Should you speak to your child in Spanish even though you are not fluent in the language? You are right to be concerned that he may not get enough Spanish exposure to become fluent if he is only speaking Spanish with dad and no one else. That being said there are advantages and disadvantages to you speaking with your child only, or mostly, in Spanish.

The advantages:

• Your son will have more exposure to Spanish. Even though your grammar isn’t perfect, it is better than nothing. Trying to use what Spanish you have can help him expand his vocabulary and practice using the language. There is no need to worry about him getting confused as long as he has other exposure to fluent Spanish-speakers; dad, Plaza Sésamo, books on tape, other Spanish-speakers etc.

• Speaking in Spanish will send a strong message to your son about how important speaking Spanish is to you and your family. Children who speak languages besides English need to develop pride in being bilingual. This starts at home, where parents pass along their values. Remind him frequently how lucky he is to speak more than one language and how many adults wish they could. In fact, mom had to work really hard to learn Spanish but she sure is lucky she did.

The disadvantages:

• Time spent speaking with your child in Spanish is time not speaking to your child in English. If both of your languages are fairly equally developed it doesn’t really make a difference but your native language is English and you therefore have a much stronger connection and deeper understanding of the language. When you speak to your child in Spanish it is likely basic language, fairly simple sentences and a limited vocabulary. Your ability to communicate in English is much more advanced. You can speak using complex sentence structures and an extensive vocabulary. The language richness you can offer your child in English is significantly more advanced than what you can offer him in Spanish.

• When you speak to your child only, or mostly, in Spanish you can’t share the richness of your linguistic past. I am sure you remember many of the songs, rhymes and games you grew up with. There is so much of our culture that is tied to language. When you don’t use your native language, a bit of that culture also disappears. That is why it is so important for many immigrants to communicate with their children in their native tongue. They want to share their culture, their songs, games and traditions. You may find eventually that you are unable to share the depth of your culture with your son when you are limited by only speaking in Spanish

So what to do? Well, I am sorry to say that there is no one right answer. I can tell you my experience and how I chose to approach a similar situation. I also grew up speaking English and learned Spanish. Although my Spanish is considered fluent, I have to admit it will probably never reach the level of my English ability. When raising our four children, my husband, who is a native Spanish-speaker, and I only spoke to them in Spanish for the first few years of their lives. All of them attended bilingual schools. Once they reached kindergarten age I basically switched from using Spanish to English. This has worked quite well for my children and me. I feel that they were able to get a solid foundation in Spanish, which they continue to get in school. Now that they are older, I am happy to have the opportunity to share so many things with them in the language in which I grew up. That is who I am after all.

It won’t be easy keeping your son speaking Spanish, especially when he is not surrounded by it. My best advice is to provide as many opportunities as possible for him to hear and speak in Spanish. Read to him, show him movies, join a Spanish-language playgroup, look for Spanish-language preschools and a bilingual elementary school and read him lots of books in Spanish. Your son needs a lot of Spanish exposure in order to become bilingual, but it might not necessarily have to come from you. But if you feel, given your situation, that speaking to him in Spanish is the right thing, go right ahead. He will grow, learn and develop just fine either way.

If you like what we’re talking about you can continue the conversation and meet other SpanglishBaby friends at our Facebook page or by following us on Twitter.

Photo by Belzie

Today in the U.S. we commemorate Memorial Day by paying honor to all the great men and woman who have passed away while in military service for our country.  Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families who have loved a lost one defending us.

Every Monday we bring you our Ask an Expert series where bilingual experts from various fields take their time to answer a question you have submitted. If you’ve been thinking about sending us your question, but haven’t done so yet, go ahead and do it now. Just click here.

Liza Sanchez

We welcome back Liza Sánchez, founder and Board Chair of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. You can also find this mamá of four multilingual daughters blogging at Bilingual Talk.

My toddler only speaks Spanish.  Will she miss out in the community?

Over a month ago Liza answered a question sent in by Blanca Pedroza about her concern that her daughter was not getting enough exposure to English.  This is probably the biggest worry most parents using the mL@H method have.

Liza advised her to continue reinforcing the minority language at home because the majority one (English) will eventually come through exposure at school and such.  Blanca wrote us again because she still has doubts that her daughter will be able to participate with her English-speaking community at this young age when she’s only been exposed to Spanish.

“As I’ve mentioned in a previous question to the experts, my husband and I only speak Spanish to our children (ages 4 months and 1 1/2). My one year old can talk up a storm in Spanish.  She knows all her colors, can hold a simple dialogue with sentences and questions, and loves to learn new words. Others who only speak English would never be able to tell and they just comment that she seems “shy.”

I honestly feel she is very bright (not just because she’s my daughter) and I’m afraid that I may be doing a disservice for her socially because she is unable to communicate with others in the community who approach her in English.

Will she pick up on some English by watching educational television shows? Should I make sure she is exposed to some type of English? I know that when I asked this in my previous question to the experts I was advised to continue exposing her to as much Spanish as possible. However, my concern remains regarding her social skills that she is missing out on in the community (library, park, etc.).”

Dear Blanca,

I completely understand your concern. Many parents, including me, have had similar concerns when it comes to raising bilingual children.

There is no doubt that in order for your child to become bilingual they will have to have as much exposure as possible to the home language. However, each family’s situation is different and what works for one child may not be best for another. Even children within the same family can respond differently to the same language exposure and can have varied experiences as a result. What this all boils down to is that there is no one correct way to raise your bilingual children and unfortunately, there is no one concrete answer to your concerns.

It sounds like you are comfortable with your daughter’s Spanish language acquisition and are now more concerned about her learning English. Should she start learning English now? It isn’t necessary. She is only 1 1/2 and still has many years before kindergarten. I think you will be surprised by how much she will know by that time. I really don’t think it is necessary to provide more English language opportunities at this time but you might want to reconsider this as she gets older. Again, it all really depends on each child and the amount of exposure they are getting in each language.

Will she learn English from watching educational TV? Yes, especially shows that are designed for preschool aged children. TV counts as language exposure.

Should you allow her to enjoy community events and trips to the park? Of course. You can only control the amount of Spanish and English she hears to a certain extent but you certainly don’t want to deprive her of having fun and getting to know the people in her community.

It may seem hard to believe now but she will be speaking English before you know it. Stick with it, raising bilingual children isn’t easy but it is rewarding. Your children will thank you one day.

Please write back to SpanglishBaby and keep us updated on her, and your, progress.

Is there any additional advice or words of encouragement you can give Blanca?  She’s also asked to hear from parents like you who have had success raising bilingual children.

Do you have a question for our experts? Remember no question is too big or too simple. So, to send us your question, please click here or leave a comment below. Thank you!

Photo by Eleaf

We hope you all had a fun and relaxing Easter weekend. Camila got a hold of one too many M&M’s and now we know what a sugar-rush looks and sounds like! Nada divertido. Now back to business. Today, like every Monday, we invite an expert in bilingual issues to answer one of your questions. If you’ve never left one, go ahead and do it now by clicking here If you’d like to catch up on the advice our panel of experts has been dishing out, go here.

Liza Sanchez

We welcome back Liza Sánchez, founder and Board Chair of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is fluent in Spanish and English, speaks conversational German and can understand quite a bit of French, Portuguese and Italian. Learn more about her here.

Will My Children Learn English?

This week’s question was sent by Blanca Pedroza:

“Hello! I am so excited about this website and that I have access to asking you a question. My daughter is 20 months of age and my son is two months of age. My husband and I only speak Spanish to them and we TRY to only speak Spanish to each other as well. We only read Spanish books to her. Should I trust that she’ll pick up on English when she starts school? Is this ok? Should we be considering the OPOL (One Parent-One Language) approach so that they can also start to learn English? I’m researching about two-way immersion programs for when the time comes to enroll my young ones in Kindergarten. Is this a good choice, or should I only consider enrolling them in an all-English school?

Thank you!”

Dear Blanca:

How wonderful of you to be giving your children the gift of bilingualism! They will thank you profusely in years to come. It sounds like your children are getting plenty of Spanish exposure. This is what they will need in order to stay bilingual. You are right in your thought that they will eventually pick up English, especially in school. In fact, they may eventually only want to speak English with you. A dual-immersion program can be helpful in reinforcing the Spanish they are learning at home. Also, remember that each child and family is different and that what works for one child doesn’t necessarily work for another. Two children within the same family can respond differently to the same language exposure.

So, remember that there is no one correct method but the ultimate goal is bilingualism.  However, keeping them speaking Spanish is generally the real challenge.

Here are some things you can do to help that have worked for many other parents:

1)      Only speak to your child in Spanish. I know that sounds obvious, but there are many parents who switch to English when they are around other English-speaking people. It may feel rude but a simple explanation to the people around you can go a long way.  If you feel uncomfortable, let the person or people around you know that you only speak to your child in Spanish and you don’t mean to be rude. Some parents also start to use English when their child’s English ability gains strength. They begin to worry that their child won’t understand them so they decide to use English. Of course, that is counterproductive and decreases the amount of exposure the child is receiving in the home language.

2)      Don’t let your child speak to you in English. This can be challenging. I mean, really challenging. The trick is to not respond when your child speaks to you in English. If she asks for a cookie in English, pretend you didn’t hear her, act like you have no idea what she is saying. Don’t be worried that she might not know how to say something. She’ll find a way to let her desires be known without using English. If you start this when she is young it will become second-nature as she gets older. Eventually, speaking in Spanish at home will become the norm. But you will really have to be strict for a while to make it that way.

3)      Provide lots and lots of Spanish language opportunities for your child. Be sure your child interacts with other Spanish-speakers such as family, neighbors and friends. Your child will feel better about and be more motivated to speak in Spanish knowing that speaking Spanish is normal and that they are not the only ones who speak it, especially if they are in an English dominant community.

4)     Reinforce pride in speaking Spanish. Remind them how great it is that they can speak two languages and how important it is to speak Spanish.

5)      Get her reading and writing in Spanish. Children need to learn to read and write in a language in order to obtain a more advanced level. Children who are only exposed to daily interactions in the home language have a limited vocabulary. Books are usually written with more eloquent expressions than what we use in our daily lives and cover a much wider variety of topics. This helps to expand their vocabulary and as a result, their language ability. And don’t forget that spending time on Spanish language literacy is not taking away from their English language literacy but strengthening it. Children who are literate in Spanish and English typically have a stronger English vocabulary, are better spellers and are able to analyze the structure of English in a way that monolingual students can’t.

Best of luck with your bilingual family and write back with any other questions.

Photo by luis de bethencourt

As we announced last week, a new expert has joined the SpanglishBaby family and we couldn’t be more excited! Her name is Liza Sánchez and her area of expertise is bilingual education. She received her MA in Education at UC Berkeley and has spent many years teaching in both public and independent schools. She is the founder and Board Chair of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is fluent in Spanish and English, speaks conversational German and can understand quite a bit of French, Portuguese and Italian.

Liza Sánchez

As if all this weren’t enough, another super interesting thing about Liza is that she’s a mom to four multilingual daughters between the ages of 2 and 18. Talk about going through the stages in this journey! Here’s how Liza describes her household situation when it comes to languages: “We speak Spanish at home, English in the community and German with my mother who they see frequently. My five and seven-year old also attended a German preschool where my 2 year-old will soon go. My oldest is now learning her fifth language. She learned Spanish at home and is now studying Spanish literature in school, she attended a French-American school, studied German in high school and with my mother and is now learning Arabic. She’s one lucky kid.”

Wow! Sounds amazing and inspiring, right?

Ok, on to this week’s question and answer:

Will translating everything overwhelm and confuse my child?

This week’s question came from Marianna Coll who lives in Los Angeles with her 27-month-old girl and husband. They are both from Venezuela and use the mL@H method.

“We are the proud parents of a bilingual girl who is absorbing both cultures at a very fast rate. In occasions I find that I am the only one who can fully understand her since she switches so much back and forth from both languages.

At her toddler group, one of the teachers communicated to me that at this age she shouldn’t know as much as she does, she knows her colors really well, most in English and recognizes shapes and all the letters of the alphabet. This she does solely in English. Sometimes I repeat the word or the letter in Spanish, but I don’t want to overwhelm her. With the numbers, once she processed them in English, she started counting then in Spanish and I feel that she will do the same with the rest.

My question is: should I repeat everything in Spanish after she says it in English? Since I know that many of her friends are not near knowing the letters, I don’t want to confuse her and over-saturate her little brain that absorbs so much. Or, should I let her assimilate it on her own like she did with numbers and is starting to do with colors?

Another thing is that the school that we chose none of the teachers speak Spanish and I am OK with that because I am really happy with the school that we chose, we can give her Spanish at home, that can be our special thing, so I don’t want her to feel left out and not being able to communicate, there is a little girl in her school that her parents only spoke in Hebrew to her and she is having a really hard time understanding and participating in class.

Thanks!

Dear Marianna:

Congratulations on raising a bilingual child! As you have already experienced, it isn’t easy. In fact, it can be quite challenging to maintain your native language as your child grows. There is so much English surrounding them that it can become difficult to assure they receive adequate opportunities to use their home language. Since your child is in an English environment at school, you and your husband will need to continue to use only Spanish with her at home. It sounds like she is already speaking quite a bit of English since you are feeling the need to repeat what she says in Spanish.

It is best to avoid becoming a translator. She needs to be able to think in each language independently. In addition, you will need to encourage her to use only Spanish with you. That might mean not responding when she addresses you in English thereby forcing her to use Spanish. Don’t be worried that she might not know how to say something. She’ll find a way to let her desires be known without using English.

Your main concern seems to be about overwhelming your child and confusing her with both English and Spanish. I want to assure you that it is not possible to over-saturate her brain with too much language. Most children around the world learn 2 if not 3-4 languages simultaneously. Children have even been documented learning up to 5-6 languages simultaneously with no problem. Your daughter, at her age, is a powerful language-learning machine. Her brain is wired to take it all in. That is her job right now and it appears she is doing a very good job of it.

According to Dr. Susan Curtiss, a Professor of Linguistics at UCLA who specializes in the way children learn languages:

“…the power to learn language is so great in the young child that it doesn’t seem to matter how many languages you seem to throw their way…They can learn as many spoken languages as you can allow them to hear systematically and regularly at the same time. Children just have this capacity. Their brain is just ripe to do this…there doesn’t seem to be any detriment to…develop(ing) several languages at the same time.”

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association confirms this belief:

“Children all over the world learn more than one language without developing speech or language problems. Bilingual children develop language skills just as other children do.”

It sounds like your child is well on her way to becoming bilingual. She is lucky to have such dedicated parents who are ensuring her success. I wish you much luck!

If you want more info about bilingual education, you can also find Liza blogging about it at Bilingual Talk.

Do you have a question for our experts? Remember no question is too big or too simple. So, to send us your question, please click here or leave a comment below. Thank you!