parents

We moved into a new house last May. I was so excited since I knew that there were a lot of children in the neighborhood.  There were boys the same ages as my sons living on either side of us. I envisioned my children having many fun afternoons playing with the other children in the community. Unfortunately, my visions of our new life in the neighborhood never came about. Things started out well. The day that the moving truck officiallyRead More ...

It’s been almost two weeks since Bilingual is Better was released and so much has happened since then. For starters, we spent a whole week in Miami in a packed press tour and hosting an amazing book launch party. While some of the interviews we did were live — including those for CNN en Español — some of them aired last week and we’re still waiting for dates on the others, including the one we did with renowned Hispanic journalistRead More ...

I’m tired…culturally exhausted. I could speak Spanish all day, no problema. But lately, it seems like that’s not enough for me to be accepted by Spanish speakers. I can’t change my deep-seated values or my general way of being, but I am feeling pressured to do so in order to just be part of my extended family. I’ve had some minor clashes with my mother-in-law and stepdaughters recently that are making me reevaluate how I’m really seen by the LatinoRead More ...

The research I've read - and there isn't a lot out there - talks mostly about families using the OPOL method and it suggests that parents tend to be less strict about using the method once a sibling is born. Since this is not our case, I don't really know what happens in families using the mL@H method. I mean, we pretend to continue doing the same thing we've been doing all along, mostly because as I've explained in the past, it's what comes naturally to us. In terms of what happened at this weekend's party, I had actually expected Vanessa to use mostly English. But I was happily surprised, again! She actually did her own share of code-switching between English and Spanish and for no apparent reason. I wonder i ...

We’ve spent the last few days exploring the realm of bilingual instruction and I have to admit I’m truly fascinated with the subject and its possibilities as it relates to my daughter’s future education. However, all the research has lead me to the realization that, unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of options where we currently live. I used to think I still had plenty of time to figure out what will happen when she enters kindergarten — about 2Read More ...