Is your baby creating Spanglish verbs? Mine does! As they develop their bilingual vocabulary it’s really fun to see how they conjugate verbs in both languages. Do you have one to share?

Here are some of our SpanglishBaby verbos shared by a few of our SpanglishBaby Playground amigas:

Ligia:  “corring” en vez de “corriendo” y “canting” en lugar de “cantando” son algunas de las palabras que mi hijo ha dicho.

Audrey: “My daughter always says “sendar” for “mandar” or “enviar.” Ella siempre me dice, “Le voy a sendar esa carta a mi abuelita”

Melissa: “Voy a bringuer las cosas conmigo…Mom, she gasts all of our time/money/paint.”  First of all, he’s supposed to be speaking to me in Spanish! and yes, he does use gasts as if it were an English word for waste.  As a teacher of English as a second language, I often hear native Spanish speakers say things like “We didn’t waste our time on reading/homework” simply meaning that they didn’t spend enough time on something  (gastar covering the meaning of both waste and spend).  For some reason it boggled my mind that the exact same error also popped up in the reverse!”

 What verbos are your kids mixing? We’d like to know! You can follow the conversation on SpanglishBabyPlayground

{Picture by  mikebaird }

One of my favorite things about belonging to the SpanglishBaby community is the opportunity to meet other families who are also raising bilingual and bicultural kids. I have met online friends and local friends through SpansglishBaby Playground where families have been organizing local playgroups all over the nation, from South Jersey to Orlando, from Philly to Colorado you can find local groups wanting to meet, play and speak Spanish!

Find your local Playground and join us today!

Tri State Mamas: NY, NJ and PA – Philly zoo, Sesame Place and the aquarium are on their list!

South Jersey SpanglishBaby – South Jersey / Philadelphia – I’m only 20minutes from the city and would be willing to travel or host at my house…So if you’re in the region, then this is the group for you.

Motor City Mamacitas – Metro Detroit, MI. – Get together with other Oakland County Spanish-speaking kids (native and non) to immerse them in fun and a second language.  

Bilingue in San Antonio – San Antonio, TX. – For San Antonio parents who are trying to teach their children Spanish…lets get together online and in person to help our kids learn more Spanish and practice speaking it.

Denver Mamas – Denver, CO. – For moms in Denver (or any of its surrounding cities) raising bilingual kids. Let’s share info on upcoming bilingual events, schools, camps, story times and other fun things to do in Spanish! 

NC Familias Bilingues – North Carolina – Ser Latino o extranjero es una experiencia única en cada parte de este país. Queremos compartir con otras familias Latinas y bi-culturales en nuestro estado.

East Los Angeles – Los Angeles County and Inland Empire – …those of us out of the city can group together when the city is just a little to far to travel… but at least LA is nearby, we’d love to get together on the weekends.

Los Angeles Moms Raising Bilingual Kids – Los Angeles, CA. – A space for L.A. area moms to share local tips, events, happenings and school information for bilingual/bicultural kids (Spanish/English)

San Diego Mamas – San Diego, CA. – A place to share local events, immersion schools, activities, meet new families close-by and more!

Nor-Cal Madres – San Francisco Bay Area – Let’s share events, get together and have fun if you live in or around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Oklahoma City Bilingual Mamas – Oaklahoma City, OK. – A group for bilingual mamas (Spanish/English) that reside in the Oklahoma City Metro.

Orlando Mamis  - Orlando, FL. – If you are in the Orlando area, this is the place for you!

Did you find your playground?  If not, you can start your very own today! Is simple, here are the steps on How to create your local Playground

For information and tips on how to start a playgroup please read Roxana A. Soto’s post Are-playgroups-really-that-important?

Let’s get together, play and speak Spanish!

{photo by  phalinn}

One of the things that scared me the most about raising my son to speak three languages was that he would speak them all incorrectly. When I heard him say “parqueadero” for parking instead of estacionamiento I didn’t know what to say, I almost cried!

Now that he is 9 years old, he is making fewer and fewer mistakes and I am not worried about his misuse of words anymore. Kids just mix them as they learn and it is okay!

What do you do when your kids say something in Spanglish that is just simply horrible to your ears? How do you react? We invite you to share your kids’ “not so cute” Spanglish on Words on Wednesday discussion at SpanglishBaby Playground.

Melissa Cunningham shared her son’s “annoying Spanglish” words: “Voy a bringuer las cosas conmigo… Mom, she gasts all of our time/money/paint.”

What do you think? Join the conversation!

We are having a great time at SpanglishBaby Playground and would like to share our latest news and activities!

The exchange of bilingual books is on! The Bilingual Children’s Book Exchange Group  is having fun sharing and exchanging our kid’s books.  In its first month, the families have already sent more than 15 packages of bilingual and bicultural books all around the US! We have books for all ages from newborn and toddler to big kids who are reading stories in both languages. Children are loving it!

Also, we are having great conversations with families who recently started an immersion program in Immersion Kids: Kindergarden 2012 Group!

This week we welcomed bilingual and bicultural families from Argentina and South Africa, is so exciting to grow our familia internationally!

More amazing groups have also recently joined including Raising Filipino Families Group as well as our dear MamaYala World Cultures Group where you will find cultural educational materials.

Today we are starting a new conversation we would like you to join: SpanglishBaby Words on Wednesday where you can share your baby’s funniest, cutest, craziest Spanglish words!!

We all have a Spanglishbaby Word, what is yours? Join us and share SpanglishBaby Words on Wednesday!

See you there

Now the time has come for us to expand that vision a little and so Ana and I are super happy to announce the new addition to our SpanglishBaby venture: SpanglishBaby Playground, a space for parents raising bilingual and bicultural children to connect and interact directly with each other.

We’re hoping this new space will help all of us make the kind of connections so that together we can have a ripple effect in this movement towards a truly bi/multilingual nation.

SpanglishBaby Playground is the community where you can connect with other parents in your area to coordinate playgroups, playdates, reading clubs, story times, etc.

It’s also a place for you to ask direct questions and get answers from other parents who get you.

It’s a perfect spot to find info about immersion and/or bilingual schools, daycares, preschools, etc., in your area.

In short, SpanglishBaby Playground can be whatever you want it to be because you have the power to start your own groups (which can be private or public), ask questions on the Forum, create your profile page, write a blog post, upload pictures or videos of your familia or anything you love. So, feel at home — this is your Playground!

To motivate you to sign up and participate in this new community we’re having a huge Back to School giveaway courtesy of Target. One lucky winner will take $250 worth of school supplies which include: backpacks for young boys and girls as well as teens, lunch boxes with accessories and a myriad of supplies from notebooks to crayons. Whoever wins this amazing giveaway should be completely set for Back to School.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is create an account on SpanglishBaby Playground before midnight, August 26th. Use the nifty Rafflecopter widget below to make it easy for you to participate and also get extra entries.

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