After waiting nearly two months for a book at the library, I finally checked out the book, Bilingual Edge. Let me say that I feel that I can teach Livy Spanish but at the same time I AM SO BEYOND OVERWHELMED!!!! Whew! And I am only half way through the book.
This book has been great on my quest to have a bilingual child. There are several things that I can do with her to help her become bilingual. Naturally it would be easier if Eduardo spoke ONLY Spanish to her, but I have realized that is not going to happen. We have started to have one day a week where he is to only speak Spanish. It is not going too well. He forgets to speak in Spanish and when I remind him he completely clams up. I told him that it will do her no good if he says nothing at all. He told me that speaking Spanish to her feels unnatural and wrong. So I must take it into my own hands.
There are a few things that I plan on trying. But in order to make this happen, I need to learn Spanish myself. I know that there are community classes to take in the fall. And I plan on having Eduardo write down several phrases (and I memorize them) that I say on a regular basis to Livy. It's time to eat, nap time, let's read a story, time to go outside and play, no touch, etc. According to the book, she needs to hear the "target" language at least 2 1/2 hours each day or 1/5 of her waking hours.
I can also have Eduardo help me learn some of her books in Spanish. She has quiet the Spanish Library and she loves books. It would be helpful if she would sit still for longer then three pages, but it is something.
I wish that we lived closer for Livy's Abuela to watch her more. Then she could speak Spanish to her and would help save me a headache. One suggestion was getting a Spanish speaking sitter to come on a regular basis or hire someone (not in my budget) to come and "play" with Livy. A college student or teenager who is fluent.
Another idea that haunted my dreams last night was to start a Spanish speaking playgroup. Something for parents who want their child to speak Spanish and to play with other Spanish speakers. It is usually good for the parents to speak Spanish to each other too. This is what scares me. I studied German and French. I know very little Spanish. I can understand it but I can't speak it.
The book also talks about using the community resources. Like attend a Spanish speaking story time, child Spanish classes, etc. Does anyone in my area know if we have these kinds of things?
I did find a Spanish immersion preschool that I will have Livy attend in a few years (if we are still here). But I would like to find things in the mean time.
On a lighter note, I read on another blog that today is free Slurpee day at 7-11!
Oh man I wish I had a 7/11 near by!
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I want my little ones to be bilingual as well, but the thought of teaching them overwhelmes me!
I have been trying to speak Spanish to my children and for now they recognize adios and que paso (what happened?). Well, when we stopped in at Chic-fil-A a week a go or so, the kid's meal toy was a Spanish cd that teaches basic phrases! I have been playing it in the van and making a game of it! They may still have some if you were to ask.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for visiting my blog! :) I love The Bilingual Edge, too.
ReplyDeleteThe important thing to do is take baby steps. Pick one thing you want to do with Livy and stick with it. Once you have that down, go to the next thing.
Also, make car-time productive. There are several cds out there that are perfect for this such as the Professor Pocket one I reviewed recently. We have both of them and they're both really good.
On the other hand, there are some poorly made language products out there. I just reviewed a dvd for my library. After I was done looking at it, my advice to them was to pull it off the shelf. They did. I'll send you an email about that one.
I have so many thoughts about this... guess that's why I started my blog. *grin*
This is so weird! I started a week's worth of bilingual information posts a few weeks ago to document our experiences and share information we've found in books and websites. This weekend I was going to ask you all what questions or information you'd want to know, so I can add it to my posts! Keep your eyes out for this and the series the week after next.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog today. I understand a lot of the frustration that you and some of the others have commented on. I am a non-native Spanish speaker trying to teach my new son Spanish. I started my blog to hopefully address some of those frustrations and get feedback and ideas from other parents who are trying to do the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI have only really looked into a few Spanish programs in Salt Lake. I know that most of the libraries have Spanish story times. The preschool you mentioned (which was owned by my wife until recently) is also a good resource, but as you mentioned you daughter is still a little young. I know that there are community Spanish classes for children too, but I think they are also for older kids.
Your idea of putting together a Spanish playgroup is a great idea that we might be interested in participating in if you end up getting one together.
Hi, I wanted to offer my bit of encouragement to you. Stick with your desire to teach Livy Spanish.
ReplyDeleteYou're off to a good start with getting the Spanish translations to the words, phrases and sentences you use every day with Livy. Just use them.
If your husband is uncomfortable speaking only Spanish to Livy, try setting aside a certain time during the day when he can read a book to her (ie. about colors) and then play a game (about finding and naming colors) with her in Spanish.
I know she's at an age when children don't stay around too long to be read to, but at least your husband will have a topic to focus on for that time and she'll still be hearing the language.
Hope that helps.
Hurray! I hope you can stick with this! I really, really wish I grew up bilingual or that my kids could :( :( Consider only Spanish music in the car or at home. That might help. We did only Korean music for the first 2 years of the kids lives. But b/c we can't speak the language it only will (hopefully) help them with hearing the different Korean sounds, not word meaning.
ReplyDelete