Raising a Bilingual Child
It is important to me that what I have learned gets passed down to my child. Isn’t that the whole idea behind parenting? My husband is fluent in Spanish and his mother never learned English either but he doesn’t speak Spanish as much as he should; especially around our son. So it is totally up to me to teach my son Spanish. I definitely want him to be able to have a conversation with his grandparents when he gets older.
He’s about two and a half now and I have noticed that he’s getting pretty good at English. He’s speaking in almost complete sentences so I figure this is a good time to start teaching him Spanish. I have started with body parts since he knows those pretty well in English. As a bonus I can point at it while I say the words and he seems to be catching on and taking an interest. Now I just point to his eyes mouth or nose and he knows exactly what the word is in Spanish.
How important is it for you to have a bilingual child? Do you have any tips or tricks for raising a bilingual child? Share in the comments!
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It is very important to me b/c I grew up understanding Spanish but never really spoke Spanish b/c I was always teased on the way I spoke. My kids are now learning Spanish from my mom and I teach them a few things here and there. I wish I knew how to speak fluently though.
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Jai Reply:
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
It’s never too late to learn Spanish. Honestly, I feel like my Spanish was a bit broken when I started my job. I know the reason they hired me was because I was bilingual. And I now use it everyday and have gotten a whole lot better. I am good at translating as well but writing a business letter in Spanish takes a whole lot of work. A good tip is to watch the news on the Spanish channel. Not only is it international, but you may be able to connect the visual with the words. I learn new words every day just watching the Spanish channel.
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It’s important to us also. I try to say things in both languages so she learns both. She now asks how to say things in Spanish if she doesn’t already know.
So great that you want to pass it on to him!
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It’s very important that the day I have kids they are bilingual (or in my case trilingual), although I’m not sure yet on how I will manage all three languages.
I know a family in which the father is Hispanic and the mother is from Iceland and he speaks to the children in Spanish while the wife speaks to the children in Islenska.The children learn English at school. It works great for them.
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