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Encourage your children to learn a second language


When my husband and I got married, we talked about how important it was for us to raise our future children speaking more than one language.

We knew how important it was because we both come from Hispanic families.  He was born in Brownsville, TX, grew up in San Antonio, TX. His family is a combination of Mexicans and Germans. On the other hand, I was born and raised in a beautiful city in the Dominican Republic called Puerto Plata.   We wanted our children to understand how beautiful it is to be Hispanic, to be able to speak with other people in two or more languages, in our case, English and Spanish.  And how do we get our son who is almost 5 years old to speak in English and Spanish so easily, and our 1 year old to be able to understand both?   

We knew that English would be easier for them to learn, because they are growing up in a country where the main language is English. Therefore, we have dedicated ourselves to putting more effort into learning Spanish.   To tell you more, my husband, whose language is English, has spoken to our children in pure Spanish. Sometimes making mistakes and asking for my help, it has been a great blessing that he has taken it as a mayor responsibility.

I will share what we are doing as a family, taking into account that this things are working for our family , but we are positive that it can also work for your family.

 

+ Exposure to Spanish in the womb.


In the 3rd trimester babies are able to recognize mom's voice, muffled, but they can recognize it, why not have fun speaking in a different language than the people around us and get used to doing it all the time?

We got used to saying nice things and singing in Spanish.


+ Books, books, books!!!


I cannot say enough good things about reading. When Aaron was around 6 to 7 months we lived in a house that was really close to a library. At that time we did not have enough space to have all the books we wanted.

One day we visited the library, they had a small summer reading club, in which the child had to read the amount of books he wanted (in this case I was the one who read them aloud) and the titles and authors were written on an agenda. In that summer of 2015, Aaron heard me read to him 50 books... 50 books!

And what do you think? 90% of those books were in Spanish or bilingual. At the end of the summer he won a bilingual book and a diploma as a prize and was also introduced to so many new words and a language that would open so many doors.


Here is a picture of the day we delivered our agenda of the finished books (all taken from the library).



+ Music


Music is a tool that helps children learn so many things in an easy way. The multiplication tables, the alphabet, stories of the world, etc. That is why for us it has been one of the tools we have used the most with our children.


In the car, in the house, when we were out and about, I could say, everywhere. I remember that from the beginning we started singing to them before bedtime, singing to them to eat, to behave, to clean up their toys, it became a norm and something that was already expected.

Some of our favorite Spanish songs and groups that you can find on YouTube are this:


- Super Simple Español- Canciones Infantiles y Mas: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyY3Wd5x85o8AKXjYSoxFAQ


+ Educational Videos, cartoons, movies and more...


I know, I know, I know... As parents we want our children in front of a screen as little as possible and the later we expose them to it, much better. But, lets face it, we've done it and occasionally they get that dose of screen time watching cartoons, movies or use tablets for educational purposes.

Well, let me tell you that the best thing is if what they see and hear is in the language you want them to learn. Remember, my children are growing up in the United States, they are surrounded by the English language and it will come to them easily.


This years, we have a great advantage, most of the programs, videos and apps can be translated or heard in another language. If you want to put this to the test, you just have to use your platform of preference and search a video, song or movie, next to the name you put "Spanish, English,Chinese" whatever you want and then you will see that it is probably available.


Some of our favorite resources on YouTube:

- Luna Creciente with "El Mono-sílabo" : https://www.youtube.com/user/lunacreciente


If you have Netflix:

- StoryBots con audio en español


+ Introduce them to other countries


Search for books, show them videos, go to the library and do a research about different places. Explain to them what is the reason behind us wanting them learning second language and let them hear other speaking that specific one.


Aaron dressed as Juan Pablo Duarte







Celebrate holidays that these people would also celebrate.











Do some homework drawing their flag, their country, go to a restaurant or enter the international food isle at the grocery store. Let them be exposed to the culinary arts,so many flavors and spices, the ways of cooking people in others countries have.




Holding the Dominican Flag


In my house, for example, our children know very well what Tacos, Tamales and Enchiladas from Mexico are. They know about the Sancocho, Mangu, Tostones and Die Dreaming from Dominican Republic. They know about Tembleque from Puerto Rico, Arepas from Colombia... and the list goes on and on.


+ Speak the language and have fun while doing it


Talk to your children. Have extended conversations in the desired language. Study difficult words, make games with easy ones. A treasure hunt in the store to see how many things we can name in "Spanish" or how many people we can say "hola" to.


Learning a language that is different than what everyone else is speaking can be intimidating, but it is usually for adults because we are aware of when we forget something or say something wrong. But for the little ones, should be a game, should be fun, they shouldn't feel obligated, on the contrary they should feel pleasure in knowing more than one.


You cannot imagine how happy I feel when my children can understand my family when they call from the Dominican Republic, or how proud I feel when my eldest son can translate some difficult words for someone else.


Teaching them to love a second language is a job than never ends, but it is worth it. And the fruit of the work of the years they spent learning will be seen. It will bring so many opportunities it will open doors.



 
 
 

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