SpanglishBaby

Ethnic Identification and the State of Being Entre

Contributor — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:54:11 +0000

Photo credit: Poldavo (Alex)

As the rapid influx of Spanish speakers transforms the American populace, I stand between two cultures, two languages, two peoples, simultaneously grateful for and bitter about the prejudice that grows with the numbers.

I think it is important that everyone experience being a member of the minority. Speaking Spanish has provided me this opportunity: under the guise of my gringa appearance, I carry around a sensitivity for and understanding of Latino culture that others don’t expect me to have. I am often the ethnic minority in a group of Latinos and the linguistic minority amongst my own family and friends. Although I do not deal with discrimination as do minorities who physically stand out, I frequently feel isolated and preoccupied with the image I am projecting with my words.

When Spanish speakers hear me saying “¡cuídate!” instead of “careful!” to Isaiah, they seem taken aback. Instead of a friendly reaction, I usually get questions or stares first. Occasionally, I have a positive experience, such as when Isaiah finds a Spanish-speaking amiga at the playground and I have a friendly conversation with her mother. While I feel completely comfortable conversing, reading, and singing in Spanish at home, I am reminded of how out of place my language use seems when I interact with my son, and try to interact with others, in public.

The situation is reversed when my English-speaking neighbors hear us speaking Spanish while we’re playing in the driveway or walking the dog. We receive questions and stares, and only rarely an encouraging comment. I wish I didn’t feel the need to justify an ultimately personal choice by explaining that Isaiah is of Hispanic descent, but I often catch myself doing just that. His heritage is only part of why I speak Spanish with him, but it is the easiest answer to the quizzical frown on someone’s face. Language is perhaps the most blatant ingredient in communication, and makes it difficult to ignore even implied questions.

No matter the ways in which my immersion in various traditions directs my life, it will never produce quite the level of confusion for me as it likely will for my son. I grew up in upper-middle-class white America, and never questioned who I was (at least from an ethnic perspective). I worry that I may not be able to guide my son through any future identity crisis because I never struggled with this type of complexity. Not only does he know two or more words for every thing in his world; he has two names (Isaiah and Isaias), two immediate families, and distinct facial features that prompt bold assumptions from strangers. I can only imagine what difficulties these factors will present for him when he starts school and, worse, enters adolescence. The days of moving effortlessly from one group of kids to another on the playground may very well disappear.

Still, I am optimistic about the potential that being in-between may afford my child in the long run, because no amount of self-conscious worry could make me decide to stop hablando español.

Chelsea Kyle is a 24-year-old single mother with a 2-year-old son, Isaiah. She lives in Orlando, works as a private tutor (www.habitofexcellence.com), and uses the ML@H method, although she is not a native Spanish speaker. She maintains a blog at 20SomethingMom.

FEATURED SPONSOR --Modern Familia --Creating confident and happy families. --Muzzy --The world's #1 language course for children. --Make a Fan --Personalize un regalo para sus fans mas pequeños. We'd love to have you join the conversation on Facebook and get to know you on Twitter.

Ask an Expert: Am I contributing to my bilingual son’s language delay?

Ana Lilian — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:01:01 +0000

The following question was sent by Sandra Villalobos. You can also send your question to the Experts by clicking here.

My son has language delays. I guess it is because we speak Spanish and English at home. My native language is Spanish and my husband’s is English. Before my son was born we researched the best way to help Ian learn both languages: the general recommendation from a multitude of sources is “one-person, one-language.” My husband mostly follows that recommendation, but I do not. I think that as we will live in Latin America for a while Ian will naturally have more opportunities to learn Spanish than English. Then, all of the extra resources to help him speak are in English: books, videos, songs, etc. Almost always this material is reviewed together by Ian and me, so it is unavoidable that I speak English. When we started doing homeschooling (there is no school for my son here -we live in a rural town in Mexico), I really did not know which language I should speak during the lessons. Finally, I spoke in English and that pushed me to keep speaking in English through the day to show him the application of the vocabulary. But, as I am not very fluent in English, I speak to him in Spanish too.

My son is speaking only English. I know he can understand me when I speak in Spanish to him, but he does not say a word in Spanish.

So, I wonder if all this will be a hindrance as Ian’s language skills develop. Could you give some advice on how to help my son’s language develop? (He is 27 months). Thanks.

Sandra Villalobos

Hi Sandra-
Kudos for the efforts you and your husband are making to raise your son bilingually. First and foremost I want to reassure you that research indicates that raising a child bilingually does not cause a language/speech delay. I was unsure from your letter if your child was diagnosed by a speech-language pathologists as having a language delay. Therefore, I will touch on two points (bilingual language development and varying language delivery methods) in hopes of providing you with some helpful information.

Looking at Bilingual Language Development

One think to keep in mind in understanding bilingual language development is the importance of examining the child’s language skills globally (summed skills in both Spanish and English). Often children will demonstrate knowledge of a concept in one language (e.g. certain foods), yet will identify an alternate concept in the other language (e.g. colors); likely depending on the language used to expose them to that particular concept. The expectation is that when all concepts are “summed” (i.e. getting “credit” for individual concepts in both languages) they generally show a similar number of concepts/vocabulary knowledge as a monolingual child. The mistake would be examining their concept knowledge/vocabulary in only one language; which does not accurately reflect their full language abilities. Research indicates that when looked at as a whole, a bilingual child reaches similar language milestones as a monolingual child (See Barbara Pearson’s work).

You mentioned that receptively he responds to both languages. Expressively, you noted he is using only English; however, I was unsure of the vocabulary size or length of utterances he is using. What I can share is that for a child his age he should globally have approximately 200-300 words/concepts and be constructing two-word combinations. One suggestion to incorporate in your daily activities is Label, Label, and Label. Keep engaging your son in language rich activities. Name the items he eats, plays with, and puts on. Give him choices to assist in vocabulary development. Look at story books/pictures/ things outside, pointing, finding, and labeling objects and actions can be incorporated into almost any environment you are in. I know you said you live in a rural town so I am not sure of the accessibility for a play group? Also, if you continue with concerns of his language development it may be helpful to seek advice from a certified Speech Language Pathologist. I am not familiar with Mexico’s process for this or your access to one? The American Speech Hearing Association has a website www.ASHA.org with information that may assist you.

Which Language do I use?

The method of One Parent One Language, while a popular method, is only one style of raising a bilingual child; every family is different ,therefore the language delivery in each home will vary and that is “Ok!” Children learn to differentiate between the languages spoken to them, be it English by Dad, Spanish by mom, or English and Spanish by Mom. Research points out that there is no evidence that children with typical development nor children with a language delay become “confused” by hearing the parent speak two languages. There is nothing wrong with you and your husband using a language combination that you feel comfortable with and that works for your family dynamics.

We hope this has been of some help.

Regards,

Adrianne Arrieta-Morales and Ellen Kester
Bilinguistics

Ellen Stubbe Kester, Ph.D, CCS-LLP – A bilingual (English/Spanish) speech language professional who earned her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The University of Texas at Austin. She has provided bilingual Spanish/English speech-language services in schools, hospitals, and early intervention settings. Her research focus is on the acquisition of semantic language skills in bilingual children, with emphasis on assessment practices for the bilingual population. She is the President of Bilinguistics, which is “dedicated to enhancing speech and language services for Spanish-English bilingual children, enabling those children to achieve their highest communicative and academic potential.” You can read her answers here.

Still Inspired to Give a Hand

Ana Lilian — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:01:44 +0000

Author´s Note: Last year I wrote this post because I was highly inspired and motivated to help out the RMHC Day of Change after a visit to one of the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald Houses and the families I met there. In support of this year´s Day of Change, happening this Thursday, September 9th, I´m re posting this article so it can continue to inspire us to give our change in those little red boxes. They really do help families in need. I´ve met those families. They are real.

Last week I was invited to be part of a small group of Los Angeles mom bloggers to go on a tour of a local Ronald McDonald House. The outing was in support of this year’s McHappy Day- McDonald’s signature fundraiser to call attention to the needs of children that’s happening this Friday. I was skeptical at first, or just plain ignorant, because we don’t want to be giving away our article space to shamelessly promote big-buck companies. I finally decided to go because I’ve always been curious about what truly goes on inside those Ronald McDonald Houses I’ve heard of for decades now.

I couldn’t be happier I went and got a slap in the face in the process. Now I feel inspired to share the message with you about what the Ronald McDonald House Charities (or RMHC) are really all about, and, especially, about how they affect our Latino community at large.

Upon entering the Los Angeles-area house, which serves four local hospitals, I was immediately greeted with a happy-vibe feeling. Not exactly what I expected to feel in a house that’s inhabited by families dealing with a child’s illness.

Here is where I met one of these many Latino families that have made the Houses a home away from home. María Mendoza has been coming to the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House since her son Francisco, now 11 years old, was three. That’s when he was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in infancy. They live in Oxnard, Calif., about an hour and a half to three hours drive to the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Francisco’s first hospitalization for chemotherapy and radiation lasted two and a half months. The whole family-mamá, papá and abuela-had to temporarily relocate during the length of the treatment.

“We didn’t have any money to stay close to the hospital, but we couldn’t and didn’t want to leave our son,” María explained. They were staying in a family room in the hospital, but they weren’t guaranteed a bed every night. Neither of them could work since they had to be there, bed-side, full-time.

Then, a social worker asked her if she wanted to request a room at the Ronald McDonald House which was two blocks from the hospital. Closeness is a major factor when there exists the possibility of facing a life-threatening emergency at any time. María was skeptical at first because she didn’t want to be too far from Francisco, but she was assured this was a comfortable place where they could all be together, prepare family meals and be only steps away from their beloved son. All without a financial hardship to the already over-burdened household.

As soon as they walked in, she said she felt different and “welcomed by the warmth of family, smiles, friends and the feeling that we’re not alone in our suffering. We’re all here for a familiar cause.”

It’s been eight years now and the Mendozas still have frequent stays at the House. Francisco was treated from the neuroblastoma, but now lives with an untreatable brain tumor. Seven months ago he contracted pneumonia which worsened his condition and now he’s lost his voice and his ability to walk. As tragic as it all is, I can tell you I’ve never seen a kid so gleefully decorate a bunch of sugar cookies for his mom as he did that afternoon I met him. Francisco has found a second home, a safe-haven where he has friends, games, books, activities and a security he doesn’t even feel in his own house.

The RMHC self-describe as “a non-profit corporation that creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children…right in their own communities.” They’ve been doing just that for 35 years now through their global network of local chapters in 52 countries, and serving 10,000 families each day who have to face the heartbreaking scenario of a seriously ill child.

The Houses were created as a safe haven, a “home away from home” for families with children who have been stricken with a serious illness that requires prolonged medical attention. But the RMHC isn’t only about the Houses, they also support and maintain Family Rooms in hospitals and Care Mobiles that bring health care services to needy areas.

María struck a chord when she told me how her perspective of those collection boxes that sit on every McDonald’s counter has changed since being accepted in the House, and being living proof of how far one dollar can go to change a life. She remarked, “I used to go to McDonald’s and never even thought about putting my money in one of those boxes. Now, I see them differently because I know first-hand how it helps so many families. I’m now always telling my friends and families that they need to give.” For me, those donation boxes now have a huge FRANCISCO splattered all over them.

At the Los Angeles house, I noticed how many of the faces I met were Latino faces. That got me asking, and I found out that a great number of the families being served by RMHC in the U.S. are Latinos. Doesn’t really surprise me considering we are the largest minority. In fact, over 50% of children seen by doctors and dentists on the Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles are Hispanic and, since 1985, $20 milllion scholarships have been awarded to Hispanic students by the RMHC/Hacer program.

Dayanara Torres and Billy Bush in support of McHappy Day

We also got to meet another Latina and beautiful mom of two healthy boys-Dayanara Torres. The actress and former Miss Universe, who won the crown for her home of Puerto Rico, has been one of the spokespeople for the Ronald McDonald Houses Charities for three years now. This woman personifies elegance and class, while at the same time opening herself up to show the pride she feels at being a hands-on mom. Being a mother is what brings her close to this charity and being so active in it.

“I want to help. I want to support,” she tells the group of mom bloggers interviewing her. “I’m a mom. My kids are healthy, but they have been hospitalized and I know how scary it can be. Just to know an organization exists that does what RMHC does, which provides a home away from home, next to the hospital where your kid is getting treatment and you don’t have to go back to your house which could be 30 minutes, a couple of hours or flying distance away is comforting.”

So, what can we parents, blessed with a healthy child, do to contribute to RHMC’s causes?

Dayanara’s message is to “Go to the restaurants or go online to www.rmhc.org to get one or many “Give a Hands” for $1 each. That would be the best way to help out and do something good for somebody else. Volunteer, donate, tell friends about the RMHC. The more people know about it, the more people will get excited and support it.”

And that, my SpanglishBaby friends, is the reason I decided to take up this space and tell you this story, in hopes to inspire you, as I’ve been inspired.

Inspired to Give a Hand

Adventures at School Bilingual DVD {Giveaway}

Contributor — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:01:55 +0000

Just in time for back-to-school, Scholastic has come out with the latest set of DVDs in its Storybook Treasures collection. Adventures at School includes a total of 14 stories, three of which are narrated in Spanish. Like the Max and Ruby stories, these are short and varied in illustration and topic, with some catchy tunes. Aimed at 3-to-9-year-olds, they feature a range of animals and kids that make for funny characters and relatable storylines.

All the stories feature accurate, read-along narration that proceeds at a pace appropriate for young readers. Parents will recognize several of the narrators’ voices, including those of Zach Braff and Calista Flockhart. From soothing to silly, the array of tones means that the DVDs function well at different moments when kids need entertainment: after school, before and after naptime, or when Mom and Dad están ocupados. They are also great supplements to the actual books upon which the DVDs are based and can provide some variety in your child’s television and/or movie routine.

My little one’s favorite of the three Spanish stories is Monty, about a caimán who plays taxi for his friends. As with other Scholastic stories, the Spanish narration is clear and not maimed with slang. Since I know firsthand how difficult it can be to create material that is not partial to any particular dialect, I appreciate the use of “standard” Spanish in educational materials. No matter which version of Spanish we use with our children, we want them to be able to easily transition to listening to other versions and reading vocabulary that may be synonymous with what we use at home. DVDs like this can serve as reinforcement of the fact that Spanish is used in many places, by many people, and in a formal context.

Because of the format and subject matter, these stories may even be useful in a classroom setting. I suggest that parents and teachers alike enter to win this fun collection and consider buying one as a gift. This is my favorite Scholastic product thus far!

THE GIVEAWAY!

We have one Adventures in School DVD to give away to one lucky winner.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to our feed via email or RSS and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post. Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

3. Blog about this giveaway making sure to include our link, and you’ll get TWO additional entries.

This giveaway ends Sunday, September 19 at midnight EST and you must have a valid US address to enter.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

English is Everywhere!

Contributor — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:27:52 +0000

Photo credit: Emran Kassim

One of the first signs of assimilation, in first and second generations of Latinos in the U.S., is the loss of one’s native language. Those of us whose parents were immigrants or who are immigrants ourselves remember that minute fact a little more clearly than our counterparts whose relatives immigrated several generations ago.

Acculturation has been happening to immigrants from various countries for decades. Just go visit the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York City and see for yourself. In fact, if you are really interested in the history of immigration, check out any immigration museum in another country and you will notice a definite trend. I made it a point to visit the one in Buenos Aires a few years ago and the headlines on the newspapers articles, the immigrants, and the reasons why they transplanted to Argentina along with the struggles and outcomes were all too similar to the stories I have witnessed in America.

Before Sabrina (almost 3 months old now), came into our lives, my plan was to speak Spanish at home. Since having her, several things have happened and one of them is that I find myself using Spanish more outside of our home! My plan was that anything would be accepted outside the home because English is everywhere. I came to the conclusion that speaking Spanish outside my home is one of the main ways I have subconsciously preserved my family’s language.

The subconscious daily practice makes me feel like I am assuring that Sabrina will learn it too. Maybe its because my perspective of English is that of an invasive one. Just the other day I was asking a friend from Argentina how to say entrepreneur in Spanish, she said, “Emprendedor pero usamos la palabra entrepreneur.”

See! Invasive. It creeps into the Spanish vocabulary even in its original form. No wonder the French limited the use of English signs in public spaces! I swear, I read that somewhere. Either way they certainly have a reputation for preserving anything “French,” so it wouldn’t surprise me if what I read was true. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating being that my motherly priorities have kicked in, but English is everywhere. My sister saw it in the streets in Beijing years before the Olympics. Mind you, she was teaching kids as young as two to speak English on a daily basis. She also found a way to teach some students Spanish. So, it seems as if the use of Spanish is evolving in daily use just as much as English. I guess you can say you can try and implement a plan but how it actually pans out is a different story.

Ok, so what about our choice to use French? We are still working on how we will ultimately introduce it to Sabrina. So far my husband reads our one and only children’s French book, Babar: La fete des couleurs, every once in a while. Me on the other hand, well…

I finally checked out and started listening to Pimsleur French Language Program CD’s. (Thank goodness I took Beginning French last fall because CD’s are totally a different way of learning a foreign language and the class has given me the foundation I needed.) We are also slowly building Sabrina’s library. One of our readers even shared the following site with me to purchase more children’s books in French: www.frenchbooksonline.com/index.html

Just like our little one, I have a feeling that our strategies to teach her three languages will also grow and change over time to suit our needs and personalities. In return, I would like to think I am raising a global citizen not just a multi-lingual individual, but who really knows. I’m just a new mommy with a different or possibly a very common perspective?

Ask an Expert: Is Chinese immersion a good idea for bilingual Spanish-English kids?

Expert — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:01:50 +0000

“My husband is a native Spanish speaker. I’m a native English speaker. We both speak each other’s language, although I’m not totally fluent in Spanish. We live in California and I would like to send my girls to a Spanish immersion public school (k-8) so they learn academic Spanish and English. My husband disagrees; he believes they should go to a Chinese immersion school to learn Chinese and English. He says Chinese would be a great language to know in the future, and he says they can learn Spanish at home. I’m concerned that they won’t learn academic Spanish at home, mainly because I’m not a native speaker and we won’t have the time to teach them a high level of Spanish. We try to speak only spanish at home now, but my fear is that they will only learn “home” Spanish, and not develop academic ability in the language. I don’t want them to feel inferior to other Spanish people when they get older, or not be able to attend college in Spain someday if they want to. Would the time spent in Chinese immersion hinder academic Spanish. (Neither my husband or I speak Chinese). The girls are only 2 years old now, but we’re planning ahead.

Thank you for your advice.

Amelia”

Hi Amelia,

The options that you outline for your children’s education are both reasonable and have both pros and cons. On the one hand, you could introduce your children to a ‘much-valued’ third language – Chinese – and have them become proficient in it through schooling, opening up opportunities for their future that might not be offered by knowing Spanish. At the same time, you would continue to provide Spanish input in the home so that you children would keep growing in this language as well. I am assuming the school that offers Chinese immersion also teaches English, so that by 12th grade, your children would be literate in English and Chinese and, at least, they would be orally proficient in Spanish. So this option makes sense for those who highly value a third and lesser known language and for whom it does not matter the degree of proficiency and literacy achieved in the home (minority) language.

On the other hand, if you want your children to know Spanish WELL, if you want them to have grade-appropriate levels of literacy in it, and perhaps go to college in Spain as adults, then my advice is that you send them to Spanish immersion. As you say yourself, by just using Spanish at home, your children might become orally fluent in it but they will rarely reach the levels of literacy achieved by children who are schooled in that language for 8 or 12 years. Even if you provided many opportunities to develop Spanish literacy in the home, it would be very hard, if not impossible, to match the time spent in school learning in that language. So if your goal is full bilingualism and bi-literacy in the languages spoken by your family, I would say go for Spanish immersion. Of course you can always introduce a third language, but this could be done as a ‘subject’ that you take separately at school or after school.

I went myself for this latter option. My children were raised with three languages, Italian being spoken by me, English by dad, and Spanish by our nanny. When time came to send my daughters to school, I could have opted for the more ‘marketable’ Spanish immersion, but I went for instruction in the home (minority) language – Italian. For me, it makes more sense to have my children fully bilingual and bi-literate in the languages spoken at home than any other – no matter how marketable – language. The bottom line is, you have to look at what your goals are when deciding in which language(s) to educate your children as these choices will have life-long implications for them and for the entire family.

Simona Montanari, Ph.D.- – Assistant Professor of Child and Family Studies at California State University in Los Angeles. She is the department’s expert in early multilingual development and has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Southern California. Simona is Italian and she’s also a mommy to trilingual daughters aged 3 and 4 1/2. In addition, she conducts a workshop titled: “How to Raise a Bilingual Child” in the LA area. You can read her answers here.

You, too, can have your question answered by one of the experts on our panel. Submit your question to Ask an Expert.

Can Everybody Learn a New Language?

Roxana S. — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:52:22 +0000

Photo credit: Ivan Walsh

A friend of mine who is a Spanish teacher at a local elementary school said something over the weekend that got me thinking about whether or not everybody is capable of learning a new language. She said that in her years as a teacher, she’s seen with her own two eyes how some children struggle to learn Spanish while others pick it up with unbelievable ease.

The most interesting part is that, some times, the students who struggle are the ones you’d least expect: the Latinos (usually second/third generation and above) whose parents may not speak Spanish to them at home, but they’ve been exposed to the language, to some degree, thanks to their grandparents and/or other elder members of their family. Meanwhile, she’s had many students who come from completely monolingual families who have demonstrated an almost innate ability to learn Spanish with near-native pronunciation and all!

Her stories got me thinking about how I often hear people say that someone has “an ear” for languages. It seems as if it’s a common belief that learning languages (just like learning to play a musical instrument) comes much easier to some than to others. Is there any truth to that? Well, I went searching and I found out that there’s actually been some research, at least in adults, that suggests brain anatomy is linked to the ability to learn a second language. In addition, it seems that, in general, having greater cognitive abilities helps make the progress faster. In fact, some linguists believe some people have a stronger, innate language learning ability than others.

When people find out I’m bilingual, they usally share with me that they’ve attempted to learn Spanish, but it hasn’t stuck and they’ve given up in frustration. And, then, I know a few people who are so determined to learn a second language that they find a way to make it happen. As with anything in life, this is obviously accomplished only through hard work. But, besides hard work and age (which we’ve written about in the past) what else determines the speed and ease with which someone can learn a new language?

Personality

People who are introverted or anxious tend to make slower progress, especially when it comes to developing oral skills. Most probably, people with this type of personality won’t take advantage of or seek opportunities to try to speak and practice their new language. Learners with a more outgoing personality will probably not care about the inevitable: making mistakes. They’ll most likely practice their new language a lot more because they don’t mind taking risks.

Native language

In general, if your children’s second (or third) language is from the same language family as their first language, the task will be much easier. So, for example, an English-speaking child will learn German more quickly than a Japanese child.

I’ve been debating which language to start learning next and while Mandarin seems like the logical answer, I really want to learn Italian. Whenever I’ve mentioned this among Italian speakers who know I already speak Spanish and French, I’m always told it’s going to be increcibly easy. This might have to do with the fact that Italian is not a tonal language, like Chinese, which is a topic I’m extremely interested in and I promise to write about in the future.

Experiences

People who have already gained general knwoledge and experience are in a better position to learn a new language than those who haven’t. This means that someone who has lived in different countries and has been exposed to other languages and cultures has a stronger base for learning a new language than the person who hasn’t had such experiences.

I know for a fact that this made a whole world of difference in my life. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I was born in Peru, but in my childhood years, I lived in Mexico, Argentina and South Africa (where I was exposed not only to English, but also to Afrikaans and Zulu) before moving to the United States. Both my siblings and I, as well as my parents, have a fascination for languages!

Language status

There is some evidence that when the second (minority) language has a lower status than that of the majority language the learning progress is slower. It’s undeniable that this still seems to be the case with Spanish in the United States. We’ve actually written about this here.

In the end, I think one of the most important factors is motivation which, without a doubt, strongly correlates with achievement. My father was determined to learn English as an adult, and he did everything in his power to make it happen – including the painstaking method of reading with a dictionary right next to him so he could look up the words he didn’t know (which, at first, I’m sure included the majority of them). Not only did he become fluent and proficient in English, but being bilingual is what opened up the doors that took us, his family, on the amazing journey through five different countries that I described above. Proof that if you really want something, it’s yours!

The New Anglo-Latino Household, or Colombia 90210

Guest — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:22:27 +0000

Photo by Alan Light

The following is a guest post by Rubén González, who blogs at “Love, Translated – Raising Bilingual, Bicultural Children”

If you were a teenager in the United States in 1991, you were likely to either have the hots for Kelly Taylor or for Dylan McKay (or maybe Brandon Walsh, if you preferred goody-two-shoes). But more interestingly, if you were a teenager in Colombia in 1991 (namely, me,) from that great distance and thanks to the magic of television, you knew these characters very well, you longed for each weekly airing of Beverly Hills 90210, and you didn’t have the hots for Kelly Taylor – you were flat out in love with her.

So is it a surprise that twenty years later I find myself happy and madly in love with an “All-American” wife with the blond hair and that quintessentially American, big-toothed smile that I learned to love in Kelly Taylor?

Where I’m going with this is that I have it made. I got the girl of my dreams. And together, we now have two wonderful and beautiful bi-cultural, bi-racial, bilingual sons. But now that I am almost mature and feel this resurgence of pride in my Colombian background that I want to instill as strongly as I can in my children, did I shoot myself in the foot by marrying a non-Latina?

Not even close.

There are definitely challenges. My wife does not speak Spanish fluently and before she met me, she was only vaguely familiar with Latino culture. So there are cultural misunderstandings from time to time (especially when we have visitors from the old country –mi mamá-) and yes, there is a language barrier that, as our kids grow older and my conversations with them in Spanish become more sophisticated, keeps my wife a bit out of the loop. We don’t have a “Colombian” or even “Latino” household that our children can come to after school, a space and time warp that immerses them back into the ways of a household in the old country. Instead (and literally,) we have a Colombian-American household that has in it a lot of what you would call “American mainstream” and sprinklings here and there of Colombianness. And in that, the optimist in me sees as a great advantage.

I have met many immigrant Latino couples whose children struggle with the disconnect between the culture they experience in the home and the one they experience outside the home. And to the parents’ credit, they end up raising wonderful, well-adjusted children, but there always seems to be that tension of two cultures pulling on them, some times in different directions, which causes the children at times to actively reject the culture of their parents. In our home, by virtue of the difference between my wife’s and my background, it seems to me like there is inherently less pressure. I realize that my boys are getting less exposure to Latino culture than they might otherwise, had I married a Latina, but I also believe that having the Latinness toned down a little bit creates an environment where speaking Spanish, singing Colombian songs, or playing Colombian games is simply one of those quirky things they do with their papá and is therefore more palatable, it doesn’t feel like an environmental imposition.

There are other, wonderful advantages: the process of cultural discovery that my wife experiences adds excitement to our family life and makes otherwise small things, like her learning to make arepas or natilla, a cause for celebration. Also, being the naturally neurotic person that I am, I used to be overwhelmed by the prospect of helping my children go through situations and rites of passage that are unique to American culture, but having a beautiful Gringuita with firsthand knowledge as my partner greatly allays my concerns and makes me feel like we have the perfect balance to navigate two worlds and two cultures.

I’m not saying that all of us Latinos need to spiff up this Saturday and hit the clubs in search for non-Latinos to mate with. I’m mostly writing words of comfort to myself and hopefully to any other readers who may doubt their ability to create a rich Latino experience for their children because their spouse is not Latino.

Culture is a funny thing: it feels like the most important thing in the world, it is what defines us, what grounds us in the world, but at the same time, it is made up of small superficial things that, when analyzed closely, make us realize that people around the world are more similar than they are different. Enough cheese? I’m not done yet: It is because of those global commonalities that I fell in love with Kelly Taylor over the airways, and twenty years later, with my wife, whom I call the new and improved Kelly Taylor 2.0. And it is thanks to the celebration and the balance of our differences that our bilingual, bi-cultural household seems to be thriving despite the challenges. Of course, we’ve only been at this for a handful of years, but so far so good. So chin up, Anglo-Latino households!

Originally from Manizales, Colombia, Rubén González is a 34 year-old husband and father of two boys, living in Minneapolis.
Ruben arrived in the US at the tender age of 20 and since then, he’s worked stints ranging from teacher, to house cleaner and lab technician. Currently, he works as a technology and web guru at a marketing communications agency in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Rubén’s passion (besides his wife and kids) include literature, politics, history, pop culture, and Scandinavian Black and Death Metal. He exposes his neurosis, insecurities, and love for his family on his blog, “Love, Translated – Raising Bilingual, Bicultural Children”

Creating Memories

Contributor — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 07:01:53 +0000

The author and her cousins in Costa Rica

I was five years old when I visited Costa Rica the first time, and seven years old when we visited again. Although my mother spoke to me in Spanish, I was around a lot of her Spanish-speaking friends and their children and I was even in a bilingual classroom in school, there was nothing quite like those trips. Even though I was a child, I still remember what it felt like, coming to the swift realization that there was more to the world than my little corner of it, that other people lived in a completely different place where things were done differently, too.

The memories of those trips are still quite vivid. I met all kinds of cousins, none of whom spoke English. We played in my Abuelita’s yard and made trips to the pulpería—the little corner store—and bought mentas, violetas, botonetas and other kinds of candy. A boyero passed through town and took us for an exhilarating ride down the dusty road in his oxcart. I drank coconut milk straight from the coconut and drank water straight from a creek, out of a cup my dad’s friend fashioned out of a huge tropical leaf (I still remember thinking that was the coolest thing ever). I admired the neighbors’ nativity scenes (we called them portales), and learned that el Niñito Dios, not Santa, would be bringing me my gifts that year.

Last year, my husband and I decided to make a yearly visit to Costa Rica with our children a priority. I know I am extremely lucky to be able to pick up and head to Latin America for a month, and that having family I can visit here makes it much easier. I am a freelancer, so in the months leading up to August I’ve taken on way more than my usual workload in order to partially make up for the loss of income, and I do the same thing after our vacation, as well. As my husband has a limited number of vacation days himself, it means he can’t come every year, either. But it is so very worth it, and crucial to my boys’ language development.

If I were really on the ball I would make sure we had some structure during our trips, or I would be more deliberate about creating learning opportunities, but I’m on vacation, too, so I don’t. But there’s a lot to be said for soaking up the language and culture, right? Here are some of the things we’ve been up to so far:

We’ve watched a whole lot of TV. I’ll just put that one right out there, since it’s not necessarily something to be proud of, I know. My boys watch way more here than they do at home. Now watch me try to justify it! They play hard and spend a lot of time on the beach, in the pool, or on bikes and scooters. When we head home we’re often hot and exhausted, so some quiet time in front of the TV feels really, really nice. The only rule? Spanish shows only. We don’t have cable at home, so watching shows like the Backyardigans, Blue’s Clues and Mister Maker is a big treat. Discovery Kids en español is my friend, and so is their website with all of its fun games in Spanish.

We’ve eaten a whole lot, too. I am capable of making gallo pinto (rice and beans), plantains, refried beans and ceviche at home, but I do it infrequently. Plus, for some reason it all just seems to taste better here. My kids aren’t crazy about all of the food, but at least they’re trying it. They do love the fact that their tía slips them chocolate and they always get a lollipop from the ladies at the farmacia across the street, though. (Not all of the eating we do here is healthy eating, that’s for sure.)

We’ve had to deal with unexpected situations—in Spanish. Unfortunately, my son Secondo has had to see the doctor three times while we’ve been here. He’s been a total champ and was totally unfazed when the doctor spoke to him in Spanish. He proceeded to impress the doctor by identifying his otoscopio, a word he learned on Las pistas de Blue (see Watching too much TV, above). I love the all of the ideas on this site for creating a perceived need for our children to learn the minority language, and I use a lot of them, but there’s nothing like an actual need. (Though I later found out the doctor speaks perfect English. I’ll never tell Secondo.)

We’ve made new friends. We run into other kids at the pool and at the playground. My friends’ children love to entertain my kids. My cousins come to visit with their children. My kids’ developmental and social delays mean they’re still working on peer interactions and aren’t always interested, but I try to encourage it as much as I can.

We’ve learned a lot about fútbol. The boys loved watching World Cup soccer back home this summer, but they’re being schooled in all things fútbol here, thanks to my brother. He bought them a World Cup sticker album and made them memorize Lionel Messi’s jersey number. He’s taught them what his local team’s chants and colors are, as well as the team song. He plans on getting them little red and yellow jerseys and is going to make me take pictures. Yes, my brother can go a little overboard, and I love it—I’m certainly useless when it comes to teaching them about soccer.

We’ve created new memories. This is why we’ve made it a priority to come visit. I want them to remember their Abuelita the way I remember mine. I think of my childhood memories, and wonder what they will remember. Maybe the unlimited juice boxes, the néctar de pera they love so much. Maybe playing soccer in the backyard with their uncle, the geckos that are everywhere, or the bus ride through the mountains to get to the coast. Maybe they’re too little to really remember much yet—but I want to make sure they have many memories to choose from.

Kimberly Stevens Lane was born to a Costa Rican mother and an American father and was raised in both countries. She is the mother of four-year-old twin boys, both of whom have special needs and are in full-time special education programs. She has a Master of Arts degree in Conference Interpretation and is a freelance translator and interpreter in the Washington, D.C. area.

“We Did It” Dora – The New 10th Anniversary Bilingual Doll {Giveaway}

Roxana S. — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 07:01:34 +0000

As we mentioned last week, this month marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of Dora the Explorer character—the energetic bilingual Latina girl loved by all children and their parents, but especially by those of us raising bilingual children. In honor of this milestone, Fisher Price just debuted a singing and dancing “We Did It” Dora doll that will put your niños a bailar—or at least that’s what happened at my house when she came out of the box!

The first thing my daughter loved was Dora’s long, silky black hair. She quickly figured out that to get Dora dancing, all she had to do was press the pink flower on one of her shoes. And so she did time and time again because each time the flower’s pressed, Dora does something different.

First she dishes out a few commands in both languages so kids can learn how to follow her in the “We Did It” dance using words like arriba and abajo often. I don’t know how she does it, but she had my daughter repeating the commands and following suit as soon as she turned her on.

Soon she had Vanessa playing the Freeze Dance game by giving her the following instructions:

“When I say baila, dance! When I say para, stop!”

This was, by far, my daughter’s favorite.

Although this is not the first time they come out with a dancing Dora doll, I think this is by far the most realistic. Her arms move up and down and she twists side to side with her long, beautiful hair swaying to the rhythm of the música. I have to say that I think it’s awesome that there’s a doll out there which allows my daughter to feel like she’s not the only one who speaks two languages out there!

In fact, Dora points it out in the Say it Two Ways bilingual dance game. So for example, she’ll start twisting and will say:

“Now twist! In English we say twist. In Spanish we say gira.”

I have to admit that both the music and the dance moves of the new doll are really contagious. So much so that each time my daughter turns her on, her baby brother, Santiago, can’t hold back and immediately starts to boogie!

Check him out here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6wdlgWuzKk

The Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all for entering. We’ll announce the winner shortly.

We’re giving away one “We Did It” Dora doll to one lucky winner just tell us why you want to win it and who’ll be playing with it.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you´ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to our feed via email or RSS and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post.

3. Blog about this giveaway making sure to include our link, and you’ll get TWO additional entries.

This giveaway ends Sunday Sept., 5 at midnight EST and you must have a valid U.S. address to enter.

Disclosure: A sample product was provided for review purposes; all opinions are 100% ours. Check out our full Disclosure + Privacy Policy. If you click on a link above and it takes you to La Tiendita and you purchase a product, we will hear pennies fall in el cochinito.

Giveaway Rules.