tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427681598199103232024-08-28T19:12:45.155-04:00Non-native spanish speaker raising a bilingual child.Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-299635948404857922011-10-30T10:44:00.000-04:002011-10-30T10:44:00.496-04:00

If you have a little one, you might want to check out the Pocoyo channel on Youtube. I'd heard of the cartoon before, but I never really paid much attention to it. I saw it mentioned online again, so I decided to see what it was about. Bean was fussy and I just needed to get some rest, so I put him on the bed next to me and turned this on. I should have turned on the camera to record him because

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-39552724714145116642011-10-10T09:25:00.000-04:002011-10-10T09:25:00.276-04:00

I've been thinking about learning another language sometime in the future. I know there are benefits to learning languages simultaneously, but I'd rather wait a few years before introducing another one. I like to do as much immersion as possible, so I think I'd be overwhelmed if I was trying the immersion method for another language. Plus, I don't know what language to choose. I believe that "

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-84502517582753263462011-10-02T06:00:00.000-04:002011-10-02T06:00:03.206-04:00

I find it so ironic that just as I get back into my Spanish immersion obsession, I get a LinkedIn request from my foreign exchange buddy. About 10 years ago, my family hosted an exchange student. Then, later on that year, I went to her country and stayed with her family. I haven't spoken to her in years, and it's so funny that she found me on LinkedIn. In fact, it looks like she found my dad on

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-45667046826147625272011-09-28T06:48:00.009-04:002011-09-28T06:48:00.711-04:00

It's no secret that I don't like to speak Spanish. In fact, if you ask me if I can speak it, I will say no. I know that I can speak it if I absolutely have to, but other than that, I'd prefer not to. Does passive bilingualism ringing a bell for anyone? Anyway, I have just discovered the reason for this. Deep down I knew that it was my inhibitions holding me back, but I never really realized

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-63737937567828052942011-09-25T10:47:00.000-04:002011-09-25T10:47:40.296-04:00

My intention was to use the OPOL (One Parent One Language) method with Bean, but I'd say that I use the OPOLAMAP (One Parent One Language As Much As Possible) method. To be honest, sometimes I just don't feel like thinking in Spanish, and other times I truly forget. I want to get to the point where Spanish just flows naturally from my lips, but I am not there yet. I need to make more time for

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-54799682065157068162011-09-20T09:34:00.000-04:002011-09-20T09:34:23.610-04:00

Bean is going to have a little hermano or hermana soon, thus my lack of posting. Pregnancy is very hard for me, and I don't handle it well. I barely feel like doing activities in English, let alone Spanish, but I've managed to keep up a bit of exposure. Bean LOVES the Professor Toto DVD's. We've had them from the library for so long that we can't check them out anymore. So I decided to just bite

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-7923812970171118032011-05-02T16:12:00.000-04:002011-05-02T16:12:40.763-04:00

Spanish class is going much better. Bean is still himself, but with the other kids having meltdowns, running out the room, and doing all sorts of other things- it's really not that bad. Right now we are watching Padrinos Magicos, or Fairly Odd Parents on Antena Latina. We don't have cable, but we can stream the station from our Roku player. You have to be careful with this channel though

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-61146974665109759782011-04-18T12:05:00.000-04:002011-04-18T12:05:17.333-04:00

Bean and I had our first Spanish class last week. I can't really say that I am looking forward to the next class, but it's not because of the class itself. My first issue is that it's about an hour away. I knew this, and I didn't think it was going to be a big deal because I figured Bean would sleep in the car since it would be his nap time. Well, he didn't sleep in the car, but he was sleepy,

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-29810493717565543502011-04-05T13:09:00.004-04:002011-04-05T13:09:01.280-04:00

I've been checking out a lot of children's materials from the library. They have a nice little selection of Spanish-only and bilingual books, as well as DVD's and CD's. I must say that for the most part I've been disappointed with the DVD's. I think they'd be great for an older child who is just being introduced to a new language; but for our purposes, I don't like how many of these DVD's

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-38400107575672391892011-04-01T09:25:00.009-04:002011-04-01T09:25:00.637-04:00

Am I the only one who thinks that "pato" sounds like "hot dog"? Seriously. Bean has this toy that says all the animal names when you press it. I didn't know that it was a bilingual toy because I didn't buy it. So you press it once it says the name in English, you press it again and it says it in Spanish. Press it again and it breaks out in song. So each time he'd press it, I'd hear "duck" and

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-83801258380371110952011-03-30T10:33:00.000-04:002011-03-30T10:33:28.405-04:00

This past weekend Bean, Mr. Bean, and I went to visit our families. We live about 500 miles away so it was quite a drive. Bean is not good with long car rides. This meant we had to stop more than I wanted to. When we got there, I immediately started speaking to him in English. I didn't even realize it at first. Then something popped in my head and said "HOLA!" and then I switched back to Spanish

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-71164968031797858052011-03-25T09:07:00.067-04:002011-03-25T09:07:00.802-04:00

( English is below.) No soy Latina pero a veces cuando escucho mi música, soy blacktina. No me digas nada cuando mi cumbia, reggaeton, merengeue, o otra música esta en la radio. Es tiempo de bailar, mover mi cintura, y mi nombre es Juanita Domingo Santiago de Acha.  Mira, nada con r porque no puedo rrrrrrr. Escucha esto y dígame que no le hace quiere bailar. No ver el video si los niños

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-9512848492865290702011-03-23T11:04:00.001-04:002011-03-23T11:04:00.248-04:00

Besides responding to "let's eat!" in Spanish, Bean also responds to "Dame beso" (Give me a kiss) and leche (milk). When I say "dame beso" he smiles, then I put my cheek next to his lips and he tries to give me a kiss. All he does is open and close his mouth, but that's good enough for me. When I mention leche his eyes light up and he'll rock his head back and fourth. He also waves his hands

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-81813376510294907342011-03-19T13:40:00.000-04:002011-03-19T13:40:00.900-04:00

Bean was having one of those days where he couldn't be out of my sight without having a meltdown. So I decided to snuggle on the couch with him and watch Spanish cartoons on Youtube. He is fascinated by my laptop so I knew that would settle him down. I happen to come across a Speedy Gonzales cartoon. When you are a child you don't realize what messages certain cartoons are trying to convey; so

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-45914013221327193362011-03-18T10:28:00.000-04:002011-03-18T10:28:00.607-04:00

I not only want Bean to be bilingual, but I also want him to be biliterate. After all, if he is going to learn to speak Spanish, he might as well learn how to read and write it. That being said, I am going to start participating in Spanish Friday, which basically means, much to my chagrin,  on Friday's I'll write in Spanish. Thanks to Latinaish for the idea. I'm so rusty but here we go...

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-67607746540860448442011-03-13T17:08:00.002-04:002011-09-27T19:31:18.831-04:00

I'm not political, so don't even go there with me. But I did find myself shaking my head in agreement with this quote from a few years ago. (Emphasis mine) "Understand this: instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English—they’ll learn English!—you need to make sure that your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about how can your child become bilingual. We should have

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-70125874616958413962011-03-11T11:07:00.005-05:002011-03-14T23:24:58.341-04:00

I posted this on Twitter awhile ago because it's just funny to me. Whenever I say "vamos a comer" Bean opens his mouth so his pacifier falls out and then he starts making faces like he is chewing. He looks like a cute little muppet. You'd have to see it to get the humor, but it proves that he is learning!

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-89592055521478293922011-03-02T16:13:00.000-05:002011-03-02T16:13:00.628-05:00

Photo By Dominik Gwarek I've been making small changes in hopes that they'll lead to big results. Based on reading blogs like Spanish Only and AJATT, I feel pretty confident in what I am doing. I am so busy these days with work, starting a new business, watching the baby, and studying for a class- I feel like I don't really have room to add Spanish in there. So I am trying to ease it in as

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-40747608340539415842011-02-26T11:54:00.002-05:002011-02-26T11:54:00.805-05:00

I'm trying to speak to Bean in Spanish as much as possible. Ideally, I'd like to only speak to him in Spanish, but I just don't have all the vocabulary I need. I figured it would be easy because he's just a baby and you shouldn't need to say that much- but in reality, I talk to him a lot. All day, everyday I talk, talk, talk, talk. Plus there are the times when I forget my Spanish only rule.

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-90843128253896847142011-02-22T11:41:00.009-05:002011-09-27T19:31:57.134-04:00

I have a confession to make. I can't roll my r's. I also can't whistle so maybe that has something to do with why my r's will never trickle off my tongue. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it seems to me that people online are extremely critical of Spanish accents. I understand that if you are going to speak a language, you should learn how to speak it properly. No one wants to sound

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-17883457272698118932011-02-19T12:03:00.015-05:002011-02-19T12:03:00.256-05:00

Bean will be homeschooled. This decision, like many others I've made, was determined years before he was conceived. Cienpies Design But, I'm big on immersion so my mind started to wander to the possibility of sending him to a bilingual preschool. He's just a little tater, so it's not like we'd be sending him tomorrow; but as you will soon learn- I love to plan in advanced. So I started

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-1148856610233156552011-02-18T11:13:00.000-05:002011-02-18T11:13:25.159-05:00

Bean and I are following the immersion method of learning. I'm not going to spend time reviewing grammar books or any other conventional method. We are simply going to immerse ourselves in the Spanish language. As a sidenote, I will be using SRS (or space repetition software) so that I can retain phrases, but other than that I am trying to keep things as natural as possible. So what does that

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142768159819910323.post-40247055444234458902011-02-18T10:12:00.003-05:002011-03-22T15:06:44.430-04:00

It's time to start over with a clean slate. This is my second blog dedicated to chronicling my journey en espanol. I am not Latina but I've always been fascinated with the Spanish language. I took four years in high school, four years in college, and traveled abroad for a short period of time. I think my reluctance to study abroad hindered my learning ability, because in college I was fine

Spanglish Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05916806703926606916noreply@blogger.com3