Why I Am Teaching My Children Spanish
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Recently, one of the presidential candidates wagged a finger at America and said it was a little embarrassing that more of us don?t learn foreign languages. I?ll keep my politics and the accuracy of his statements to myself, but I will say this: I?ve actually been a little embarrassed to admit that I am teaching my children Spanish.
When my son Jacob?now 11?was about four years old, he told us that he wanted to learn Spanish. He thought it would be kind of neat to have another way to speak?almost like a code. So my husband and I, recognizing a window of opportunity when we saw it, plunged in. But ever since, I?ve often felt like I had to defend my decision to friends and family?like they thought I was being obnoxious, pushing my son too hard. But hey, it was his idea in the first place.
Neither my husband nor myself are bilingual, but I had six years of school Spanish and my husband had a few, as well. I started teaching Jacob what I remembered, using the same phrases over and over. A family friend was bilingual, so we began having him over for dinner once a week to speak Spanish with Jacob, and he also made some flash cards for me so that I could expand my list of useful phrases. ?Clean your room.? ?Set the table.? ?Get ready for bed.?
Since then, we have hired foreign exchange students, a University student, and enrolled him in three classes to try and improve his ability to speak. We let him watch almost as many DVDs as he likes, as long as he sets the language to Spanish. And for the last two summers, he is ?required? to speak only Spanish to me. (Of course, I don?t always know if he?s making up words or using the right verb phrases, but at least I?m trying to encourage him.) By now, he falls into this unusual category of far from a native speaker, but using the language much more comfortably than someone like myself who only learned it in a classroom. He was even able to help as a translator for a church group that went to Mexico to work in an orphanage.
Now that our son has a baby sister, it is his job to speak only Spanish to her. Call me neurotic, but what?s the harm in giving her a head start?
I think it?s cool that he has this ability, even if it?s limited. And in the seven years since he began, I can already see a shift in both the need to speak other languages (especially in the region where I live) and in the attitudes of the English-speaking community around me. But not all of the Spanish speakers in my town think it?s wonderful that we are learning to communicate with them. Strangely, when my son placed at the top of his elementary school?s Spanish spelling bee and represented the school at the district level, there were some native speakers who were NOT pleased. I felt like an intruder.
So I?m torn. Some friends think I?m too demanding of my children, pushing them to be overachievers. Some native speakers are feeling threatened. Yet the likely next president of the US agrees with me that learning a foreign language is important, and all the research says that the earlier you do it, the easier it is. I guess I need to stop being embarrassed about allowing my son the opportunity he asked for, and providing my daughter an advantage she doesn?t even know she needs.
Does anyone agree?
Molly says...
Why do you care what other people think? Does your son have more love and joy in his life because of his ability to speak Spanish, or not? Isn’t that the bottom line?
Holly Tried It says...
You are doing great! I understand the awkward feelings. I’m teaching my daughter sign language (like you, I’m not a native speaker/signer). I started when she was an infant, and she learned very quickly. I’ve been interested in the language since I was 8, so we’ve had a lot of fun with it.
But, now that she’s two and talking, I sometimes feel weird signing with her in public. Because, she’s past the age where most people stop signing with their infants. And, she’s now at the stage where she’s beginning to understand finger spelling–and it SEEMS like I’m pushing her when I’m finger spelling words in public. Even though she taught herself to spell DORA.
What’s helped me the most is:
1. Knowing my husband completely supports continuing teaching sign language.
2. Finding an online community of families that are continuing to teach their children sign after they’ve started talking.
3. Knowing that it’s helping my daughter learn early literacy skills earlier.
4. Having FUN with it, which you seem to be doing.
Your little boy sounds amazing.
Holly Tried Its last blog post..The Diaper Debate: Are Disposables as Green as Cloth?
Jessica says...
I think being diligent and on top of your children learning Spanish is great! Don’t feel bad about it. It sounds like your son enjoys learning Spanish and that’s what counts.
My situation is similar to yours where my husband and I are not bilingual (yet), but we are teaching our children Spanish as a second language.
I keep a blog where I chronicle our family’s bilingual journey and encourage English-speaking parents to go ahead and teach their children Spanish.
Learning Spanish (or any other language) is brain exercise for kids and the rewards are countless.
Jessicas last blog post..The 5 Best Steps to Teaching Children Spanish
Renai says...
We homeschool bilingually in English and Spanish. My husband is from Mexico, I’m African-American, and we live in an area with many immigrants (over 100 language groups) and Spanish is a majority language. Maybe I should also mention that according to our state constitution, we are officially a bilingual state :). Said all that to say this, many ARE happy Americans are learning to speak their language.
Why the backlash when your son placed high in the Spanish spelling bee ahead of native speakers? Embarrassment. The schools (American schools, that is) are NOT teaching Spanish speakers Spanish. Or, they go to a certain point, then stop (usually around 3rd grade when the children are speaking well in English). After that point, the families are on their own to continue Spanish literacy, which often is not done as there is so much faith in school system to do it.
When we teach our children another language at home, as you are doing, we are teaching them not only to speak, but to read and write the language. The whole literacy spectrum. But for immigrants, the push is so big for English, the mother language is seen as a side issue, not important. English, English, don’t worry about reading and writing in Spanish, you need English.
I remember at a parent-teacher conference with an immigrant father whose 5th and 6th grade boys had only schooled in English. He thought it was the right thing to do. He didn’t understand why I was telling him to at least teach his children to read and write Spanish at home. I finally had to tell him that his children are illiterate (in Spanish), and when it comes between me and his boys for a job, I’d get it. Why? Because I don’t just speak Spanish, I read and write it. Many parents are in his shoes. Therefore, the embarrassment when a non-native can spell better than they can.
Cody's Mommy says...
Wow, this is a fascinating post. I applaud you not only for taking the initiative but also for the consistency and persistence you’ve shown in raising your son bilingually. I’m shocked that you would encounter resistance from native Spanish speakers in your community for your son’s desire to learn to speak their language. It’s really a shame and it sounds like they are jealous.
The previous comment by Renal hit the nail on the head about the embarrassment factor and kids growing up pretty much illiterate in Spanish even though their parents are native speakers.
Don’t worry about people may think or say about how you are raising your son. You know that what you’re doing is right and your son will thank you when he’s older for your dedication to helping him become bilingual.
Sarah says...
I applaud your efforts as a non-native speaker raising your kids with two languages! Most monolinguals have no idea how hard it is not to share the intimacy and ease of one’s native language with one’s children. Using a different language with them requires a huge amount of patience, creativity, and willingness to push yourself as a parent and language learner yourself.
Rather than pushing your children to “overachieve,” as some of your friends accuse you, you are instead giving them a tremendous gift. Bravo!
And the fact that your son speaks only Spanish to his younger sister will help the two of them stay motivated to keep speaking Spanish together. I also admire your efforts to only speak Spanish yourself during the summer.
Hiring a native speaker to interact with the family is a great idea, too. Can you find (or create) a Spanish-speaking playgroup for your daughter to attend? You mention that your son has taken Spanish classes; have you also done any formal study of the language since leaving school?
I would love to interview you for my blog, Bringing up Baby Bilingual (http://babybilingual.blogspot.com). You (and other readers of this blog who are also raising their kids with more than one language) can check out my interviews with other families by clicking on the label “Profiles” on my sidebar. If you’re interested in being profiled, please email me at babybilingual (at) gmail (dot) com!
Sarahs last blog post..top 100 language blogs–including moi?!
amy says...
I’m a non-native speaker who has been living in Peru for the last year. I returned to the states and got a call from parents of a 6 year old who wants to learn spanish. Its not his parents pushing him to do it, he really wants to learn. I have met with him for 3 weeks now, but its hard to get a start on things. In the beginning there’s really just vocabulary after vocabulary to present and despite my best efforts at games and such, its hard to make it easy or exciting to learn. Any advice on how to get through that first learning curve?
I think its great that you are teaching your children at a young age and want to support the work of these parents to do the same. Thanks for any feedback you have.
Alexandra Lutz says...
We started with a me using a lot of simple, repetitive commands–you could give his parents a brief list. Things like wash your hands, brush your teeth, make your bed, pick up your toys, etc. That way he wasn’t just getting vocab without knowing how to use it. His teachers have played a lot of games with him (just regular board games, but interacting in Spanish). It was also helpful to be out of the house–going to the park or just around the block. Sing songs from Sesame Street he may already know in English. Label things in his room (have him help make them). Basically, stay away from classroom learning and just have regular interaction and a lot of repetition. Say the same thing every time you meet. What day is today? What’s the weather like? How are you? What did you do this week? Go through his photo albums and name family members, talk about what was going on, etc. Watch a scene from a movie in English and Spanish over and over again. Read books with both languages (library).
Good luck!
Rachael says...
I love this topic! I just started! I think it is extremely important to learn another language - and spanish being one of the most important ones.
To start, I started reading some books to my preschooler to teach her Spanish, all were great, but there was one she really loved and made a connection with her…”Tim and Kim” by Kay Linda Nord. Nord uses both spanish and english and has proven to be a great educational tool (teaching mexican spanish)
Thanks for the great post!
Science-mom says...
As mom of bilingual kids living in a multilingual country, all I can say is - kudos - you are doing what’s best for your kids.