I am so happy! This weekend I have seen a major breakthrough on my kids' Spanish. They actually spoke a full Spanish sentence to me!!!!
My son asked me:"Mami, cual es tu color favorito? Mi color favorito es el rojo!
And my daughter has become quite the master of the newly implemented (by me) car game: La maleta de la tia Gladys. She actually said it all by herself : "En la maleta del carro de la Tia Gladys encontre un avion" (Game rules here)
I guess my efforts of trying to speak in Spanish all the time are sort of working. But what else have helped? As mentioned in the first post of this series, I also have my kids enrolled in a language school: Language starts. They go there for the whole academic year, once a week for 1.5 hours (I wish I could afford to send them more often)
So what did the school do for me? First it showed my kids that I was not the only person in this planet who spoke Spanish (see my first post) but also allowed them to hear more Spanish as I am not with then the whole time.
While looking for a language school I was very clear on one thing. I needed a full immersion school in where my kids were taught 100% in Spanish - no translations allowed. From first hand experience I know the best way to learn a language is to be fully immerse in it. I learned English in only 4 months as I was in the UK with nobody who spoke Spanish anywhere near me!!!. At the beginning is hard but then you just get it - it is hard to explain.
Language stars was by far the best school I visited. All their teachers are native speakers (so no accents to worry about) and they offer a program called FunImmersion in where the kids are spoken to only in Spanish. I have been very happy with them and the kids really like it as they play, talk and eat a snack while there.
Right now they are on vacation - I can't wait for them to start!!!
Disclosure: I will receive discounted tuition from Language Stars as compensation for this post. However all facts and opinions expressed in this post are true and my own. Language Stars have not asked me to write about anything in particular, only my true and honest opinion about my experience with their program. This post have not been edited by a third person.
Hola Carelys! So happy that they are speaking Spanish :) Estoy segura que ahorita se sueltan. Que bueno que encontraste un programa tan chevere.
ReplyDeleteThere is a spanish immersion day care in our area---so cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving your link on MBC~
Lisa
Thank you all!
ReplyDeleteI just have a home law. Habla Espanol, si no no hay TV. Tv en Espanol, internet games en Espanol. Musica latina y Audio books CDs en el caroo en ESPANOL.
ReplyDeleteHablale asi le e pena frente a sus amiguitos en Espanol y que te conteste, si no te haces la loca hasta que te responda.
Inventa una forma de premiarlos cuando "por Fin" te contestan en Espanol. Un abrazo, un privilegio.
Asi mi hija es ya completamente bilingue con 9 anitos.
www.latinaconestiloelocuente.com
Hola! I found you on FB on the Blogueras group. This is very interesting to me and a major issue for so many of us. I moved to the US when I was 5 and my father wanted us to learn English right away and wanted my mother to speak English to us. My mother had the right frame of mind to say no and we only spoke Spanish at home. Thanks to her I am fully bilingual. Now I am married to an American and I have decided to raise our son bilingual. We have decided that I only speak in Spanish and everyone else in English. Of course English will be the dominant language but it is absolutely marvellous to hear him talk to me in Spanish and with Chilean words too! :) My mother taught Spanish Immersion for many years and I would like my son to attend an immersion school too. I am so happy that you are teaching your kids and that they are so happy and responsive to you! And to add to my mix...my grandparents are German so there is lots of language and cross culture happening in our home too. But that's what makes us all the more interesting :) Muchos carinos, y te apoyamos!
ReplyDeleteMa.Jose y Matias (Little M)