As soon as we finished watching Speaking in Tongues, an inspiring documentary film which follows the journey of four children as they become bilingual while immersed in dual language programs, my husband turned to me and declared: “We have to do the same for Vanessa.” The award-winning film, produced and directed by the husband-and-wife team read more ...
Although we know it’s never too late to learn a new language, we are firm believers that the earlier you start, the better it is. Did you know that for the most part U.S. students begin studying a second language at age 14? Meanwhile the majority of the top 25 industrialized nations begin the study read more ...
A curious thing happened this weekend as I was paying for a sandwich at a local eatery. The cashiers had been cooing at my baby son, marveling at his big, expressive brown eyes when all of a sudden one of them asked me: “What nationality is he?” I was so taken by surprise that it read more ...
In the last year, both Ana Lilian and I have shared a lot with you about how we’re raising our children bilingual + bicultural—joys and challenges included. Although we’ve shared some details, one thing we have not really done is tell you the how we grew up bilingual ourselves. In honor of SpanglishBaby’s first anniversary, read more ...
One of our main goals when launching SpanglishBaby a year ago was to create the kind of community where parents raising bilingual kids could come and get useful and relevant information. Although we sometimes think we might have the answers to everything, as Ana Lilian likes to point out, motherhood has humbled us and now read more ...
Where to Start? We’re celebrating our first anniversary this week with lots of new features and awesome giveaways. We know many of you have been following us from the beginning—and for that, we are extremely grateful—but for some, SpanglishBaby is a recent discovery. Regardless of which category best describes you, it’s never a bad idea read more ...
February is well known for carnivals, so it seems pretty fitting that we’re hosting the monthly Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism started last year by Letizia from Bilingual for Fun. We’ve grown to really love this idea mostly because we’ve connected with a lot of bloggers from all over the world trying to do the same read more ...
My husband was prepping for a presentation for one of the classes he takes at the local university when I happened to ask him how he felt about speaking in front of a group of people. He said it had gotten much easier with time, but that it would be even easier if he didn’t read more ...
Just when you think things are getting better, you find out outrageous news like this one: a bilingual secretary in a public elementary school in North Carolina has sued the school district claiming she was fired for speaking Spanish to students’ parents. According to the article in the Charlotte Observer, the lawsuit states that in read more ...
Valentine´s Day is the day to tell our friends and family how much they are loved. We are always full of love for this community of parents raising bilingual children and for the love and support you always show us. In Spanish-speaking countries,Valentine´s Day is called either El Día de San Valentín or El Día read more ...
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. read more ...
I come from a long line of atypical Latin American women who don’t really know how to cook. (My mom won’t be happy I’m divulging this information. Sorry mamita, I still think you’re an amazing woman!). I don’t have pangs of nostalgia for my grandmother’s arroz con pollo or for my tía’s empanadas. Growing up, read more ...
Most of us have been affected one way or another by the economic woes this country has been through in the last couple of years. And, although children might be too young to understand all the implications and repercussions of a bad economy, they are not blind to the changes these bring about in their lives. Yet, at least for read more ...
