"Mommy, I'm not green!" And other ways I know he's listening.

Since starting this journey to bilingualism three months ago, part of our routine has become me talking to my boys in Spanish in the car as we drive somewhere. My three yr old LOVES talking and at this point still expresses almost everything in English, although he is starting to take ownership of some Spanish. (On his own this week, he approached me and said, "Tengo hambre!" This was a pretty big milestone for us considering it's been only a short time since introducing a second language.)

Today, on our way to a Spanish play date, he was asking his usual questions and I was answering in Spanish.
"Mommy, what color is the sky?"
"El cielo es azul."
"Where is the sun?"
"Está en el cielo, detrás de las nubes."
"Behind the clouds?"
"¡Sí!"
(He often repeats what I say in Spanish in English, to verify that he understands. Eventually, I hope to phase that out, but for now it's a great tool for knowing how much he is understanding.)

Then, one of his favorites:
"Mommy, can you see me?"
"No, en este momento no puedo verte."

His response to this made me pause, he said, "Mommy, I'm not green!"

Now, my first thought was, "Ok-captain random. Thanks for that." But then as I thought about what I had said, it occurred to me that "verte" to him sounds just like "verde." He was using the context he knew and applying it to what he heard. What does this mean? He's listening, the wheels are turning, and he is learning. All a very important part of the process and also a big encouragement in this journey.

Striving for Success in Successive Bilingualism

"When children acquire two languages prior to the age of three, it is termed simultaneous bilingualism (Baker, 1996; Goodz, 1994). This type of bilingualism is usually found in homes where parents speak two (or more) languages. Successive bilingualism refers to instances when children acquire their second language after age three. "
http://www.education.com/reference/article/bilingual-acquiring-two-language/

My children are now 3 yrs old and 7 months old. Looking back, I now wish most fervently that I had started speaking Spanish right away with our first child. Sadly, I was a little preoccupied at the time with thought of  "What on earth were they thinking sending us home with this tiny thing? And why didn't they send a manual with it?"  Then life continued and other than an occasional bedtime story in Spanish, the target language got pushed to the back burner.

Fast forward to today. It has been about a month since I started my campaign to integrate Spanish into our daily interactions and routines. Every night, our bedtime routine is all in Spanish, we read at least one bedtime story in Spanish each night, and I try to use Spanish in other places throughout the day. If I'm being honest, I'd say I've achieved quasi-consistency. One of my challenges is that right now, I am the main exposure to the majority language as well as the sole exposure to the minority language. So during the course of the day, I am switching back and forth often depending on the situation. If vocab is required that our oldest has heard before in Spanish, I will stay in Spanish. I will, however, use English if  the situation requires immediate understanding such as today's, "Honey, remember we talked about throwing footballs at Mommy's head when she is not looking. That is not a good choice."

I have posted about our "Baby Steps" and about his new favorite book. I am excited to report that I am seeing improvement. He is remembering more of the animals in Spanish each time we read and he is understanding more and more when I speak Spanish to him. One of his favorite activities throughout the day is for us to make up stories together. I've started having him tell the story in English and I will translate it to Spanish as we go, prompting him in Spanish with questions for more detail. Is this a good strategy? I honestly don't know,but it seems to be working. If nothing else, it helps get him used to hearing me speak in Spanish and lets him hear a lot of the same vocab over and over. It's easy to feel like I should be doing more, speaking more in Spanish. I know the benefits of immersion, but I also know my child. If I were to jump in with both feet and only speak in Spanish or demand that he only speak Spanish to me, there would be a major meltdown followed by resistance to anything Spanish. (The joys of being 3!)

At this point, I am reminding myself that all exposure to the target language is more than he had before and that with our current process, he is showing less resistence to me speaking in Spanish. Those are good steps forward. I find that I have to remind myself that this is a long journey, not a quick trip. I have to define what success looks like for us. It's ok to have short term goals and long term goals. I am finding encouragement in the small victories and continuing to find resources and make connections with other parents in our community. I think that maintaining my enthusiasm (and patience!) and making the language fun for my kids are key to achieving our long term goal of bilingualism.

¡Hasta pronto!

Small Victories

There is nothing quite like knowing you are the floor show for nearby shoppers.  I understand how trying to speak Spanish to my son in public might attract attention. It's not everyday (here in Indiana) that you see a 5'10 blond haired, green eyed adult speaking Spanish to an adamantly English speaking child. Or said adult asking specifically for Spanish titles. Or said child child declaring, "Mommy you got to speak Engwish!"

I took my kids with me to the local book store and was looking through the Spanish children's books. I found Go Dog Go and a Curious George book that I thought looked cute and bonus: they were in Spanish! So I called my son over and we had this conversation:

-"¿Te gusta este libro, ¡Corre Perro Corre¡, o prefieres Jorge Curioso?
-"NOT THOSE books Mommy! I not like those!
-"¿No te gustan éstos?"
-"No! Yucky!"
-"Bien, ¿Cuál libro quieres?"
-"NOT THOSE!

The joys of conversing with his age group made only more delightful by the added language! During this exchange, there was another mother and her two sons, slightly older than mine, who were hovering nearby. The boys were pretending to be interested in books, but would keep looking at us and shuffling closer to hear what was going on. Well, in for a penny in for a pound right?

-"Entonces, ven aquí y busca un cuento que te gusta."
-"I want THIS one!"

Success! He chose a Spanish book that would be perfect for practicing animals, colors, location words, and more; our audience evidently decided that my son was in no danger from the strangely speaking lady; and my son felt proud and possessive of his new book. A winning trifecta :)




In the last three days, we have read his book several times and each time I have had him repeat the names of the animals in Spanish.  I have really emphasized the verb estar too. So who do you suppose did a vigorous happy dance when after we read it this evening I heard my son looking for his daddy saying, "¡Papî! ¿Dónde estááás?" Yup! That would be me! Small victories my friends...small victories.

Great Article from a mom who is speaking from experience!

Bilingual Children: Why You Really, Really, Really Should Start When They Are Young

http://www.multilingualliving.com/2014/01/30/bilingual-multilingual-children-really-should-start-when-young/

Thinking Outside of the Box to Find Resources

Our family lives in Indiana, which is not exactly a hotbed of bilingual pursuits. I have found many resources online, but when it comes to finding more face to face or interactive opportunities, I have not had as much luck. Is this frustrating? Yes. But I refuse to be discouraged. Standing in front of up to 35 15-17 year olds at a time for whom I am charged with providing engaging and meaningful instruction and practice, I have learned to not allow a lack of enthusiasm deter me :)

That said, here are strategies I have tried for pursuing more interaction with the target language:

1. Contacting the local library and book stores to ask about Spanish or bilingual story times.

• The library responded that they lack anyone on staff qualified to lead such an activity, but that if I knew anyone who was, to refer them and perhaps they could have "guest readers." I'm waiting to hear what they would consider "qualified."  I consider this very positive and am happy knowing there IS hope for story time in the near future. 
• When I contacted them, I learned that the bookstore, Barnes and Noble, was planning to start a Spanish language story time the very next week! They now happen twice a month, which is a great start!

2. Networking with Neighbors

• Many neighborhoods have a web page or Facebook page on which messages can be shared and questions asked. Our neighborhood uses something called Nextdoor, which functions like an online forum for classified ads. You can post an ad or a question and people can respond. I posted a message asking if there was interest in raising bilinguals or holding bilingual play dates. I will be honest, I have not had any responses yet, but you never know who might see it in the future!

3. www.meetup.com : A way to meet up with people near you who share similar interests.

• Several years ago, when I wanted to practice my own Spanish speaking, I joined the Indianapolis Spanish Language Meetup on meetup.com. I had fallen away from being very involved once we had our first child, and hadn't given it much thought since then. When I looked back at their page, they had over 600 members! I thought, surely of 600 people interested in Spanish, some of them would have children and might be interested in play dates! So I sent an email out and received several responses almost right away from interested parents! Some are native Spanish speakers and some are not. We have a play date set to meet at the Children's Museum this month, and I plan to try for more frequent, informal play dates as well. The more exposure, especially in the form of play, the better! The great thing about this site is that if there is not already a meetup for your interest, you can start one. This has great potential for networking with other parents of bilinguals!

4.  For less common languages, in can be even more difficult to find interactive opportunities. Check to see if your city, or a bigger city nearby, hosts international festivals during the summers. These would be great opportunities to ask around about native speakers, cultural events, suggestions for exposure, and more. Here are just a few that happen in Indy each year:

• The International Festival - over 50 ethnic groups represented
• Irish Fest
• Greek Festival
• Fiesta Indianapolis/ Indy Latino Expo
• Italian Street Festival
• Oktoberfest (German)
• French Market Festival

A Little Mystery Goes a Long Way

As I've mentioned, I'm having to find sneaky ways to get our son to use the target language (in our case, Spanish). I came across this post from the blog Bilingual Monkeys. It is a great site full of information and resources.
 Check it out! It's a great idea for home or the classroom!

http://bilingualmonkeys.com/a-sneaky-way-to-get-bilingual-kids-to-use-the-minority-language/

I love the idea of a mystery item in a box or a mystery trip! We can start slow with colors and as he gets older, he will be able to ask more. Students in a classroom could do so much with this!

Sometimes a clown, sometimes a cheerleader

Anyone who has had a 3 year old knows that this is the age of declaring independence and demonstrating strong-willed tendencies (usually toward the exact opposite of what you would like to happen). Trying to get my son to use Spanish can be tricky. If I push, he flat out refuses. If  I cajole, he says it's yucky and he doesn't want to. So I have to change tactics. I act like a clown pretty often, over exaggerating my motions and pronunciation to get him laughing and responding without pressure. Even this, though, will sometimes only win me signs of understanding and not use of  the language.

For instance, at lunch today: (in my clown persona)

"Mommy! These potato chips are delicious!"
".¿Las papitas son deliciosas?"
"Uh-huh."
"¿De qué color son las papitas? ¿Son verdes?"
"Nooo, they're not green!"
"Son azules?"
"No! They're not blue, they're yellow!"
"Las papitas son amarillas?"
"Yes!"
"¿Sí?
"¡Sí!


As we are in the middle of this "Polar Vortex" in the mid-west, we are pretty much confined to activities in the house. So after lunch, the boys and I spent some time in my bedroom, because it seems to be the warmest room in the house. In the middle of reading a story,our 3 yr old climbed up on the bed and said, "Mommy! I am arriba!"

In a split second, my brain processed that he had voluntarily used a Spanish word and my inner cheerleader emerged. Imagine the clown persona after two Red Bulls and you'll have a reasonable vision of how exited I became- "MUY BIEN! ¡Sí estás arriba! ¡EXCELENTE!"

He got a huge smile on his face and took it one step further, "Mommy! I am arriba, and you and my baby brother are abajo!"

Well, the cheerleader cheered and a happy dance ensued.

So I know that he is understanding and learning new words in Spanish. It is still early in our journey, though, and he still is more comfortable responding in English. All of the research says that to succeed, there has to be a NEED for the language as well as exposure. So my goal is to find a way to make more of a need here at home. We go to a Spanish story time every two weeks and have a Spanish play date planned, but it's not until a month from now. Alas, being few and far between, those don't help create a need here in our home. 

I'm considering different paths- maybe a sticker chart for when he uses Spanish or maybe setting a short  play time each day where I "only understand" Spanish. Whatever I do, I know my inner clown and cheerleader will be right by my side!