image credit: panic, by nate steiner, via flickr

I’m writing because I have several doubts about how to teach my son a language which is not my own. Because it is his father’s language, I’d like for him to learn it as though it was his mother tongue.

My son and I live in a small town (with my son’s grandparents) where no one speaks English. His father and his family are English and, even though they don’t have much of a relationship, I’d like for my son to know about British culture and speak English as well as he speaks Spanish.

Now my son is 2 and a half years old, and he is starting to repeat everything. I try to speak to him in English as much as I can, and it seems like he understands me. But I also speak to him in Spanish, and I have read that it would be better for him to relate English with a specific person. I don’t know if I am confusing him because there are words he doesn’t know how to say in Spanish that he does say in English (though he does understand them in Spanish).

He always watches cartoons in English and I read to him in English and Spanish. My parents ask him to say things in English, but he doesn’t really know what English and Spanish are yet. He can count in both languages but I have to prompt him. If I say “uno” he says “dos” and if I say “one”, he begins to count with “two” all the way to ten.
I’m the only one who speaks to him in a different language and I don’t know if that is enough for him to be bilingual or if he’ll learn when he goes to school and becomes curious about the culture and wants to learn about it. But will it be too late then? I’ve very overwhelmed, I don’t know if I’m doing a good job because I can tell he is evolving more in Spanish than in English. Does this mean he’ll never be bilingual? I always speak to him in English when we are alone, but not at the same time each day, though I’ve read that it’s a good idea for children to associate a language with a time and place, bath time, dinner time, etc. I speak to him in English when I can tell he is receptive.
I really hope you can help me. I don’t know if I should see a professional who could help me, since it is very difficult to do this alone.

Thank you very much.
Helena

Hi Helena!

I think it’s great that you are making such a strong effort to teach your son about another culture through his father’s language. It’s a difficult task, but it’s not impossible! As I always say in our Workshops, don’t get overwhelmed and give up other important things in favor of bilingualism! There will always be opportunities to learn a second language, but our children are only very small once and it is also fantastic to enjoy those years in one, two or many languages.

First, it’s logical that your son would have more vocabulary and sentences in Spanish, and it will also be logical if you notice a significant difference between his Spanish and English as he begins to speak more and interact with more people. This is especially true if the only person he speaks English with is you.
But don’t panic! I believe that every little thing (or big thing) you do to help him learn is allowing a small seed to grow.

Your question brings up several interesting points:
1. “it would be better for him to relate English with a specific person.” In your case, there is no one person who just speaks one specific language. But that is in no way a bad thing. The only thing you need to do is get a bit organized. It’s not a good idea for you to constantly translate what you’re saying or switch back and forth between English and Spanish. You are a model for your child and you should try to be a valid one. No one naturally speaks two different languages at the same time or repeats the same thing in two languages. Conclusion: your language is Spanish and in your daily life you interact with your son in Spanish. But you can choose certain moments during the day to share certain activities with your son in English. This could be reading a story, playing a game, bath time, shopping, whatever you and your son prefer. But try to find some time every day for interaction in his second language.
2. “he doesn’t really know what English and Spanish are yet”. Neither he nor any other small child who speaks two or more languages knows the names of those languages. To him there are just different ways to say the same thing. What you need to bear in mind is that when you want a child to learn two languages simultaneously as a small child, the best way to do this is the natural way. In this sense, asking him to translate something is not a good idea. Why not? Because we naturally use language to communicate, ask for things, get something. If we translate, we are not really meeting any of the objectives of speaking.
3. “it’s a good idea for children to associate a language with a time and place”. This also goes along with what I told you in the first point, but it may be a good idea to clarify this. The idea of associating a language with a time and a place is more about giving a child certain communication norms and not mixing languages at the same time. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be the exact same moment every day (bath time, for example). If this is the way we interpret this, it would not be very helpful for a child. If you only speak English to your son at bath time, he will know lots of bath words in English, but he won’t know anything about food. The idea is to look for moments throughout the day to speak in his second language, but this doesn’t always have to be associated with the exact same activity.

Finally, I would recommend checking out the following link (http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/es/leadingtoreading.htm). Here you’ll find many activities you can do with your child. And if you know someone else who speaks English, it would be great for your son to see that there are other people who can interact in that language.

Best of luck and please don’t be overwhelmed. There are many opportunities to learn. Now go have fun with your son!

Best,
Mariana Lombardo
Mariana Lombardo is an experienced children speech therapist. She does clinical work at SINEWS with bilingual families in the expat community in Madrid. Mariana is in charge of the workshops for bilingual families offered by SINEWS and she also gives personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families. For more information, please visit www.sinews.es.

See these gorgeous illustrations? They’re from two new books, Good Morning/Buenos días and Good Night/Buenas noches, which we’ll be publishing later this spring. Aren’t they adorable?

lil' fan, from caitlinator, via flickr

Hi!

My husband and I are expecting a little one and we are both excited and anxious about the challenging language environment in which our baby will grow up: My husband is Italian, I am French, we live here in Spain (and plan to send our baby to a Spanish guarderia after my maternity leave ends)… and my husband and I speak English with each other. We are both quite attached to speaking our native languages to him, and neither my Italian and my Spanish, nor my husband’s French would be good enough for us to switch our “couple’s language” away from English.
Do you think hearing 4 languages and being talked to in 3 languages right from birth is going to be an issue for our son? Any recommendations?

Thanks a lot!
Aurelie

Hi Aurelie!
First I’d like to congratulate you! I hope all is well, and I’m sure you’ll have a beautiful baby!
With regard to your question, there is no reason why you shouldn’t raise a child in a multilingual environment. In fact, this is becoming very common! The secret lies in the way you decide to handle this and the amount of effort you’d like to make.

But let’s go step by step. We always say that language is culture, so language is very much a part of human emotions. So it is perfectly logical that both you and the baby’s father feel most comfortable speaking to him in your respective mother tongues. Surely you are both very prepared to speak to your child in Italian and French.
The same thing goes for your language as a couple. If you met in English and have always spoken to each other in English, it is completely logical that you would naturally and spontaneously continue to speak to each other in English. In fact, I recommend that you continue to do so, since this is an important aspect of your relationship.
However, you’ll need to bear in mind one fundamental aspect in your situation. Your child will be interacting in three languages: Italian with Dad, French with Mom and Spanish at school. The language you and your husband speak to each other will only be another model which your child will hear, but he won’t have the need to use it, since no one will be speaking to him directly in English. This factor will differentiate English from the other three languages.

If you read the majority of the responses in the Ask Sinews section, you’ll see that we always say that a child needs to feel the need to use a language if he is going to learn it properly. In your case, this won’t happen with English. In this case you will only be giving him the opportunity to passively listen to a fourth language (and if he needs to learn English in the future, this will surely help him to learn it more quickly).
Before I go, I’d like to remind you that the amount of time your child is exposed to each language is very, very important. So it would be great if both Mom and Dad tried to speak only French and Italian, since his stimulation in Spanish will be very strong once he starts school.
Try to look for ways to have fun with your child while using language as a fundamental tool: singing, reading stories together, playing with puppets…use your imagination!

Best,

Mariana Lombardo
Mariana Lombardo is an experienced children speech therapist. She does clinical work at SINEWS with bilingual families in the expat community in Madrid. Mariana is in charge of the workshops for bilingual families offered by SINEWS and she also gives personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families. For more information, please visit www.sinews.es.

We recently published two new books, El fantasma de Canterville/The Canterville Ghost and La leyenda de Sleepy Hollow/The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Both books are part of a new collection designed and illustrated by Mar Blanco. In this post, Mar has taken some time to explain the creative process for the Bilingual Classics collection.

When I was thinking about how to design the covers for the Bilingual Classics collection, which started with two of the greatest ghost stories ever told, I began by looking for common elements that would give unity to the collection so that anyone who looked at these books would know that they belonged to this collection.

First I made preliminary drawings based on my idea: I decided to use a wide “sash” to showcase the title and divide the covers into two sections. This, in addition to a black background, would be the common element in all of the books in this collection. An illustration of the main character of each book would appear at the top of the cover, and other supporting characters would appear in the lower part of the cover, upside down. The spine of each book would have a different color and all of the covers would have a distinctive element. I wanted the collection to have lots of personality, so I tried to pay special attention to the details, fonts, colors, etc. And I tried to design covers that would be attractive to our target readers (ages 10 and up).

Sketch

Typography

At first, the back cover also included an illustration, a small detail from each story (a pumpkin and a hat from Sleepy Hollow and some rusty chains from The Canterville Ghost), but I decided to eliminate these illustrations to simplify the covers.

The title had to appear on the cover in both languages, but I didn’t want the cover to look too “busy”, so I opted highlight the most significant word from each title. I also flipped the rest of the title around just as I had done with the supporting characters.

And these are the final results for the first two Bilingual Readers books in this collection:

Mar Blanco is a designer and illustrator. You can follow her work on her blog.

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Since we started Bilingual Readers in 2009 we have strived to publish original, high quality bilingual books for children. Up until now most of the books we’ve published at Bilingual Readers have been more geared toward younger children, but over the past two years we’ve had many requests from parents for books that would help older children and adults improve their language skills through reading. We agree that there is a need for bilingual books for older children and adults, which is why we’re thrilled to announce the recent publication of a new collection of classic bilingual books for readers aged 10 and up! Each book in the new Bilingual Classics collection includes the full bilingual text of a classic work of literature, as well as exercises and activities to reinforce vocabulary and sentence structures. You’ll also notice the gorgeous cover designs by designer/illustrator Mar Blanco. She’s an up and coming illustrator who we hope to work with on many projects in the future.

Last week we released the first two books in this collection, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow/La leyenda de Sleepy Hollow and The Canterville Ghost/El fantasma de Canterville. Each book contains the full text in the original English alongside the Spanish translation of the text, with highlighted vocabulary words and expressions. Games and activities at the end of the book help readers practice new vocabulary and sentence structures, and mp3 audio files of the original English text can be downloaded for free from our website.

Click here for more information on how you can buy these fantastic new books!

As you know, we at Bilingual Readers are huge fans of helping children learn a second language from an early age. That’s why we’re happy to pass along the following information about a new playgroup in Madrid organized by our friends at Sinews. This may be a great opportunity for those of you who are looking for an English language playgroup in Madrid.

New Playgroup in Madrid Led by Specialists
It is not impossible for your child to master English as a second language! In the global climate of today, it is essential that our children are well-equipped to succeed in a world that is rich in inter cultural communication. Many families who are planning on educating their children in English, or who are contemplating moving their children to a bilingual school, appreciate the opportunity to expose their children to a second language as soon as possible.
At Sinews we have designed a ‘Stimulating English Through Play’ group that allows you to familiarize your child with English and learn how you can support your child’s language development from as early as 18 months of age.
When it comes to bilingualism, you are in the best hands at Sinews; we are known for our expertise in bilingualism through our wealth of experience working with families of the international community.
The ‘Stimulating English Through Play’ groups are designed and run by our English Speech and Language Therapist, with the aim of stimulating English in children through the use of songs and stories to expose them to new vocabulary and phrases. Vocabulary is then reinforced through a variety of fun games and activities involving active participation to engage the children in listening and speaking English and provide ample opportunities to practice using new words in a variety of contexts within sessions.

The use of pictures, gestures and real objects provide a multi-sensory learning environment, making these groups highly accessible and captivating for all children, including those with speech and language difficulties, developmental disorders and hearing impairment.
‘Stimulating English through play’ is divided into two age groups:
18 months to 2 years and 11 months old (parents are welcome)
As parents, you know your child better than anyone else. This makes you the best people to nurture your child’s language skills. You are warmly invited to attend these sessions with your child, where the Speech and Language Therapist will share tips on how to support your child’s language development.
Time: 3 groups on Friday mornings from 10.00 to 11:00, 11:00 to 12:00 or 12:00 to 1:00 PM
3 to 5 years and 11 months old
At this age, when play begins to be shared, playing with children of the same age is really powerful for the development of the first and subsequent languages. The games will be especially designed to nurture your child’s communication skills.
Time: 3 groups on Friday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30, 5:30 to 6:30 or 6:30 to 7:30 PM
Enrollment: First come first served basis via e-mail to talleres@sinews.es This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , indicating first and last names of the kids as well as his/her age and the day of the week you’d like to attend.
Place: SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute
C/ Zurbano 34 1º Izquierda CP 28010 Madrid.
If you have any questions please call 91 7001979.

Price: 25 euros per session or 80 euros per month (4 sessions).

image credit: padre e hijos, by jclabbe, via flickr

Hello, I’ve been reading about OPOL (One Parent One Language) and I found this page, which is very interesting by the way. I’m from Argentina and I’m married to a Dutch woman. We live in Holland with our children. I speak to them in Spanish, my wife speaks in Dutch and we speak English to each other. My oldest son is 3 and a half years old, and he understands everything I say to him in Spanish but he answers me in Spanish mixed with Dutch. Sometimes he begins to ask me something in Dutch until I correct him. He goes to preschool three times a week where they only speak to him in Dutch. How can I get my son to speak to me in Spanish? Should I ignore him when he speaks to me in Dutch or is it normal for him to go through a phase of mixing languages?

Thank you,
Marcos

Dear Marcos,

Your question is very, very common in bilingual families.
In your case, first I should clarify that mixing languages is a normal phase and can even be good for bilingual development. At this point you shouldn’t be worried. With regard to your main concern, it’s very common for children to respond in their stronger language (normally the language of the community they live in, since they receive much more stimulation in that language) when their mother or father speaks to them in another native language, regardless of how well they understand that language.
This is due to a very positive reason: your son is learning about communication and he has discerned two fundamental things about learning to communicate all by himself:
-He knows you understand Dutch because he has seen you speak to other people in Dutch and can tell that you understand what others say to you.
-He knows that sometimes it’s quicker and easier to use Dutch if he wants you to give him something or let him do something.

The trick of pretending not to pay attention to him when he speaks to you in Dutch can be useful only sometimes if you don’t use it too much. Use this only to let him know that you prefer for him to speak to you in Spanish because there is no way you are going to fool him. He’s small, but he’s smart!

So, what can you do? I would say the most important thing is to be aware that even if he doesn’t always respond to you in your language, he is learning Spanish in a much more active way (though it may seem more passive) than he would learn in a conventional language class. With a small push towards a ”need” to speak Spanish, he could go from not speaking much to speaking volumes.

The truth is that there is no easy and perfect trick but the following strategies might be helpful:
-The most important thing is to provide stimulation in the minority language so that it won’t be seen as a tool that doesn’t work as well as Dutch (see other responses to Ask Sinews to read about strategies for stimulating the minority language).
-It’s also important for your son to see you speaking Spanish to other people in Holland. This way he will see Spanish as a “priveleged” language for communicating with you. For example, speak with your family via Skype so that both you and your son can speak with each other and your family in Spanish. In any case, he should be present when you speak to your family and should have the opportunity to contribute from time to time.
-Buy games and books in the language you want to stimulate and make sure they are appropriate for his level so that he doesn’t find the experience frustrating.
-Travel with your son to Spanish speaking countries so that he can see how useful Spanish is and can see that Spanish is your strongest language. There it will be much more likely for him to speak to you in Spanish and he may just continue to do so when you get home. Visits from family members who only speak Spanish are almost as useful.

It’s truly important for you not to give up or get too frustrated, since what may seem like it’s not working now can change very quickly with the right kind of stimulation. In any case, your son’s linguistic background in Spanish from hearing you speak to him in Spanish will provide enough input for him to use it easily when he needs it, unlike those of us who learned languages later on in life. The same thing goes for the English he hears his parents speaking at home. Though the active development of this language may be less, an invaluable amount of passive learning is going on and this will be very useful later in life.

Best of luck with your trilingual family project!

Dr. Orlanda Varela
Child Psychiatrist at SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute
Dr. Orlanda Varela is a Child Psychiatrist and the Coordinator of the educational project for Bilingual Families at SINEWS Multilingual Therapy Institute in Madrid. SINEWS organizes bilingualism workshops for parents in Madrid, as well as personalized speech therapy sessions to bilingual families with specific language development problems. For more information, please visit sinews.es