Raising trilingual children {Family Fridays – an update}

(Photo via Carissa Rogers, Flickr CC)

¡Feliz viernes, amig@s! We’re back with another edition of Family Fridays here on the blog, a series in which I highlight a different multilingual family from around the globe.

I’m so happy to have back again my dear friend J.K., whose family was the first to be interviewed for this series over a year ago. Originally from Korea, she and her American husband are raising their two (soon to be three!) children in three languages while living as expats in China. You can catch her first interview here.

Today, she gives us an update on her family’s language policy, shares challenges she and her husband have experienced in their six years raising trilingual children, and provides encouragement for families in a similar situation.

Be encouraged, friends!

#ReadYourWorld! (My book review for Multicultural Children’s Book Day)

This month I’ve had the privilege to participate as a book reviewer in the Multicultural Children’s Book Day. Since I’m the mother of a bilingual toddler, I requested books to review that would be appropriate both for that age and linguistic level. So, the folks over at  Lil’ Libros kindly sent me two fantastic books to check out: Counting with Frida and Lotería: First Words by Patty Rodríguez and Ariana Stein. Lotería introduces young children to basic “first word” vocabulary, while Frida helps them learn their numbers 1-10.

Let me share with you why I think both of these books would make excellent additions to your home library if you’re raising your little ones in both English and Spanish.

“We hope we aren’t confusing her.” {Letter from a reader – part 2}

(Photo courtesy of urbanworkbench, Flickr CC)

The first day of September?! Where did summer go??

I refuse to welcome Autumn, even though today marks the first day back to school for children in our city. Speaking of school, a reader wrote me a letter a few days ago, asking advice about a situation related to a change in her daughter’s language development due to starting a new school. Below you’ll find her letter and my advice.

Be encouraged, friends.

A Parenting Paradigm Shift {Changes on the Blog}

Queridos amigos,

While on the one hand it bothers me that I’m not currently blogging on a regular basis, on the other hand it doesn’t.

Yes, life with a toddler who now only takes one nap a day instead of two equates to very little free time alone. And, yes, it’s summer and the pace of life just slows down. But, truthfully, those aren’t the only reasons I have fallen out of stride with blogging about my adventures in bilingual parenting.

Over the past few months I have witnessed the evolution and expansion of my parenting paradigm from raising a bilingual child to raising a bilingual child and parenting slower, more simply, and more intentionally.

La Familia Cool {Family Fridays}

(Photo via Carissa Rogers, Flickr CC)

¡Amig@s! Today’s edition of Family Fridays is one that I’m convinced will leave you energized in this challenging, but rewarding, journey of bilingual parenting. I’m excited to introduce you to Dania Santana, the creative force behind the blog La Familia Cool. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she now lives with her husband and three young children in the United States, where she lives and breathes (and, writes about!) bilingualism and multiculturalism.

Be encouraged, friends.

What I hope my daughter learns from los americanos

Last week I wrote about the eleven habits of Spaniards that I am living out as mother raising her daughter bilingually and bi-culturally. 

That post made me think: bi-cultural means TWO.

There are values and habits that I have grown up with in the United States that I also want to share with my daughter. So, today’s post.

While I want to avoid making gross generalizations about an entire country and her people, I do believe that what follow are six of the most salient cultural values Americans of all sub-groups embrace. And, they’re the ones that, exercised with grace and wisdom, I hope my daughter embraces.

Around the World in 5 1/2 Months (A Family Fridays Roundup)

(Photo via The Shopping Sherpa, Flickr CC)

¡Feliz viernes, amig@s!

Fridays on the blog are dedicated to interviews, or conversations really, with multilingual families from all over the globe.

And, if you can believe it, I’ve been at this blogging thing now for five and a half months (wow!). So, I thought I’d take a break from our regularly scheduled interviews to give some of my new readers a recap of the 16 wonderful multilingual families who have graciously shared their stories with us.

Sixteen families. That’s 16 stories, 16 adventures in multilingual parenting. Hoping you find helpful advice and lots of encouragement.

“Ya Está.” – Miscommunication as Romantic (A Valentine’s Day Post)

“Ya está.” (“That’s it.”)

Who would’ve thought that those two little words would set my early twenty-something’s love life on a trajectory of para siempre.

I’m going to tell you a story, one of miscommunication, misinterpretation, and ultimately language learning and amor. It’s how my husband of 11 years, D., and I began nuestra relación.

3 Reasons to Choose Original Versions over Translated Texts for Children

The minute I learned I was pregnant one of my first thoughts was, “I can’t wait to begin E.’s home library! There are so many books from my childhood that I will get to read to her!”

The follow-up question to that first thought was, “Wait, where can I find a Spanish translation of Charlotte’s Web and Little House on the Prairie, and Harry the Dirty Dog and…?” (In case you’re new to the blog, I exclusively use Spanish with my one-year old daughter.)

Fortunately, Spanish is a popular language here in the United States, which means it is easy to find translated versions of just about every book. And, thankfully, on-line booksellers, like amazon.com have made purchasing translated books even easier. Nuestra casa is already brimming with little baby board books of La Oruga Muy Hambrienta, Harry el Perrito Sucio, and Adivina Cuanto Te Quiero.

Yet, while I am grateful to be able to share with E. the magical world of the books of my childhood, I have come to realize that translated books aren’t always the ideal when raising a child bilingually, and bi-culturally.

The Art of el Paseo Español, part 2

Monday’s post was part one of El Paseo (literally, the walk) in Spain. (If you haven’t read it, why not hop on over there first before continuing with today’s post?)

Yes, I’m dedicating two entire posts to the idea of taking a walk. It’s that important for Spaniards.

If you’re an American (like me) reading this, however, you’ve probably never thought of a walk as more than a way to get from point A to point B, or as a way to exercise. In fact, while preparing these posts, I decided to type in “take a walk” into Google, just our of curiosity, to see the top results. Here’s what I found: