Raising bilingual kids, part two

Since first writing about raising bilingual kids a few months ago, I have a discovered a few more helpful resources to add to my Introducing Kids to Spanish list.

First is a book called The Bilingual Edge by Kendall King and Alison Mackey (review copy provided by Parent Bloggers). It is well-organized and a valuable tool, especially for households who only speak one language.

What I found particularly informative/interesting/helpful:

• A brief section on assessing the language resources in your community (classes/activities/neighbors/babysitters) that might affect your choice of language. For example, I might think Russian would be unique and cool, but we live in Miami and so might want to focus more on the predominant language spoken here (Spanish) so we have access to more resources.
• A section helping you to decide between helping your child develop a casual knowledge of a few languages or focusing all time and effort on just one.
• These statistics: 15% of the world’s population speaks Mandarin Chinese, and both Spanish and English are spoken by about 5%.
• The resource lists in the back listing web sites where you can find foreign language books, DVDs, etc., as well as a list of language immersion camps for kids.

If you are beginning to navigate your way through the myriad options for exposing your child to another language(s), I recommend The Bilingual Edge as an effective starting point.

A second resource helpful in introducing kids to Spanish is a cartoon series called "Maya and Miguel" (review copy provided by BoldMouth). It’s sprinkled with Spanish vocabulary, but what I like most about it is the (mostly Mexican) culture infused into the characters’ everyday lives. Plus Maya and Miguel’s parents and Abuela speak with a Mexican accent - authentic and educational! [As an added bonus, Maya and Miguel are twins!]  I'm looking forward to the boys being old enough to watch it in a few years!

A few more words about using videos to build foreign language skills (this topic is covered in-depth in The Bilingual Edge as well)…

I'm well aware that the The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children under the age of two should not watch television. Clearly none of these pediatricians have twin toddlers. The Baby Einstein videos that the boys watch have a Spanish-language option, and even though there are only a couple dozen word spoken during the entire video, every little bit helps. Especially when I sit beside them and use my limited vocabulary to describe what we’re watching.

Also, the boys also love the CedarMont Kids music videos, but the Spanish option on these is muy lame -- it’s just dubbed Spanish so it’s terribly obvious that the kids’ mouth are still singing English and it doesn’t match up at all.  Not to mention the fact that it's still a bunch of gringo kids sinigng American gospel tunes!

Comments

[Holly Schwendiman]

I've ALWAYS said how much I want to learn Spanish and yet I'm still saying it! I love that kids are exposed to so much more. I wish I had been because those youth minds were so much easier to absorb new stuff.

Hugs,
Holly