Thursday, July 19, 2007

Teaching My Son Spanish

I speak Spanish fluently, and I've been trying to speak to my son so he can learn. It's hard to remember to speak throughout the day because I'm just not used to it. I prefer English because it's my stronger language, but I haven't given up on teaching Spanish, yet. That said, I haven't given up on my husband either. I'm hoping the conversations my son and I have will motivate my husband to join the game.

What's helped a bit is buying books, which means I can read fluid rhymes to him that keep his attention a bit longer. The selection of books out there these days is great. Some I have or would like to buy include:

Froggy Gets Dressed
I Had a Hippopotamus
Big Dog/Little Dog
Green Eggs and Ham
Good Night Moon
The Hungry Caterpillar

He has a lot of energy so sitting down with me for a whole story is unlikely, but it's a good start. Besides, it reminds me to keep on him.

On that note, I found a cute website that has old tales translated into Spanish like Little Red Riding Hood and The Ugly Duckling.

2 comments:

ChiefFamilyOfficer said...

A person is most likely to become bilingual if they learn the language (i.e., gain an innate sense of verb conjugations, etc.) by age 5. So it's fantastic that you're doing this now - good luck! And thank you for the recipe idea - I'll have to try it and let you know how it goes.

MetaMommy said...

Wow...I've heard in some places that kids have to be well exposed to a language before they turn one or they just won't pick it up, so that certainly helps keep it all in perspective. Thanks for the encouraging info.