I’ve been asked by many monolingual parents if they can actually raise a bilingual child, and my answer is yes, of course! When there’s a will, there’s a way!
Photo courtesy of Kami Fletcher |
Today, I am so honored, and pleased to interview Kami Fletcher! A monolingual parent raising her two sons to be bilingual in both English, and Spanish!
Editor’s Note: Kami and I met virtually on-line. She happened to come across my blog while looking for information on immersion trips to Puerto Rico. The funny part is that I remembered she commented on my blog post, messaged me on Google+ and even found my personal Facebook page and sent me a message there. She sent me various messages before I even responded to her. She also wanted to talk by phone as well, and in all honesty I thought she was a stalker! LOL (Yes, Kami I did think that of you!) I’m happy that you “stalked” me. We are now good friends, and our boys are pen-pals writing to each other in Español.
Q: How old are you children?
A: My sons are 7 and 9
Photo courtesy of Kami Fletcher |
Editor’s Note: Kami, thank you so much for allowing me you to interview you. Your determination is truly inspirational, and your beautiful family, and you are proof that monolingual parents can raise bilingual children. Your perseverance, and commitment has motivated me to start a Spanish book club in our local library! ¡Gracias amiga!
This post was created for inclusion in the Raising Multilingual Children Blogging Carnival hosted by Maria Babin of Trilingual Mama.
I enjoyed reading this interview as I also plan to raise a bilingual child with French as the second language. I noticed Kami mentioned waiting until 4 to start the process, my son is 22 months and I am considering sending him to a French daycare so he can pick up the language. Do you think there is any harm to this? He is beginning to say a few words in English and a few words in French
Hello G. Rodney! I'm glad that you enjoyed the interview. Your son is at the perfect age to learn French. There's research that says that the earlier you start, the better it is for the child to grasp another language. The best age to learn is from birth through age 6.
Please know, that you are doing NO harm, and you're right on track! Sending him to a French daycare is a wonderful idea! Language immersion is exactly what your child needs especially if he knows a few words in French. Thank you for commenting and stopping by! Much success on your child's bilingual journey.
Hello, loved this interview!! I an interested in knowing more information regarding the book club Kami started. Do you know if she has any resources for others trying to implement a program like this in their own library?
I would love to hear more from Kami regarding the book club she started, it sounds fantastic. I would like to know if she has any resources and is willing to share them with anyone trying to do the start their own. Thank you!
Hi Magda! As an English speaking parent only, I knew that I had to immerse myself into the Spanish-speaking community if I wanted to get my kids interacting with kids that spoke Spanish on their level. I tried to start a monthly spelling bee or a bi-annual spelling bee but the issue, I quickly learned, was the kids spoke spanish but they could not read or write it. This posed a real challenge for the book club too because the teacher had to start back with the alphabet while my kids were on grade level with reading and writing.
The other thing as far as resources is that I signed up for an account on A-Z and downloaded tons of Spanish books on all different levels. We had access to a printer and so the kids went home with a book every week.
Hope this helps but feel free to respond back.