As a parent raising a bilingual child what to do?
![]() |
Puzzle image via Commons Wikimedia |
Immersion environment at home
I had the wonderful fortune of finding Spanish speaking friends for my son. Their first very first Spanish playdate was a success, and I eventually ended up babysitting two of the girls. Babysitting once a week turned to five days a week. During this time my son was speaking to them only in Spanish. I even had them watching Spanish cartoons, and listening to Spanish songs.
Travel immersion
Travel immersion has it’s full benefits when you actually speak and immerse yourself in the minority language during your travels. This helps develop cross-cultural communication and social interaction skills.
I recall my son’s first “real” immersion trip to Puerto Rico, and how that trip made all the difference in the world. Fast forward to this past Christmas holiday, we spent 16 days in Puerto Rico and my son communicated only in Spanish with all of the familia. Everywhere we’d go we spoke Spanish.
He spoke it clearly, and with no reserves. He didn’t worry if his words were correct or not. For instance, saying hagarlo for hacerlo (his language learning is a continuous work in progress). All he knew was that he was communicating in the language that everyone was communicating in. He felt part of his culture and his language heritage. He was happy!
Hey Frances, this post is really fantastic and the tips really solid. The immersion at home idea blew my mind. We definitely see you've done a lot for that boy to be set up to succeed and yet you break it down for the more tentative of us, who might not be up for live-in munchkins speaking another language. 🙂
Thank you so much dear!!! It's been a challenge, but also a work in progress to get my son to be bilingual. Hahahahaha and in regards to the live-in munchkins…you'll get used to it! LOLOLOL