Hey there, I’m a former Spanish teacher/professor and I’ve just had my first child. I taught Spanish for about 10 years to every age from pre-k to college. I’m not a native speaker; didn’t learn until I was in high school. I switched careers about 5 years ago and now I rarely have opportunities to speak Spanish. I want to teach my baby but it’s just not natural for me to speak it at home. My husband only knows a handful of vocabulary but is an eager learner. I basically spend our playtime pointing at everything around us and saying it in both languages every time. Any tips, advice, resources?
Raising bilingual baby when second language isn’t native to either parent
- Thread starter dday
- Start date
@dday I’m also a non-native speaker who worked professionally in Spanish (speech language pathologist). It was so awkward and hard to use Spanish with my baby once she was born (you can look in my post history to find my post in this sub about it), and I almost gave up. It was not natural at all - it was legitimately hard for me.
I ended up telling myself to stick with it from when my daughter was 6 months to 1 year and reevaluate at that point. By a year she was using words in Spanish and responding to me and taking more in, and the process became so much easier after that. My daughter is 2.5 years old now and is a Spanish speaker.
It’s hard and it can really hurt your brain, but in my experience it gets easier if you stick with it. There are lots of other ways for your child to learn Spanish if you want to use those in addition or in place of you using it at home, but I think you’re set up really well to teach her at home. She’s just the youngest student you’ve had so far
I ended up telling myself to stick with it from when my daughter was 6 months to 1 year and reevaluate at that point. By a year she was using words in Spanish and responding to me and taking more in, and the process became so much easier after that. My daughter is 2.5 years old now and is a Spanish speaker.
It’s hard and it can really hurt your brain, but in my experience it gets easier if you stick with it. There are lots of other ways for your child to learn Spanish if you want to use those in addition or in place of you using it at home, but I think you’re set up really well to teach her at home. She’s just the youngest student you’ve had so far
paleophyte
New member
@jrbuckley I totally want to pick your brain @speechpather and yours, too, @wifefoundmyaccount. These replies hit way too close to home.
Currently I’m studying to become a speech-language pathologist and I happen to be a heritage Spanish speaker and native English speaker. Surprise - I speak French, too, non-natively and I often ask myself how this will work when I have kids with my partner who speaks English and French.
Just happy to know I am not alone. Hugs to all.
Currently I’m studying to become a speech-language pathologist and I happen to be a heritage Spanish speaker and native English speaker. Surprise - I speak French, too, non-natively and I often ask myself how this will work when I have kids with my partner who speaks English and French.
Just happy to know I am not alone. Hugs to all.
@paleophyte Feel free to message me! We’re working on incorporating a third language in our child’s routine right now.
@jrbuckley "she's just the youngest student you've had so far"
Profound!
I'm inspired to teach my son French... A language me and my wife don't know five words of... But I can do this!
Profound!
I'm inspired to teach my son French... A language me and my wife don't know five words of... But I can do this!
paleophyte
New member
mjmichaels
New member
@dday Just speak Spanish until it feels natural. Read books, sing songs at home, and hang out with other Spanish speakers when you can. It felt really awkward to begin with but it's getting easier with time and as my vocab gaps fill out.
Personally we are loving Mar Benegas's books. Tras tras and ¿Le podremos un bigote? are very popular with my baby. There are video sing a longs on YouTube so you can try the books before you buy.
Personally my language skills require improvement as my mum was from Spain but I was raised in the UK. So I use Spanish language media. Cleo y Cuquin have many conveniently long song playlists on YouTube.
Once kiddo is older, Storybots and Thomas the tank engine are Spanish language on Netflix.
Personally we are loving Mar Benegas's books. Tras tras and ¿Le podremos un bigote? are very popular with my baby. There are video sing a longs on YouTube so you can try the books before you buy.
Personally my language skills require improvement as my mum was from Spain but I was raised in the UK. So I use Spanish language media. Cleo y Cuquin have many conveniently long song playlists on YouTube.
Once kiddo is older, Storybots and Thomas the tank engine are Spanish language on Netflix.
susan123elaine
New member
thefirstoftheseconds
New member
@dday We’re in a similar situation but I’m much less skilled than you in speaking Spanish (I took it in high school and a little in college.) I’ve probably forgotten 80% of what I learned through just being out of practice.
We we found a Spanish immersion pre school with native speakers as the teachers she will be attending 2 days a week. You may be able to find something similar in your area that could pair well with what you’re already reaching at home.
We are also going to try to speak some Spanish at home, and making sure to reinforce the things she’s learning at school at home (some of which will be good refreshers for us.) I also plan to show her movies or educational shows or listen to music in Spanish. If she’s gonna get screen time, I feel like this is the way we can make the most of it!
I’m not confident it will be enough to make her bilingual but I’m hoping it helps. We can’t afford an au pair but I figure the more we do the better while she’s still able to learn a language in the language part of her brain.
We we found a Spanish immersion pre school with native speakers as the teachers she will be attending 2 days a week. You may be able to find something similar in your area that could pair well with what you’re already reaching at home.
We are also going to try to speak some Spanish at home, and making sure to reinforce the things she’s learning at school at home (some of which will be good refreshers for us.) I also plan to show her movies or educational shows or listen to music in Spanish. If she’s gonna get screen time, I feel like this is the way we can make the most of it!
I’m not confident it will be enough to make her bilingual but I’m hoping it helps. We can’t afford an au pair but I figure the more we do the better while she’s still able to learn a language in the language part of her brain.
gellmannamnesia
New member
@dday I am speaking in German to my child (native language) and everyone around is speaking English apart from Skype calls and one friend we have. I am selfish and only teach things in German. English will follow naturally without effort. And considering you are a professor in Spanish you certainly know your grammar so just go for it. Try and maybe find a Spanish play group to immerse even more and do tv time in Spanish and story time. Let your partner have the other language and maybe use the other language at family time. I speak more English when my partners home and try to keep up with the German but add the translation for him because otherwise he’s annoyed he can’t understand (which annoys me because if he would have put in the tiniest bit of effort he could have learnt at least a little basic knowledge)