Exposing Young Children to Spanish

From experience the only successful way I've found is full immersion in the language and culture. My first born was in school in Mexico from KG to the 6th grade. She is about 90% fluent in reading, writing and speaking. My 2nd born hated the school in Mexico and even though she stayed till 3rd she is only 20% fluent. My twins who are 5 y.o. had 2 full-time Spanish speaking only Nannies and can barely speak the language. They understand for the most part in basic Spanish questions but only respond in English. I believe it is because my husband and I speak English in the home. I home schooled my dtr in English and found sending her to a Spanish school is the only thing that has been successful in our home. I have 5 children and the first born is the only one that is able to speak well in Spanish.

Hi M.,

I too was interested in exposing my children to a second language. My husband speaks Farsi and I hoped that my children would as well but he has been very lax in teaching them and speaking to them in farsi. We recently enrolled my daughter in a school that teaches Arabic. She was 5 when she started and she loves learning Arabic. I would encourage you to expose your child as soon as possible. She will not be confused. Children have a natural affinity for language acquistion and she will pick up anything that give her, I think that if you and your husband do not speak a second language that you should just consider how her brain will change from just the exposure. We have seen that the class that my daughter is in, almost all the kids are above grade level and although I would like to give the praise to the teacher, I believe that the constant exposure to the second language allows them to think differently.

You may want to check Craig's List to see about listing your ad. I have found that this is a good place to start. You may even see if you have an eldery neighbor who is a native speaker who would love you and your child's company an afternoon a week. On the same token, you might even check into a nursing home, many other folks would love to spend an afternoon talking to your child in spanish. the best way to learn a language is from a native speaker in conversation. Hope this helps.

Good for you! Now's the time and no amount of exposure is "too much". Children who learn two languages simultaneously are better equipped to learn both. The "rules" and carry-over (cognates, etc.) help with overall learning down the road. Your daughter is still at an age to learn all the phonemes as well. As for how... the Spanish cartoon idea sounds good, maybe a Spanish speaking babysitter/day-care/play group. It may be your inspiration to learn Spanish yourself (Rosetta Stone computer program or similar?) and speak to her. There are lots of children's books that are printed in both languages and the vocabulary is simple enough you could learn along with her. I think the main thing is to incorporate it in natural conversations and not "lessons".

I'm not sure why this society concentrates so much on Spanish. We have several different nationalities with different languages living here in the US. :-) For me, I do not want my son learning spanish, or any other second language until he gets old enough to choose to do so himself. However, I know there are a lot of spanish speaking citizens here, and the language is a beautiful language, but for me, I want my son to be an expert in his own language first before learning a second. Then come Junior High, he can choose which ever second language to learn, if he wants to learn a second language. This would be a good idea if the family themselves speak the second language, but if you are an English speaking family, it may come hard for your child to retain the second language since it is not spoken in the home. That's my main concern for my own child. I know some spanish but not enough to keep up a good conversation, so it would be a waste of money for my family to have my son learn it.

Great for you and your daughter! I am lucky in that my husband is a native speaker of Spanish. He speaks to her in spanish and I speak mostly English to our daughter, who is almost 3 months. We also plan on sending her to stay with family in Mexico for a few weeks every summer and take classes so that she will be able to read and write Spanish as well.
A suggestion for you would be to find a babysitter that speaks only spanish. I have seen this work for some kids on my block. Or you can try the learn Spanish together kits that are sold at Borders and other book stores. I will be purchasing one when my daughter is about 6 months so that she and I can practice together.
Good luck and stick with it! I have a nephew who refuses to speak English even though he knows it, and his little brother will only speak English, but they are 2 and 4 so they will learn to respond in both.

My husband speaks fluent French, and after reading all of the research we decided to wait until my daughter was 2 before teaching her French. The research encouraged waiting. It turns out that was a bad idea. She would tell us, "That's not how you say it." or "Don't say those mean words!" We eventually gave up on teaching her.

Ten years later we had a son, and my husband speaks exclusively to him in French. Even though he is around English speakers the most, he is now 2 and understands everything my husband says. It frustrates my husband that he responds in English, but you can tell he knows what is being said.

In my experience it is obvious that the earlier the exposure, the better. And full immersion is great for this age. Maybe you could find a Spanish speaker who could watch your daughter on occasion, or Spanish speaking friends for her to play with. The real challenge will come later if you want her to be fully literate in Spanish. You will need to teach her to read and write it as well. Good luck! I think teaching your daughter another language is a great thing!

There is a small language school in Tempe, near Trader Joes, Mcclintock and Guadalope. They offer mommy and me Spanish playgroup, they give the first lesson free. (le tutor)
(I don't know much about them except I have supplied them with a few spanish story books) my friend went and she thought the best age was 3. She speaks both English and Spanish, she personally only talks Spanish to her child age 2 and let everyone else do the english speaking. Also i belive the city does some playgroups too.

Usually, if you want your child to speak spanish, you can begin at birth. One parent will speak only spanish and the other only English, even if both know both, because it forces them to learn/ speak each one. My son and his wife did this with their two boys, even though they both speak both languages. So, the earlier, the better. She would need to speak to that person about everything and only in that language - and the spanish cartoons do help, of course.

The easiest time for children to pick it up is before 2 years old. If you begin after 2 it will be much harder without complete immersion and she will always have an accent. Good luck!