Moving Problems

Absolutely speak both languages. Being bilingual is such a wonderful gift. Children who speak more than one language at a very young age retain the ability to learn more languages for years beyond when the language window closes for monoglots. Florida is a great place to move if you want him to continue learning Spanish.

Use both! Children absorb another language REALLY fast!

Being bilingual is the obvious best choice. I would also suggest that you take some English courses to brush up on proper grammar and sentence structure. Congratulations on your upcoming move!

I have a friend who is from another country and so is her husband. They wanted their daughter to be bilingual, so the mom spoke mostly English at home and the dad spoke only their language. Their daughter was nearly 8 before she learned that her dad even knew English! She can speak both languages now.

Perhaps give that a try - one of you speak English only and the other speak Spanish only. That way your child learns fluency in both.

You are moving to the perfect place! Florida is a very Spanish-friendly state, especially south.

I would want to keep him bilingual if I were you! That's such a gift.

He will pick up English naturally if he's out in the community, watching English shows on TV, etc. It might even be good to try pre-school (and I don't usually like pre-school).

We have French friends whose kids have grown up here. They kept strictly to French at home but English everywhere else. That way the kids didn't lose their fluency. You'd never know their kids were basically native French speakers.

Teach him both. Being bilingual will be very helpful to him as he gets older.

I would start teaching both. Most of Florida is bilingual so your child will have an advantage once school starts.

I lived in FL for 23 yrs & agree that most places in FL have many people who speak Spanish. We were even taught it in elementary school there & i knew many puerto rican, cuban, & mexican people. I also agree that being bilingual is valuable, especially English/ Spanish; wish I'd kept up with my Spanish!. Hope you enjoy it there!

My DD is in a dual language program in elementary school because I feel it is important. Her school mixes native Spanish speakers with native English speakers, with the goal of fluency in both by 5th grade. Several friends and family members have raised bilingual kids. Please keep teaching him both and he will figure it out. Bilingual children may speak Spanglish for a time, but then end up fluent by elementary school.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_raising-a-bilingual-child-the...

When I worked in a daycare facility, we had a family with two children. Their 18 month old did not speak. Both parents were bilingual. In their home, they would speak both languages. The pediatrician told the parents that they needed to chose on one language, at the time, because he felt their son was too confused on hearing both-switching back and forth. Needless to say, they decided to speak only Spanish until he got a little older, then were going to introduce English. They left the daycare facility as none of us spoke Spanish. It was a bummer-great family, but totally understandable.