¡Hablo español!

We are a bilingual family!

Daddy has always pointed to the milk and called it just that, milk. Mummy offers me milk and calls it leche. I hadn't paid too much attention, but I suddenly realised, mummy speaks another language, and so do I! Mummy or mami as I call her, and daddy (papi) speak English to each other with some words in Spanish, and mummy speaks Spanish to me. As for daddy - well, he tries to speak Spanish to me, but it sounds funny!

Apparently, I am not alone. According to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) one in four children in the UK has a mummy born overseas – which means at least one parent speaks a foreign language at home. I know this to be true – my friend Little G at nursery speaks Spanish too. I over heard his mami saying “adios” to him one morning. Then there's Little A, whose mummy speaks German to him (at least, that’s what I think it is). It all makes more sense now!

Mummy is a great example of a successful bilingual upbringing. She was born in Chile where Spanish is spoken and moved to the United States where she was raised speaking both English and Spanish sans accent (there’s a bit of French for you!)I’ve heard her constantly tell daddy that she wants me to understand Spanish – but what she doesn’t realise is that I already do! Its daddy who needs to catch up!

But don’t just take my word for it - I’ve included a blurb from the Literacy Trust explaining bilingualism and children’s development: “children will not get confused by learning more than one language in the household; up until about the age of 10 or 12, children learn foreign languages almost as if they were one big language. As children, people process language in the frontal lobe of the brain, but later on, the brain has to "scramble" to find storage space somewhere else. Importantly, learning two or more languages can help a child's development in his mother tongue”.

For those mummies who are unsure of brining up a family with more than one language, mami says to look at these links I've highlighted above where everything is explained in more detail.

For the fun stuff, I recommend looking at:
1) Dora the Explorer - English and Spanish
2) Handy Manny – English and Spanish
3) Kids Music Town – Songs in Spanish and French
4) Little Linguist (for music and books in all languages).

I am lucky that most of mami’s friends speak both English and Spanish so I am always able to practice and hear it all the time. If you want to find out who speaks the same language as you here in the UK, try finding new friends on the Multilingual Families page.

¡Buena suerte!