Bilingual Families / Familias Bilingües - Latest & Highlighted Discussions

Spanish Language Bookclub?

Catherine — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:26:33 GMT

Hello All!

My name is Catherine and I am Carla Briceño's neighbor. I really enjoy reading novels in Spanish and would be interested in starting a book club if others are interested. I mainly stick to the well known Spanish authors (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, etc.) but only because they are the only ones I know of. I am sure there are many other great Latin American authors out there that I would enjoy reading and it would be great to get together and exchange ideas about the authors and which of their books are books are available in Spanish in the U.S.

I've never actually participated in a book club and don't know precisely how they are run, so I'm open to ideas from anyone who does know, and I can also educate myself on the internet.

Please let me know if you are interested and we can organize a first meeting a my house to exchange ideas about authors and make plans to read our first book!

Look forward to hearing from you.

Saludos,

Catherine

Learn Spanish? Si, se puede! - http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/9226

Carla — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:14:38 GMT

Barack Obama's urging this week that Americans "learn a foreign language" -- he suggested Spanish -- sparked some healthy back-and-forth on Passport and beyond. The key question: Putting "learning for learning's sake" aside, can Americans really maximize their utility by learning another language? My sources and instincts say sí.

According to a 2006 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, around 30 million people in the United States call Spanish their primary language -- and about half of them don't speak English "well" (keep in mind, too, that these numbers only represent legal citizens). That's not a small slice of the U.S. population of 304 million. What that number represents are roughly 15 million people who work for companies and contractors, and who buy groceries, cars, and clothing. That's 15 million people who need healthcare, legal advice, and schooling. It's 15 million people who seek Spanish-language entertainment on the radio and television, and in magazines and newspapers.

So here's the translation: Those needs increase the demand for doctors, teachers, lawyers, writers, radio hosts, construction foremen, salesmen and many other types of blue and white collar U.S. workers who can speak Spanish. This need has already begun impacting hiring practices. Bilingual job fairs and Web sites are increasingly popular, and nearly half of corporate managers are starting to target Spanish-speaking job candidates. More schools have begun targeting Spanish-speakers too, even shelling out bigger bucks for bilingual teachers.

In fact, Spanish may even someday be an unofficial prerequisite for the biggest job of all: the U.S. presidency. President Bush, hardly a globe-hopping polyglot, speaks the language (sometimes to a fault), and Obama knows "a little Spanish" in addition to his Indonesian. But with America's Spanish-speaking population growing by at least a million people each year, it won't be long before un poquito doesn't cut it anymore.

Spanish Tutor this summer

Carla — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:04:33 GMT

My babysitter's daughter, who is fun, young and capable, is available to provide Spanish tutoring to kids of all ages. If you're interested, please let me know and I'll connect you. I've seen her in action with my kids, teaching them in fun and interactive ways, so I can highly recommend her.

Thank you!

Carla

Clases de espanol

Florencia — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:48:21 GMT

Soy hablante nativa de espanol y maestra de escuela primaria. Tengo 12 anos de experiencia como docente en escuelas publicas y privadas. Desde que nacio mi hijo que trabajo en mi casa dando tutorias y clases particlares a ninos de 4 a 12 anos. Puedo ayudarlos a aprender espanol o a mejorar sus habilidades de conversacion, lectura y escritura. Tengo muchisimos materiales originales y modernos. Vivo en Reston y trabajo en mi casa.

Me pueden contactar al 202-460-9657 o al email florcova@hotmail.com

Florencia

Welcome to the Crespo Family

Carla — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:00:25 GMT

Welcome to Ramiro, Pam, Zac and Rafaela!

Where are you from originally and, if you have a spouse, where is he or she from?From La Paz, Bolivia - Wife born in Washington D.C. (of Bolivian Heritage though)

Where city do you live in?
Washington D.C.

How many kids do you have and what are their names and ages? (you don't have to give their names if you don't feel comfortable..)
Zac - 7 & Rafaela - 5

What language(s) do you speak at home and do you use any particular type of approach to raising your kids bilingually, for example, one parent - one language, etc.
A bit of both both English and Spanish but not as much Spanish as we would like.

Do you do anything special with your kids to work on their Spanish skills?
Not much but we at least feel terrible about it

What are the key challenges you have experienced in raising your kids bilingually?
With the advent of the internet and the "multiculturalizing/pluralizing" of our society the readily accessible resources/literature in several languages has never been better.

The only real limitation to the success of this endeavor is the level of commitment of the participants. it is hard to blame anyone other than ourselves for not raising bilingual kids even when the inclination to gravitate towards the local language often seems irresistible.

What advice do you have for other parents in terms of techniques or resources?

The most important thing is consistency!

Are you interested in getting together with other bilingual families in your area?
Sure

Would you be interested in helping organize bilingual family events or special Spanish-language events for our kids?

Sure

Note from Carla:

Ramiro and I worked together at Sprint on their Spanish-language website, and he is a true bilingual / bicultural a.k.a. "switch hitter."

He also plays a mean game of chess and is good at teaching kids chess in Spanish if anyone is interested in organizing a class. If you are, let me know and we'll get something set up.

Welcome to Claudia and her family from Herndon!

Carla — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:40:19 GMT

Where are you from originally and, if you have a spouse, where is he or she from?
- I am originally from Nicaragua. My husband is from the USA (non hispanic).

Where city do you live in?
- We live in Herndon (Oak Hill), Virginia.

How many kids do you have and what are their names and ages? (you don't haveto give their names if you don't feel comfortable..)
- I have 4 kids, Andrea 11 1/2, Christian 9, Alexander 6 1/2 and Valentina almost 3.

What language(s) do you speak at home and do you use any particular type of
approach to raising your kids bilingually, for example, one parent - one
language, etc.
- I speak about 50% Spanish and 50% English to my kids (bad habit). My husband speaks 100% English to my kids because he doesn't speak Spanish.

Do you do anything special with your kids to work on their Spanish skills?
- My kids are in the Fairfax County partial immersion program in Spanish at Lake Anne Elementary school.

What are the key challenges you have experienced in raising your kids bilingually?
- My intention has been to speak 100% Spanish to my children. My 9 year old son faced speech delays and I felt forced to stick to one language, English. From that point on, I started speaking more English and less Spanish.

What advice do you have for other parents in terms of techniques or resources?
- I don't feel I can give advice to any parent on the subject. I am open to any advice.

Do you know of any good local resources, such as local schools, programs,etc. that you can share with families on the list?
- Other than the partial immersion program, I know there is an Argentinean school that teaches Spanish on Saturdays.

What would you like to get out of participating in this list?
- I would like my children to know, love and be proud of their hispanic heritage.

Are you interested in getting together with other bilingual families in your area?
- We would love to get together with other bilingual families. The only problem we have is that our kids' activities limit our available time.

Economist article on bilingual education

Beverly — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:59:12 GMT

Economist.com

California schools

The English patients

Jun 5th 2008 | SANTA ANA
From The Economist print edition

What happened after California abolished bilingual education

Get article background

TEN years to the day after California banned teaching in any language other than English, Erlinda Paredes runs through a new sentence with her kindergarten class. "El payaso se llama Botones", she intones-"the clown's name is Buttons". When a pupil asks a question in English, she responds in Spanish. It is an improbable scene. But the abolition of bilingual education has not worked out in quite the way anybody expected.

Before 1998 some 400,000 Californian children were shunted into classes where they heard as little as 30 minutes of English each day. The hope was that they would learn mathematics and other subjects in their native tongue (usually Spanish) while they gently made the transition to English. The result was an educational barrio. So that year Ron Unz, a software engineer, sponsored a ballot measure that mandated teaching in English unless parents demanded otherwise. Proposition 227 passed easily, with considerable support from Hispanics. Voters in two other states, Massachusetts and Arizona, have since followed suit.

In Santa Ana, a mostly poor Latino city in Orange county, the number of children in bilingual classes promptly halved. Demand would have been even less had schools not prodded parents to request waivers for their children. In the past few years demand for bilingual education has fallen further. This year 22,000 pupils in Santa Ana are enrolled in "structured English immersion" programmes, where they hear little but that language. Just 646 are taught bilingually.

It has been a smooth transition, disappointing the many teachers and Latino politicians who forecast imminent doom for immigrant children. Yet the revolution in standards promised by Mr Unz's supporters has not come to pass either. State tests show that immigrants are indeed doing better in English. But so are native English speakers. In the second grade (ages seven and eight) the gap in reading ability between natives and the rest has narrowed only slightly; in higher years it has not narrowed at all. The results of national tests are even less encouraging.

Before 1998 many poor immigrant children in California received a dismal education informed by wrong-headed principles. They now just suffer from a dismal education. Fully 74% of English learners in the fourth grade read at "below basic" level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In 2006 a study found that, after six years, just one-quarter of Hispanic pupils could expect to be reclassified as fluent in English-which is, admittedly, a pretty high bar. This augurs badly for their economic future. And, since more than one immigrant child in five lives in California, it is also bad news for America's largest state.

Howard Bryan, who is responsible for English learners in Santa Ana, says that formal teaching methods matter surprisingly little. Pupils in well-run schools with demanding teachers, who are encouraged by their parents, tend to succeed whatever the language.

The problem is that many parents are unwilling or unable to push their children, and most programmes are weak. The abolition of bilingual education has revealed a much bigger problem. California's public education system is sclerotic, with a meddlesome central bureaucracy and mighty teachers' unions. Until it is reformed, immigrants will continue to struggle.

Few such problems afflict Ms Paredes's pupils. Hers is a "two-way" bilingual class in which exactly half of the children already speak English fluently. Most of them are the offspring of upper-middle-class Hispanics who worry that their children will grow up knowing no Spanish. The class is drip-fed English according to a strict formula. In kindergarten pupils speak English 10% of the time; by fifth grade they speak it 50% of the time. Not surprisingly, given the pupils' backgrounds, such classes score remarkably well in tests, Partly for this reason, two-way bilingual education is entirely uncontroversial.

Although such two-way programmes are much rarer than old-fashioned bilingual education, they have roughly doubled in number in the past ten years. They have even popped up in affluent white areas like Santa Monica. While the teaching of English to immigrants is not going too well, the teaching of Spanish to natives is going swimmingly. The clearest change wrought by Proposition 227 is that Spanish has turned from a remedial language into an aspirational one.

Discussion about "Maintaining Your Child’s Spanish-Language Ability"

Diego — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:44:50 GMT

Maintaining Your Child’s Spanish-Language Ability

Great article Carla, thank you so much for submitting it.

Diego

Getting to know you...Angela Velasquez and Family

Carla — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:39:12 GMT

Angela Velasquez and Family

Where are you from originally and, if you have a spouse, where is he or she from?
I'm from Colombia. My husband, Sami, is from Lebanon.

Where city do you live in?
Fairfax

How many kids do you have and what are their names and ages? (you don't have to give their names if you don't feel comfortable..)
We have 2 kids
Simon is 6. Paola is 4.

What language(s) do you speak at home and do you use any particular type of approach to raising your kids bilingually, for example, one parent - one language, etc.
We speak only Spanish at home, although I tend to speak English with my husband because I don't have the patience to speak to him in Spanish. (I'm working on it! My patience, that is...)

Do you do anything special with your kids to work on their Spanish skills?
Our entire lives revolve around Spanish and the culture associated with it. Our religious education is in Spanish, our computer games, whatever Television we watch, our books, almost all communication we try to have in Spanish.

What are the key challenges you have experienced in raising your kids bilingually?
It takes a lot of work! I wouldn't say that we've had a particularly difficult challenge aside from having to stay focused.

What advice do you have for other parents in terms of techniques or resources?
Your kids need to see that they aren't the only ones who are speaking Spanish. They need to feel like they are part of a larger community of bilingual families. Join a bilingual group and find other families who will support you in such efforts. Also, talk to your child about the benefits of being bilingual and always look for examples to reinforce your message. My kids think it's really cool!

Do you know of any good local resources, such as local schools, programs, etc. that you can share with families on the list?
Where can I start???

What would you like to get out of participating in this list?
Resources and friendships for myself and my kids with other bilingual families. Like I said earlier - you can't do it by yourself!

Are you interested in getting together with other bilingual families in your area?
Of course.

Would you be interested in helping organize bilingual family events or special Spanish-language events for our kids?
Goes without saying; of course!

Getting to know you...Cristina Temboury and family

Carla — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:40:16 GMT

Where are you from originally and, if you have a spouse, where is he or she from?

- I am from Madrid, Spain, and my husband is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Where city do you live in?
Fairfax/ Fair Oaks

How many kids do you have and what are their names and ages?

- Three: Andrew (9), Nicole (5) y Sophia (4)

What language(s) do you speak at home and do you use any particular type of approach to raising your kids bilingually.

- I am the only Spanish teacher in the house. I read books in Spanish, play music and movies in Spanish and speak to them in Spanish.

Do you do anything special with your kids to work on their Spanish skills?

- see above

What are the key challenges you have experienced in raising your kids bilingually?

- we are surrounded by neighbors, schools, and afterschool activities that are all monolingual. TV is a big challenge, since there are no "cool" channels for kids in Spanish.

What advice do you have for other parents in terms of techniques or resources?

- my advice is to send the kids to visit relatives in a Spanish speaking country as often as possible.

What would you like to get out of participating in this list?

- Spanish speaking friends for my kids and for me!

Are you interested in getting together with other bilingual families in your area?

- absolutely!

Would you be interested in helping organize bilingual family events or special Spanish-language events for our kids?

- yes

Getting to know you....Desiree Santa and her family!

Carla — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:49:38 GMT

Thank you, Desiree!

Where are you from originally and, if you have a spouse, where is he or she from? PUERTO RICO

What city do you live in? RESTON

How many kids do you have and what are their names and ages?(you don't have to give their names if you don't feel comfortable..) 1-DANIEL IS 6, WILL BE 7 IN JULY.

What language(s) do you speak at home and do you use any particular type of approach to raising your kids bilingually, for example, one parent - one language, etc.

WE SPEAK BOTH LANGUAGES AT HOME, BUT TRY TO SPEAK MOSTLY IN SPANISH.

Do you do anything special with your kids to work on their Spanish skills?

WE READ TO HIM IN SPANISH AND IF HE IS GOING TO WATCH A DVD, WE SELECT THE SPANISH LANGUAGE TRACK. WHEN HE SPEAKS TO US, WE TRY TO HAVE HIM REPEAT THE SENTENCE IN SPANISH. WE WILL ALSO TRY A SPANISH IMMERSION SUMMER CAMP THIS SUMMER.

What are the key challenges you have experienced in raising your kids bilingually?

OUR SON WAS FULLY BILINGUAL UNTIL HE ENTERED HIS FULL TIME KINDERGARTEN. AT THAT TIME, WE STOPPED SPEAKING TO US IN SPANISH. THE BIG CHALLENGE HAS BEEN TRYING TO ENCOURAGE HIS SPANISH WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, TRYING TO ENRICH HIS SPEECH IN ENGLISH SO THAT HE DOESN'T FALL BEHIND HIS ENGLISH SPEAKING PEERS.

What advice do you have for other parents in terms of techniques or resources?

RAISING OUR CHILDREN BILINGUAL TAKES A LOT OF WORK AND DETERMINATION ON OUR PART. DON'T GIVE UP AND TRY TO LOOK FOR SPANISH IMMERSION PROGRAMS, READ TO THEM IN SPANISH, AND TRY TO HAVE THEM REPEAT AFTER YOU ON A REGULAR BASIS.

Do you know of any good local resources, such as local schools, programs, etc. that you can share with families on the list?

SPANISH AMIGOS IMMERSION PROGRAMS IN RESTON: http://www.spanish-amigos.com/

What would you like to get out of participating in this list?

IT IS A GREAT INFORMATION RESOURCE FOR ENRICHING OUR CHILDREN'S SPANISH LANGUAGE AN CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE.

Are you interested in getting together with other bilingual families in your area?

YES

Would you be interested in helping organize bilingual family events or special Spanish-language events for our kids?

YES

Discussion about "Excellent book for bilingual families"

Carla — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:14 GMT

Excellent book for bilingual families

If you'd like to hear a very good interview with the authors, visit http://wamu.org/programs/kn/07/07/26.php

Resources for helping Kids with Spanish

Erin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:13:06 GMT

If you tutor in Spanish, please post and what your specialties are . . . I could really use some resources and I know others may need them as well.

Clases de baile flamenco para pequenos

Angela — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:25:10 GMT

Hola a todos, voy a llevar a Paola Sophia al taller de Flamenco para ninos en julio, y quizás tambien a Simón, mi hijo, si se me anima. Parece que las fechas del taller actual son para el verano del 2007, seguro lo estaran actualizando proximamente. A ver si alguno de uds. tambien se apunta...http://www.carmendevicente.com/

What kind of information or resources would be most useful for you and your family?

Carla — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:57:44 GMT

Hi, All,

In order to start the dialog and make this site useful and interactive, I want to ask you what type of information, resources, and / or support would you find useful?

Please feel free to initiate your own discussions around topics that are of interest to you.

Thank you for joining and participating!

Carla B.

How to get the most from this Groupsite

CollectiveX — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:23:14 GMT

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Bilingual Families / Familias Bilingues

Welcome to Bilingual Families / Familias Bilingues!

CollectiveX — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:23:14 GMT

Welcome to Bilingual Families / Familias Bilingues!

This site serves as a secure private meeting place providing members of Bilingual Families / Familias Bilingues with tools to centralize communication, synchronize calendars, and share files.

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