How can I better encourage my daughter to learn Spanish?

Question

I have been learning and using Spanish for quite some time now. I have traveled with my family to several Latin American countries. On a recent mission trip to the Dominican Republic, my daughter made several friends. I have been trying to encourage her to learn some Spanish vocabulary so she can better communicate with them. However, she seems content to ask me for the right words or to just get by with what she knows. I thought the new friends would be incentive enough to learn, but apparently not. Does anyone have any suggestions? I want her to enjoy Spanish as much as I do, so I don't want to become annoying.

Thanks so much

How old is your daughter - Janice, AGO 21, 2009

She is 14. - Nicole-B, AGO 22, 2009

Answer 1

let your daughter try it out, and if you make it a contest between you and her to see who can learn the most words in a week. This is a fun way to get her interested. This is the system that my 6th grade teacher used to get my interested. It worked really well because I love spanish now!!!

Answer 2

As an update, my daughter's school roster arrived and she will be taking Spanish I this year. I plan to study with her each night throughout the year. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will learn more on this site than I will from her text book. I'll let you know how this experiment works out in the near future.

Thanks for the advice!

Answer 3

Unfortunately when learning a language, particularly as it is considered an academic subject within schools, it can be considered a chore by many younger learners. I took up learning Spanish as I considered it a pursuit worthy of investing time in, but because I began learning Spanish with the knowledge that I am doing it of my own free will as opposed to being taught it as a compulsory subject I began to thoroughly enjoy it.

Despite her habit of consistently asking you to translate certain phrases or get by, this would still facilitate the learning process. The fact you're immersing her in the culture of countries such as the Dominican Republic is fantastic and will, regardless of whether you can see vast changes in her progress, increase her understanding of the language a fair amount.

Unfortunately however to get her to engage more is a tricky challenge, and if you don't want to enter her into a Spanish class or hire a tutor the chances of her actively learning Spanish herself are low. However I would advise giving her a little less help when she requests it, and encouraging her to research things herself. I would suggest buying study guides or computer programs targeted at teaching younger children, but I'm sure these are options you've already considered.

I myself am very new to learning Spanish and so I write this from the perspective of a tutor with experience with teaching younger generations.

Hope this helps - Tom