Teaching Spanish to a child

Question

my daughter is 18mths old and her father is Hispanic, I am 7.5 mths along with our second daughter and i would really like for my daughters to speak Spanish and know that side of their heritage. But there dad and i are separated and know nothing about how to even start going about teaching that to them....

Please remember that correct spelling and capitalization are mandatory on this site, welcome to the forum:) - 00494d19, Jan 19, 2012

Answer 1

I have a 5 year old grandson. We watch cartoons in Spanish, and I teach him the Spanish word for everything that I know. I read Spanish books to him, and I also take him to places (playgrounds, etc) in areas that have Spanish speaking children, and it is amazing how much they pick up from each other. I will be anxious to see what native speakers say to this question, but I believe that exposure counts for a lot. There are also many toys that are geared toward the bilingual.

Good luck!

wow, good job, nice way to teach him some Spanish:) - 00494d19, Jan 19, 2012

Welcome to the forum, :) - 00494d19, Jan 19, 2012

All great ideas. But mom you need to learn as well.. - gringojrf, Jan 19, 2012

¡Buena idea, kdrinning! - Jadey7, Jan 19, 2012

Answer 2

Along with all the things suggested Kdrinning make stickers in both languages and put them on everything in the house, car, etc.

If you have one of those special 18 month olds who can read! - rabbitwho, Jan 19, 2012

True. lol. But it will help moomy until the little one can read. Kids between 2-5 learn increibly fast.. Cartoons, books, movies, play dates and they will learn. You au pair suggestion is great as well. - gringojrf, Jan 19, 2012

Or a spanish language preschool. When they get to that age. - gringojrf, Jan 19, 2012

Answer 3

I would say that at that age the best way to learn is by having someone talk to them in Spanish all the time.There are thousands of girls from Spain and South America who would love jobs as Au Pairs, maybe someone could recommend you a site where you could find one. They don´t have to be paid much so long as you treat them with respect, treat them as child minders and not as servants or slaves, give them time to study and to live their lives and think how would you want your daughter to be treated if she was far from home.

If you speak Spanish yourself just speak it with them, a few hours a day every day. Fill the house with kids books and DVDs in Spanish instead of English, living in an English country they will learn perfect English no matter what happens, even if you never speak a word of it with them.

Try El Perro y El Gato on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGsiQo-WPbs - rabbitwho, Jan 20, 2012

Answer 4

Yes, what Gringojr said is true and a great idea. One of my teachers; a lady was a native from Colombia. She had words posted on most of the equipment and things in her kitchen and throughout her whole house written in Spanish so her daughter who was about 7years old at the time could pick up the vocabulary.My teacher said that this really helped her daughter to remember the words.