Bilingual Parenting Interview from Espanolita Blog! Spanish Sabado #6

Hola amigos!
I had a fabulous time celebrating my mother’s 60th birthday in the Dominican Republic!  I will be posting some pictures of the trip soon.  I came back home to discover a very nice surprise, though.  My interview with the Espanolita blog was posted during my absence.  I decided to share some of the interview with you all as part of Spanish Sabado, on Sunday.

Before I talk about the Espanolita interview, I have to share how much my husband loves me (being sarcastic here).

I am an avid watcher of Naked and Afraid, the survival show from the Discovery channel.  Well, I thought that applying sand on myself would avoid becoming sunburned.  People on the show usually cover themselves with mud, so I thought it could also work with sand.  I thought something was up when my husband ran to the camera as I was applying my sand and just laughing.  I asked what was funny and he replied, “I’m saving this.”

Well, lo and behold, I found out the hard way that sand is a heat conductor and the areas I applied my “sand mask” to were burned. 🙁  Luckily it wasn’t too bad.  He claims that I would have refuted the whole heat conductor thing and said it was the same as a mud mask….he is absolutely right.

Now back to my interview.  The Espanolita, Audrey, blogs about her adventures in bilingual parenting and shares the stories of other bilingual families in a series she calls Family Fridays.  I was asked to share my own experiences with bilingual parenting on her blog.  I encourage you to visit The Espanolita blog for all her great, inspirational posts.

Here is a snipet of my interview…

Give a brief snapshot of your family’s language dynamics and your family’s language policy (what language(s) do you speak, who speaks what with whom?).

It is a difficult task teaching my children Spanish as the only Spanish speaker in my home.  My husband is monolingual and therefore speaks English to the kids.  My step-daughter has very basic Spanish skills learned from school.  I would like to speak solely Spanish and have my husband speak solely English, but it’s just not possible.  So, we rely on a blended version, Spanglish, for the time being.  I am beginning to translate my sentences in the alternate language when speaking with our children.  Especially, when it comes to our totschool learning activities.

What prompted your decision to raise your children bilingually?

I have always assumed that my children would learn to speak both languages.  In my eyes, there was no way around it as many of my family members only speak Spanish.  I wanted to maintain the cultural aspects of my Dominican heritage as well as to preserve the language when raising my children.

What positive growth or results have you witnessed in your children/family because of their multilingualism?

The cultural aspects have been a blessing to our family. My husband enjoys learning Spanish and using it with his children. I know that he wishes he could speak more, but he is gradually picking it up. He has attempted to complete the Rosetta Stone program, but unfortunately has not had the time to dedicate to its completion.

I think that the benefit of learning Spanish would definitely be a benefit when the children grow up……

Head over to Espanolita Blog to read the remainder of my interview!