Post by mrsukyankee on Sept 22, 2014 3:18:43 GMT -5
Don't quiz him. That is overboard. But do expose him to the language in a variety of ways - tv, video, books, speak to him. But don't quiz. Please. And realise that he's going to get things wrong and it's okay - he'll get English words wrong too. He's 2-1/2.
It doesn't sound overboard because wouldn't he be doing all that stuff in english anyway? So instead of 30 min of english tv, he's watching spanish tv. Instead of an english speaking playgroup, he's in a spanish speaking play group.
Doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I think learning a language early is great and almost necessary that I hope to immerse my hypothetical kid in a 2nd language as well.
I think overall you just have to keep your expectations in check in regards to his abilities as he's learning both spanish and english right now.
(idea) good point!
i'm a little confused though bc i'm wondering if this is just a complete waste of time if he won't benefit at all from this much "instruction." it's unfortunately all we have the time to do for now though.
which is why we're really wanting to switch to a 2 day a week spanish speaking nanny.
I also just thought of something else in regards to books...since you're not a native speaker, you might want to hold off on reading to him. Since he's still learning you don't want him to pick up any bad pronunciation habits.
My cousin and her H do 1 parent 1 language. She's pretty much fluent in Spanish, but since she isn't a native speaker she never spoke to the kids in Spanish because she wanted her kids to pick up the accent and correct pronunciation from their dad since he is a native speaker. They're both educators and studied this extensively. Even though I'm getting more comfortable with French, my accent sucks and I wouldn't want any hypothetical kids to pick up any of my french pronunciation habits at all, ha.
Between movies, tv, immersion playgroups/school, it sounds like he's getting great exposure. I think what you're doing is great!
Post by badtzmaru22 on Sept 22, 2014 5:17:42 GMT -5
I went to a Spanish immersion preschool when I was 3-4 and I loved it. I never became fluent, but I really believe the earlier the better with language. I had Spanish a few times a week from K-6, and then nothing until high school, and I still tested out of Spanish 1. It's easier to pick it back up once you've already had a strong introduction as well. Even now, I turn on Spanish television sometimes, just because it sounds familiar, even if I can't catch everything.
I do nothing with DD who is also 2.5, but she does watch Plaza Sésamo sometimes, or Caillou in Spanish on you tube. I see nothing wrong with exposure.