More ideas to teach spanish? Will I give my child my non-native accent?

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I took 2 years of Spanish in high school, 2 semesters in college, and lived in Spain for 3 years (but worked primarily with Americans and spoke English the majority of the time). I am still not fluent but I know a decent amount of Spanish and am very driven to learn more ASAP for the sake of my kids. I am going to be starting the rosetta stone series and hope to do some of it while my kids are playing with the laptop hooked up to the big tv so they will have that exposure too. For my kids Spanish program-

-I download random LR lessons in Spanish
-I am going to add in Spanish words to convert some of the LR binders into Spanish lessons too
-They are currently allowed to watch Plaza Sesamo and Dora (full spanish versions only)
-They also watch the Little Pim dvd's and I just ordered the flashcards
-I can get more Spanish dvds & flashcards/posters
-I also plan to get lots more books and some audio cd's to play in the background
-I am hunting around to find a spanish speaking babysitter or family to meet with for playdates
-I am going to dual-label the house in english & spanish (word stickers on everything)

Am I missing anything, what else can I do to help them learn? I have been kicking around signing up for a Spanish or ASL (we want to teach both), we'll see if time and finances allow.

I read about OPOL and tried it for the last day or two. My memory has been jogged and I remember more than I thought I did. It seems to flow pretty easy off the tongue but I *KNOW* I must sound like a gringa LOL. Plus, my grammar surely is not perfect, etc etc. Will I end up giving my kids my accent? Or will they be exposed to enough audio input from dvds, cd's, and hopefully a "real live natuive speaker" that they develop a more natural accent? If I am not a "good enough" speaker, will OPOL hurt them more than help them?

GRACIAS!

[PY]

Hurt them? I don't think so if they like it and they have fun with it ..Go ahead!! I don't speak chinese at all...and we have 20 words so far in our dairy routine, my daughter is already spanish and english speaker now I going for the third language!!! She loves speaking chinese..if I ask her how to say milk en english she says MIlk..I ask her in spanish she says LECHE and then in chinese she replies in chinese..So she knows the difference and her brain has a good organization.
GO FOR IT!! Your plan looks great..give a try..!!

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I just meant "hurt" in the sense of being more of a detriment than a benefit. I thought maybe it would be better to only let them hear the audio of professional speakers. I was reading in the "learning chinese" thread about letting your child soak up the words and accents and don't interrupt them during a learning cd/dvd, and not to mispronounce if you can help it.

I feel a bit more confident, I will keep working on my language skills and give OPOL a try. Thanks.

[2010BEBES]

LilyAndOwensMom,
I read somewhere that it is very important to hear the language in person. Even though you say that your accent is not good (I like your expression 'sound like a gringa') it will do more good than harm. Children are awesome and they will pick the accent from the CD or DVD (hoping they are native). On the other hand it is nice for them to realize that they can comunicate to you in spanish, i think that will give them more incentives to learn that language. It is like sharing a secret if you can speak that way.
Keep the good work.
Where do you live now and what language is spoken by their father.
...
BTW I did not know the acronym OPOL so had to read about it. I hope it help someone else.
There are basic patterns most families follow (unless they have no pattern at all) are:

OPOL: One person/parent one language. Each parent and any other person involved with the child (grandparents, nannies etc) uses one language when speaking to the children. For example, Mum speaks English to the kids, Dad Spanish.

ml@h: Minority language at home. Both Mum and Dad speak English with the kids.

BPBL: Both parents both languages. For example, the whole family speaks English during the week and Spanish at weekend, Spanish and English alternate weeks, English at home and Spanish on outings... many patterns are possible, the important thing being that it works for you.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

We live on the east coast in Virginia Beach and my husband (their father) speaks only English.

Thanks for the input. I need to just jump in feet first and stop worrying about if I am doing it "right." There is just so much information to wade through, you know?

I am hoping the kids Lango language center opening up in the fall won't be too expensive, I'd like to enroll my daughter and I think that will help tremendously. They only take ages 18 months and up so my son will have to wait.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Oh, and I see there are many "Your Baby Can Read" spanish LR downloads, but do they make an actual YBCR in Spanish video series made by Robert Titzer? Anyone know?

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I have looked all over online and I think I answered my own question, they do not make a YBCR spanish, only "Your Baby Can Speak Spanish."

But here's a list of kids Spanish dvd's etc I found online that I thought I would share with you all--

http://learning-spanish.suite101.com/article.cfm/teach-your-child-to-speak-spanish

[2010BEBES]

A very good link with many DVD suggestions.
There it says what i mention before about interacting with a person and not only watchi a video. Very good indeed.

'While DVDs cannot replace interactions with real life Spanish speakers, the sounds and images combine to help children experience the language in a fun and often dynamic way. When the whole family watches the DVDs together and interact in Spanish, the learning is even more fun and the child's linguistic abilities will grow faster'

Thanks for this link, I see they have other languages too. Karma to you.

[waterdreamer]

Have you looked into Whistlefritz yet? Started watching them a few months ago and we LOVE them.

[hypatia]

I believe it's good to mix it up to maximize comprehension. You could flash words in Spanish (physical cards and LR), and with DVDs: Little Pim can teach individual words & sentences, with Whistlefritz, your child can actually see the speaker and read the lips :-)
I know what works best for teaching my daughter English is Sign Language dvds. 

[aangeles]

Have you looked into Whistlefritz yet? Started watching them a few months ago and we LOVE them.

I am glad to hear your son loves Whistlefritz. My daughter asks for "Fritzi" all the time! They have just released a new learning CD:  http://www.whistlefritz.com/products
and their website also has free downloadable lesson plans and activities in Spanish to complement the DVD lessons: http://www.whistlefritz.com/homeschool.html

[waterdreamer]

Have you looked into Whistlefritz yet? Started watching them a few months ago and we LOVE them.

I am glad to hear your son loves Whistlefritz. My daughter asks for "Fritzi" all the time! They have just released a new learning CD:  http://www.whistlefritz.com/products
and their website also has free downloadable lesson plans and activities in Spanish to complement the DVD lessons: http://www.whistlefritz.com/homeschool.html

Wow that's great to know!! Thanks I'll be looking more closely at that tonight. Karma to you

[TeachingMyToddlers]

The Whistlefritz series looks great! I must add it to my list....Thanks for the recommendation. Karma to you!

[NadiaD]

My daughter also loves WhistleFritz.
aangeles, thanks for the link to activities. karma to you!

[2010BEBES]

What age would whistleFritz be?
Is it for non speaking spanish parents?

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