Planning to Raise a Multilingual Child (as a non-native)

[mom2bee]

Okay, BK members and EL parents, I need your advice and guidance.

For those of us who do, will or aspire to teach a 2nd (or 3rd) language to our children, what are some things you wish you'd have done beforehand?

It is my goal to raise my children speaking Spanish and to teach them Arabic as a 2nd language from infancy. I have several textbooks and resources for an adult learner that I use and reference. I have recently began building a personal library in Spanish and I'm going to be doing a lot of Spanish self-study until New Years, its my goal to switch to watching the majority of my TV in Spanish by next February.

It has been my dream since I was a little girl to teach my children Spanish and I decided a few years ago that I'd like to raise my children in Spanish. I don't have a heritage connection to the language, but I was about 4 or 5 when I found out that my mom could speak Spanish (she studied in College) and I begged her to teach me but she never could. I often wished and still do that I could speak Spanish (and other languages) with more fluency so I have decided to do my best to raise my kids to speak Spanish from birth. (My moms Spanish really isn't that good, but I was adamant that I wanted to learn and when I realized that she couldn't teach me, I promised that I'd learn Spanish myself and teach my children). It occurred to me that I should begin acquiring some things now.

Here is what I am doing now:
--Building a Spanish Library (right now I have about 12 books that span the 2nd-6th grade level, but I'd like to get baby books and adult books too. I want to get Spanish Literature too, not just translations) and I need early readers
--Buying a Region-Free DVD player (I would like to start a collection of foreign DVDs
--Spanish Scriptures I got a Spanish version of the Quran and I am trying to read it (I can't understand most of it, in Spanish, but I'd like to read it a few times to get used to the vocabulary
--Trying to Speak moreI was in South FL. recently and had the chance to speak (unexpectedly) to some people in Spanish
-- Spanish speaking toys
--????

I know that I can and should do more. Both for my own Spanish abilities and to prepare myself to truly raise a Multilingual child.
Its my goal to buy a minimum of 30 Spanish books a year of various genres and get more media (songs, movies, books, posters, etc) in Spanish. But I still can't figure out a coherent way to do it. I want to get my Spanish to the level where I could do a full EL routine for 4 years, with each child that I may have, completely in Spanish.

I know that Little Reader isn't available in Spanish just yet, though I don't foresee myself using it even if it were. I think that I prefer to make my own lessons and stuff, I could make a Spanish reading program using the Doman method.**

I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback and help hammering out the details of the plan. Some advice and guidance from those who have been there, done that already would be invaluable to me.

--Thanks, mom2bee.
**There was a '?' there, but it was a typo, should've been a '.'

[mario]

Hello!

My son is 22 months old and we are raising him bilingual. His second language is English so it gets much easier as there is too much material available. I have to import books and some DVDs but what helped a lot is Netflix. Also, all the time I'm doing EL activities with him is with the English material we talk about here.

From all what I do I think the most important is speaking. We do OPOL, so I only speak English with him when we are at home.

If you want to make your own program with Little Reader it is possible. In my case, I opted to do all in English.

[MamaOfWill]

Hello mom2bee,

I love how you are planning ahead, I think it's amazing! 

I can't really add to your list.  I'm completely bilingual and it was easy teaching my son the 2 languages I know (mostly through reading and talking to him.)  In other languages that I'm exposing him to, he will probably never reach fluency in, in his early years.

I wish I had LR right from the start!  If you plan on buying any educational program or DVD or whatever, buy Little Reader first.  I don't know if you've read the Doman books, but they describe how it's best to systematically introduce new material, whilst reviewing old material and I can tell you, it gets pretty unorganized and hectic when you're doing it with traditional flash cards - in Little Reader, you can easily build courses that does exactly that!  You've spoken about your hopes and dreams for your future children and I know your whole hart is in it, so if you're going to be doing a ton of Early Learning activities, do yourself a favor and find out more about Little Reader before you rule it out as an option.

Think about how many flash cards you will be creating, how many facts goes along with them, how many times you want to review, how many children might you have...  10,000 x 10 x 20 x 4 = 8 million = give yourself a break and let technology give you a hand.

[Skylark]

"I know that Little Reader isn't available in Spanish just yet, though I don't forsee myself using it even if it were. I think that I prefer to make my own lessons and stuff, could I make a Spanish reading program using the Doman method?"

MamaofWill put it the best "Think about how many flash cards you will be creating, how many facts goes along with them, how many times you want to review, how many children might you have...  10,000 x 10 x 20 x 4 = 8 million = give yourself a break and let technology give you a hand."

With my first baby at first I created all my flashcards (a la Doman method) myself, on paper -- that would be Math Dots, Reading program and EK -- we are talking hundreds in just a few months. It was EXTREMELY difficult, but possible with one baby. When I got two and then three children, I realized how close to impossible would my EL dream for them would be, IF IT WOULD NOT BE FOR LITTLE READER.

It is amazing! Right now the work of creating reading, EK or advance knowledge programs Doman style, that I do for one child, I can use and re-use for all of them. The courses I create in Little Reader, can be adjusted to fit each of my children individually -- for example reading words with my baby, couplets with my 2 yo and complicated sentences with my 4 yo, with just a few clicks of adjusting previously prepared course! They can be at different stages of reading - no problem, I am able to create separate profile for each of them and their progress is recorded. I know where I am at with each of my 3 LO without keeping complicated log. I pre-program a review system into the courses I create for them, custom tailored to their needs, again, it would be a total headache to do manually. And to be honest I gave up on it a while ago when I tried. And when I fancy to do games and activities with physical flashcards for that day or week, I still use little reader and print the cards for that day, put them in my reusable flap cards sleeves and have an awesome hands on activity!

We supplement with lots of different materials, and books, but hands down Little Reader is the skeleton and and  support system for all our Doman Based EL activities.

Raising multilingual child is exciting, challenging and rewarding. You are giving a great gift to your child and it is so worth it. Our children understand  4 languages and we are considering introducing the 5th in near future.

[nuria2012]

Hi  Mon2bee,

I like speaking other non-natives who share the same amazing dream with you: having a bililngual child!!!

If you have any doubt about Spanish vocabulary, please send me a private message, or perhaps, I am thinking that I am going to write a post where Spanish/ English vocabulary could be written. Every day I have less doubts when speaking my LO. At first, when I began I wondered if I could face up with the problems with my shortcomings in the foreign language, especially as far as babies vocabulary is concerned. After a year, I have realized the amount of babies´ words that I have had to learn. My God! However, I must learn every day. It is an endless but interesting process.

[Arnau i Pau]

Hi!!

It's my first e-mail here...and in this moment is very difficult for me to read all the information online. There are a lot of users connected here!!
I like languages, for that reason I speak Spanish, Catalan, French, a little English and also a little German.

I have 2 little boys: 10 and 9 years old. They have studied English at the School...but with songs, playing or making cookies, going to the theatre.... It's a funny system but they don't have any idea of verbs...and they have a short vocabulary. I knew that at the beginning of this course because they don't have English books...when one day I asked them the meaning of "to be" :-(
Then, I tried to do a dictation...and my surprise was that my little boy wrote water like this "guater" :-(  and mother "moder", and one "uan"... :-( He can translate colors, numbers...and he knows the sound of the word, but he don't know writing...

For that reason, I'm going to learn them more vocabulary with Little Reader and also it's good for them the Pattern Phonics.
I hope improve their levels soon and practise them minimum 3 days every week.

If someone need help about Spanish Words, let me know by private mail or here in the post.

[mom2bee]

Hi!!

It's my first e-mail here...and in this moment is very difficult for me to read all the information online. There are a lot of users connected here!!
I like languages, for that reason I speak Spanish, Catalan, French, a little English and also a little German.

I have 2 little boys: 10 and 9 years old. They have studied English at the School...but with songs, playing or making cookies, going to the theatre.... It's a funny system but they don't have any idea of verbs...and they have a short vocabulary. I knew that at the beginning of this course because they don't have English books...when one day I asked them the meaning of "to be" :-(
Then, I tried to do a dictation...and my surprise was that my little boy wrote water like this "guater" :-(  and mother "moder", and one "uan"... :-( He can translate colors, numbers...and he knows the sound of the word, but he don't know writing...

For that reason, I'm going to learn them more vocabulary with Little Reader and also it's good for them the Pattern Phonics.
I hope improve their levels soon and practise them minimum 3 days every week.

If someone need help about Spanish Words, let me know by private mail or here in the post.

I would reccomend that you also checkout www.readingbear.com it will teach reading and vocabulary in a very straight forward and systematic way and one that is a lot more aligned to how most older children learn.

[MamaOfWill]

LOL mom2bee!

Reading Bear is fantastic, if you don't worry about the amount of internet it takes (internet is not cheap everywhere in the world.)  If I were to use Reading Bear for two months the way I used Little Reader, it would cost the price of Little Reader in internet expenses.

@mom2bee, what would you change about Little Reader to make it into something you see as useful?

[cokers4life]

Great ideas. 

You can download a multi regional dvd player to your computer if that is helpful.  There is a link to one at the bottom of my blog.  I found Hulu has a great library of kids and adult videos in Spanish, too.   

If you want to improve your Spanish to help you in your goal, I recommend Mango Language Software.  I haven't used Rosetta, but many say its better than rosetta.  It's method is very simple and gives you the right repetition to confidently build your conversational spanish.  If you are in the US, most libraries are getting a subscription making it free to members of the library.   

Also, I love verbling.com.   It connects you to people and groups of people that are trying to learn your language so that you can help each other speak each other's language.   They also have classes that vary from beginners to advance.  They have them only in English and Spanish, but they connect people who want to learn Chinese with those who speak Chinese too.  It cost to join the online classes but you can watch the online classes for free.  They also upload the classes once they are over on to youtube, so you can try following along that way.   Please use my link as I earn tickets to classes for every person that registers to verbling.   It is really an awesome resource and free to register.    http://verbling.com/i/64696833645702635388

hope that helps.  I know that I need to work on my Spanish if I want to help my little ones.  I am trying to sit down for a class once a day just to watch.  I am going to work up some courage to take a class as I have earned a few tickets but I am nervous sitting in the class even though the atmosphere is really relaxed and everyone is having a good time.   Good luck on your journey, and I have a YouTube playlist of Spanish book read alongs on my blog.   http://pushplaylearning.com/push-play-spanish-read-alongs/

Lacy

[mom2bee]

LOL mom2bee!

Reading Bear is fantastic, if you don't worry about the amount of internet it takes (internet is not cheap everywhere in the world.)  If I were to use Reading Bear for two months the way I used Little Reader, it would cost the price of Little Reader in internet expenses.

If ReadingBear isn't a viable option for the poster, then I suggest she not use it. I recommended reading-bear because of the ages of her sons and because of their abilities (able to write, and read--presumably in Spanish) phonetically. She mentioned that she wanted to improve their vocabulary and that pattern phonics would probably benefit them with reading and spelling. I feel that Reading Bear might be better-suited option for older children and it would be more direct. It also has pictures, videos and sentences to help with meaning and comprehension, but it doesn't flash across the screen at a high speed.

I didn't think about the implications of internet usage because I assumed that Spain had enough infrastructure to  have decent internet access. But I live in the USA where internet is plentiful and cheap, if Reading-Bear and other online options aren't viable, then don't use them just because they are recommended.

[MamaOfWill]

Just to set the record straight, I've built many courses in Little Reader for my little boy with full sentences that we read through slowly and sit and discuss the images that follow at a slow pace.  Both fast and slow are possible in LR, full sentences or short words.  In fact, we could probably do a close replica of reading bear using LR, but reading bear (as fantastic as it is) can not do what LR can do.

Not all Spanish speakers live in Spain.
 

[Ayesha Nicole]

Good Morning,

These two books are very insightful on how to raise bi/multi-lingual children:

http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061246562

http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/pricing/isbn/item1113942/?site_locale=en_US

and more are listed here:  http://www.multilingualchildren.org/shop.html#refbooks

With regard to Doman materials in Spanish, there are some here:  http://www.childandme.com/ideas/teach-your-child/foreign-language/

And a few Doman materials in Arabic are here:
http://www.theclassicalmommy.com/arabicbits.html

However, I would begin with reading the first book listed, to understand the best way to achieve your goals in the most efficient and effective methods possible.

~ Ayesha

[mom2bee]

Good Morning,

These two books are very insightful on how to raise bi/multi-lingual children:

http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061246562

http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/pricing/isbn/item1113942/?site_locale=en_US

and more are listed here:  http://www.multilingualchildren.org/shop.html#refbooks

Thanks, I hadn't heard of The Bilingual Family. I will put both on my wishlist. Actually you brought up a great point, I should buy or borrow more books to boost my understanding of how many people successfully raise multilingual children. I have had my eye on the book Growing Up With Three Languages for some time now! But I hadn't known there were so many. Thank you for reminding me to look at more options in this vein. So, I will definitely remember to read such books over time as I develop my own Spanish speaking abilities.

However, I would begin with reading the first book listed, to understand the best way to achieve your goals in the most efficient and effective methods possible.Will do!

~ Ayesha

Just to set the record straight, I've built many courses in Little Reader for my little boy with full sentences that we read through slowly and sit and discuss the images that follow at a slow pace.  Both fast and slow are possible in LR, full sentences or short words.  In fact, we could probably do a close replica of reading bear using LR, but reading bear (as fantastic as it is) can not do what LR can do.
Well, I am not too familar with LR--its been a while since I've used it and explored the options and thank you for sharing that info so that Arnau i Pai will be aware of that when she makes her choice .
Not all Spanish speakers live in Spain.
I know that now all Spanish speakers live in Spain.    I just assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that since Arnau speaks Catalan and Spanish, she was from Spain. I know for a fact that nuria2012 is from Spain because she said so....

My ReadingBear suggestion wasn't meant as a snub or attack on LR, but she mentioned wanting her boys to learn to write and pattern Phonics so I thought of Reading Bear as a recommendation. Plus, I haven't seriously considered the idea of using LR with a child older than 5 to be a success simply because it was a flop with various toddlers I've tried it on. Thats not to say that it would not or could not work, but I haven't been able to get LR to 'click' with any of the 2-7yos that I've tried it on.

Of course,  mine is only one opinion and as a single individual I have a very limited view and my experience with young children is mostly ages 2-14, I don't know infants nearly as well.

Everyone, please be sure and consider all your options and be aware of multiple resources so that you make the most informed decision. .

[mom2bee]

@mom2bee, what would you change about Little Reader to make it into something you see as useful?

To clarify, I don't view LR as "not useful" I just prefer to create my own materials! I have tried the sample/trial of LR a couple of times and it just isn't "the thing" for me.
I have read the Doman books on Reading, Math and Encyclopedic Knowledge.

I have actually roughed out a design for my own program a few times, and have even began to consider starting to make it. I adore the possibilities for Little Musician though. I don't have any confidence in my ability to teach Music in a respectable manner, but I have utter faith in my ability to teach a neurotypical toddler to read, do math, and expose them to scientific facts and knowledge, so it is more appealing to me personally to make my own program. Plus, there are so many great resources out there! I have already began collecting books for my future kids that I'd like to share with them.

[MamaOfWill]

@mom2bee, You asked for advice and Arnau i Pau comes and shares her experience of Little Reader with you, as advice for you not as a question.  She's using LR currently and likes it.  You tell her to looked at RB "instead" of LR.  Why would Arnau i Pau drop LR if she's benefiting from it. 

You say you don't see LR working with older children (I presume you mean older as in 9 or 10 because of previous discussions) because of your experience with using LR (trail?) with toddlers.  - Can you please explain how you came to that conclusion?

You advocate Reading Bear as a good source for English vocabulary, have you even seen the LR library?

You say parents should not rule out their options and make uninformed decisions, but you are ruling out Little Reader as an option and you're giving me the impression you don't really know much about it.

I'm hammering on this (and you will probably feel relieved to know this is my absolute last post to this topic) because I truly believe that no Spanish program can possibly meet the potential of what LR Spanish will have to offer!  I actually don't want to fight with you, I wanted to open your eyes.  Maybe you had one bad experience with LR then gave up on it altogether and what's worse, you're selling this misconception to the new people on the forum.  Above all this, I have a bit of an idea of how seriously you take early learning and how big your goals are, you once said "...and lots and lots of facts..." as one of your goals, and you want to "make your own program."  We share these goals I mention here, we just don't share our views on LR, and personally I think it's because you don't know the application all that well.

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