Yoga in Spanish for Children- Review & Giveaway

***Giveaway Closed**** Winner from random.org was #4 Tricia.

I am always searching for genuine, real-life experiences for my children in Spanish. I like to use products that aren't particularly designed to teach them Spanish, but used to live in Spanish.


I was so excited to try Umbral Yoga by Lina Navia. I went to her website and saw this wonderful preview of the yoga class for children in Spanish from her DVD.




Lina's soothing voice instantly captured the attention of my children. She takes them on adventures to the beach, flying to visit Africa and the farm. My girls favorite part is acting like a lion and then putting him to sleep. The DVD uses sound effects to help the kids imagine (roaring lion, trumpeting elephant, waves at the beach, etc). It has the perfect variety of fast and slow movements, soft and loud sounds, that kept my girls full attention for the 26 minute class. My girls were all trying each pose even if it was difficult. They practice balance, focus and strength.


At the end of the DVD, I was amazed how my children relaxed completely. I have never seen them lay so still (except when they are asleep!). I did the class beside them and I even felt a little sore after doing this exercise with my children (la bicicleta y remando el barco gets your abs!). The adult work-out of 49 minutes is another bonus with the DVD. I highly recommend this product for children learning Spanish. Children who are just learning Spanish will be able to watch and follow her simple instructions. They will learn animal vocabulary, colors and be able to follow instructions.


I loved interviewing Lina and understanding why she decided to create yoga in Spanish for children in the US. She felt that there is so much offered in English, but not in Spanish. She mentioned why she feels yoga is important for children. She said, "What I like about yoga is that it is a non-competitive way to exercise and an opportunity to connect with themselves. Yoga gives them the chance to relax in a way because it connects them with their own bodies and their breath." We talked about how important it is for children to build confidence in themselves and their bodies. This will especially be important as they grow older and become teenagers. I plan on doing this exercise with my girls at least weekly. Learn more about Lina Navia by clicking here.


Want to win a Umbral Yoga DVD by Lina Navia?


Here is how to enter this giveaway contest:

*Go here and come back to this post, make a comment telling us one thing you learned about Umbral Yoga or Lina Navia



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Giveaway ends Sunday, April 11th at 10 pm Central Time.

Contest Rules- You can enter only up to five times for the contest by doing each one of the instructions above. The winner will be chosen randomly by random.org. Comments must provide a name, no completely anonymous. Only USA addresses, sorry. After I announce the winner , the winner must e-mail me within 72 hours to get the prize. If you provide an e-mail, we will e-mail you.

*If you think you will not check back when we announce winners, please e-mail me at wannajugarwithmigo [at] gmail [dot] com with your e-mail or include your e-mail with your comments so I can send you an e-mail that you win. In the past, winners have lost out on products they win because they didn't respond.

I'm Trying My Best

A while ago I posted about feeling frustrated that I couldn't find a friend that only spoke Spanish to my daughter. I wondered if I am really succeeding at teaching my children Spanish. Yes, I still would love to find a friend for her that would only speak in Spanish. But I have realized that I am trying my best and that is all I can do!



I decided to get all the Spanish books I could find within their reach. (I might add, we haven't been to the library for Spanish books lately, this is mostly our own books). We do read a lot in Spanish. They love these books just as much as the English ones. Sometimes my oldest daughter starts playing Barbies in Spanish and comes out with a word that I know I didn't teach her. Then I remember hearing if from a book we have read together. I know that I am succeeding, even if just a little bit.

I look for opportunities in the area for her to practice Spanish. Our latest babysitter (that would only speak Spanish, see this post) didn't work out as well as our babysitter where we lived before. She just seemed like she wasn't really enjoying playing with my children, instead she was more doing it just for the money. So I am trying to find another babysitter. Now, I am a little impatient finding another babysitter, but I decided I am going to try my best and then relax. I have googled "Spanish storytime" so many times in my area, maybe something will show up closer to me. Trying my best is all I can do!

Sometimes I get frustrated and think, "Maybe my accent is not good enough or my grammar isn't always correct." I hear their mistakes and wonder whether other children their age make the same mistakes. But then I remember something is better than nothing and I'm trying my best!

What to do?!

I have had this same frustration many times before! I hope that you can help me! Please comment with any suggestions.

I feel like my kids need more Spanish!! They need more than just me and my husband (we do have a babysitter that speaks only in Spanish, thank goodness!). I am a part of a wonderful group of moms that speak Spanish to their children. The problem: my oldest daugher (5 1/2) needs a friend that only speaks in Spanish with her. There are a few boys her age in the group. She enjoys playing with boys, but loves playing with girls. Some of the boys speak Spanish, but most of them switch into English pretty quickly. My daughter can really speak Spanish and carry on great conversations with me, but if the conversation goes English, she does, too! Don't get me wrong, I still want her to build friendships in this group. It is wonderful, but I feel like she needs to really feel a need to speak in Spanish. Her Spanish would take off and she would have the motivation she needs.

I have to say there have been a few times that I have felt like giving up. One time we went to a park playdate. Another 5 year old little girl was coming from the Spanish speaking group. My daughter was so exctied to meet someone her age that spoke in Spanish. We got there and the mom with the 5 year old only spoke English to the other moms. Her daughter was shy, but eventually she went to the sandbox. My daughter went over and started playing with her (in Spanish). The girl moved away from her and didn't say a word. This went on for about an hour. My daughter wanted to go home eventually because she wouldn't play with her! Driving home, I wondered why I am even teaching my kids Spanish if no one will talk to them!

My biggest pet peeve is when Spanish speakers meet my daughter and then they switch into English instantly and don't even try to let her speak in Spanish. I tell them she speaks Spanish and I know they are thinking "Oh, yeah, I bet she knows her colors and watches Dora." I don't know how to communicate that she really can speak Spanish!

I have thought about starting an older playgroup, but I don't know if the kids will really speak Spanish or if there is any interest in doing this because of busy schedules. As many of you know, I am homeschooling her right now. She is in Kindergarten and we do a lot in Spanish. Schedules are getting busier with kids her age. But I really feel that if I don't find a friend soon, she will lose motivation. I have been known to go up to strangers in the park and try to get to know any child I see speaking Spanish. I feel like people think I am strange and fanatical!!

There are several Spanish classes in the area (all immersion). Some are about $22 an hour and, again, there really are kids to play with, just the instructor speaks Spanish. They are also teaching and reviewing things she already knows (colors, shapes, parts of the body).

I just don't know what to do!

Thanks for letting me express my frustrations. I read amazing articles from Spanglish Baby like this one. I feel like I want to do those things, but they don't seem possible. Please let me know any suggestions you have.

Babysitter Turned into Immersion Teacher

To this day, my oldest daughter still believes Melissa only speaks Spanish. Who is Melissa? (name changed to be published online) She was my children's babysitter/teacher.



After reading The Bilingual Edge, I began to realize that my children would soon figure out that they didn't need to speak Spanish. I spoke Spanish and English. So did my husband. Most everyone they met that spoke Spanish also spoke English perfectly well. The Bilingual Edge talks about how children have to feel a need to speak the second language or they will lose motivation. Yes, I can insist with my children that they speak in Spanish, but they know I can understand them if they speak in English.

When my oldest daughter turned 3, she was starting to speak Spanish. She would still switch into English and Spanglish and then a little more Spanish. I wanted her to learn to only respond in Spanish when she was spoken to in Spanish.

We knew a Chilean man from our church. He told us about his granddaughter that was a senior in high school who wanted to study elementary education. I explained to him that I needed someone to speak Spanish with my girls. I e-mailed his granddaughter, Melissa, and asked her if she would be willing to teach my kids Spanish by playing games and actively playing with them. I told her the one rule is that she could never speak English in front of my kids. We could e-mail and talk over the phone together in English, but if we were ever in front of the kids, we had to speak Spanish. I was very adamant about this rule. I asked her to come 1-2 hours once or twice a week.

Since she was still a teenager, I didn't expect her to prepare lessons and activities every time she came. I knew that I didn't want her to just sit back and let the kids play by themselves or watch a movie. So, I e-mailed her games that she could play with them (Simon says, memory, etc.) and borrowed a stack of good Spanish books from the library. When she arrived the first time, I didn't leave her to babysit, I stayed the entire time. I played a game and included her to show her how much I wanted her to repeat words and how I wanted her to insist that my daughter say words in Spanish. Then I let them read books and do an activity alone. We did this many weeks until finally, I left for half of the time. Then I started leaving the entire time. She continued to do fun activities (make rice krispies, play dress-up and read the stack of books I would leave each time). My daughter really took off with her Spanish after having this immersion-type babysitting. I highly recommend it. We actually had her sister come babysit a few times, but after talking to my daughter afterwards, I found out she spoke in Spanglish not only in Spanish.

There are tutors who will charge an enormous amount for playing with your children. I suggest finding a teenager or young adult that could watch your children who is fluent in Spanish. You can help her know what you expect. We had a great experience with this. Obviously your child needs to feel comfortable with the language and be able to understand it so that this can work :)

Steps to have a babysitter become your "immersion teacher":

1. E-mail or meet with the babysitter (must be fluent in Spanish :) emphasizing your expectations of only speaking Spanish to your child and the activities/books you want her to do with your child. Have the activities/books ready when the babysitter comes.
2. When your babysitter comes for the first few times, remember that you can only speak with her in Spanish as well (this way your child thinks they don't speak English). You have to be strict about this or the babysitter will just be like any other babysitter.
3. Stay with your child and the babysitter if needed. Depending on the babysitter, show the babysitter how much you want her to insist on speaking in Spanish and how much you want her to repeat by modeling.
4. Continue to leave activities and stories each time and make sure they continue speaking only in Spanish to your child!
5. Pay her a little more than the average babysitter so she will keep coming and because she is doing a little extra work.
   

My mom gave me this wonderful idea and it has been so successful for our family. Now that we are settled since we moved, I spoke with numerous people I knew (through our church and other friends). I found someone that I think will be great at becoming my children's new "immersion teacher." She comes tomorrow afternoon. I will tell you how it goes :)

Try it out! Good luck!

Please share: How do you create a need to speak in Spanish as you teach your children?

Spanish Teaching Blog List

First of all, I wanted to share a few successes! I started this blog to get support from others trying to teach their children Spanish. Yesterday and today my oldest daughter, Princesa, has surprised me with some vocabulary and phrases that I don't feel I have told her. Yesterday at dinner she was telling a story in Spanish and in the story there was an "arbol espinoso." I know I don't use those kind of words. I guess all the books, music and some movies have helped her learn more! Also this morning, I asked her what an avestruz was, I had forgotten. "It's an ostrich!" she told me effortlessly! Also, my immersion classes have really helped my middle daughter (3), Super Nina, to speak more Spanish. She is starting to say phrases and really remembers all of the vocabulary we sing and play games with in the classes!

I love sharing links to other blogs. There are so many ideas to learn from. I updated my blog list on the right side bar. I know I have left out some, so I apologize if I didn't include your blog on the list.


If you want me to include your blog on this list, they must....
-at least occasionally post about raising your children bilingually or share tips on teaching Spanish.
-not include profanity or crude language
-not focus only on advertising one product. It must share a variety of resources, products and ideas!


Please comment on this post if your blog shares the qualities as mentioned above and I would love to include your blog on the list!


By the way, Tricia, thank you for sharing all of your ideas when you comment on my blog! You really need to start a blog! You have incredible ideas! Everyone should read comments because many times they share ideas and resources there as well!

La Señal Secreta

It's working.

I was getting so tired of saying, "¿Puedes decirlo en español?" "¿Como dices eso en español"
"¡¡Tienes que hablar en español!!!"

Now all I have to do is give her our señal secreta- the secret hand sign. It's simple and easy and I don't have to say a thing. Three fingers makes an E shape. ¡E es para Español! We don't say anything.

She switches instantly into Spanish. She thinks it's funny and silly.

I even have her little sister reminding her with the sign and she tells her "Hoy es martes. You have to peak panish"

I love it and I'm hoping it keeps working for a long time.

Try it, it may work for you! Or what does work for you?

Meetup.com

Since I just moved to a new area, I wanted to meet some other moms that are teaching their children Spanish. I searched and found a wonderful group! You can search groups and then show up to see if it is the right fit for you. The group I found is very friendly and nice. One of the rules of the group is to speak only in Spanish (no matter the level). Most of the moms are native speakers (there are only a few gringas :) It is so fun to let the kids play with other children that speak Spanish! Another Great way to find groups is to google your area or look at the SpanglishBaby forums. Try it out in your area- there might just be a perfect group waiting for you!

To Brazil and Back

We have been busy travelling and moving! We are finally somewhat settled in our new home. We had a fun time visiting Sao Paulo, Brazil where my husband's parents are serving a mission for our church.

We had a wonderful time. Traveling was not as hard as I thought it would be. Some highlights were: spending time with family, going to church in a small pueblo, eating at a Brazilian family's home, spotting a group of monkeys on a walk in the Botanical gardens (not the zoo), relaxing at the beach, going to the zoo and eating yummy Brazilian food every day!

Monkey in between my girls. Picture below is up close.

It reminded me a lot of when I lived in Honduras. It got us excited about living overseas someday. The kids were a little confused by portuguese. My oldest daughter, Princesa, actually played with a Brazilian girl on the playground with Princesa speaking Spanish and the girl speaking Portuguese. I love how children really don't need to speak perfectly to make new friends and have fun. Super Nina is still convinced that she speaks Portuguese. She just starts speaking in jibberish (with inflection and all) sometimes and says she speaks Portuguese.

It has been hard getting back a schedule, including speaking with my girls in Spanish. I would say we have been spending about half of our Spanish days only speaking Spanish :(. I did join a great group of moms who speak Spanish to their kids. They all want their children to meet friends that they will only speak Spanish with them. We also met a mom with a 2 year old who goes to the same park everyday. The little girl loved Princesa and they had fun speaking Spanish together. We are also going to try out an immersion Spanish class on Monday.

I'm excited to get back posting, it might not be as often as I was posting before. It motivated me to see I have more followers :) I have 4 giveaways that I have just left hanging. I'm sorry about that. I'll have to figure that out soon!

We're back!

La Pascua

We had a wonderful Easter and celebrated with some good friends of ours. Our friends are from Chile and the two daughters (both college age) babysit our girls and always speak Spanish with them. We met them through the church and have really loved having someone we trust to watch our kids and teach them Spanish! We ate Easter dinner with them. The entire time, everyone pretty much only spoke Spanish. It was so fun to see Super Niña (my almost 3 year-old) really trying to speak only in Spanish. Princesa (my 4 year-old) loved rattling off in Spanish and loved the attention she gets when she speaks in Spanish.

I was reminded yet again how wonderful the Latin culture is. I have only met with the mother a few times, but I have asked a few favors (like having her daughters watch my girls when I left for my grandma's funeral, emergency dentist appointments, etc.) I know that they would be willing to sacrifice anything to help us out. They are such giving people. After dinner, they had prepared an Easter egg hunt with little toys and candies for the kids. They had bought chalk for the kids to draw on the porch. As we left, they even gave Super Nina a little tambor that speaks in Spanish. They showered us with gifts and love! I was again amazed at how generous and giving our friends were. It gave me even more motivation to continue teaching these niñas Spanish, so they can get to know a wonderful culture that is full of warmth, love and giving.

Super Niña, Angelita y Princesa

Let your children get to know Spanish speaking people and really develop a friendship with them. It is motivating for you and for them.

By the way, I have GREAT giveways in the making that I am really excited about. You won't want to miss multiple products being given away at a time.

Eee and Um

Since I am not a native speaker, I am always trying to pronounce words the very best so my kids can hear it right :) I always like to have them listen to music and watch DVD's so they will hear the perfect accent, but they just get me most of the time.

A couple of months ago, I was sitting at church listening to a man from Mexico speak to the congregation. He speaks flawless English even if it is his second language, except there was one problem. Anytime he would pause in his speaking he would say "eee" instead of "um." It was a quick giveaway that English is his second language.

This reminded me of my Spanish Teaching class in college. There was a friend of mine who spoke Spanish so well. I compared our pronunciation and they seemed similar, but she still seemed like she spoke so much better than me. Then I figured it out. When she would pause while talking, she would say "eee...este..." instead of "um" when she was speaking in Spanish.

I don't know if you have noticed it, but there are different filler words for different languages. I have made a new goal to stop my "umming" when I speak Spanish and only "eee" and "este" this and that.

Do you know any other tips for improving your accent in Spanish?

Back to Bribing

When my oldest was almost 3, she was understanding everything we said in Spanish. However, she would always respond in English or Spanglish, never fully in Spanish. We would insist that she only speak in Spanish when she asked for something, like "Quiero leche, por favor." But it was hard to insist during daily conversation. She just did not have the practice in fluency to speak only in Spanish. So, I decided to play a little game I made up to get her speaking more in Spanish. It was called, ¿Dónde está el chocolate? I would hide an M&M, and she would have to ask me "¿Dónde está el chocolate?" then I would have to respond, "El chocolate está en la sofá" Then we would switch and I would have to ask the question and she would have to tell me where she hid the M&M in a full sentence all in Spanish. After each time one of us hid the M&M and we exchanged our conversation in full sentences, we would each get to eat an M&M. Is this bribing? I don't know, but it worked. Within a few days, my daughter started responding to me more completely in Spanish. After a few days, we moved on to hiding a teddy bear and she still enjoyed the game (and she wasn't get chocolate every time we played.)

Now my second daughter is having the same problem as my first. T is turning 3 in May and she pretty much never speaks only in Spanish. She speaks a lot of Spanglish, but never purely in Spanish. She loves reading books in Spanish and has some memorized. But I really wanted to work on it. So, I had some fun picture cards with opposites on them (one is a girl sleeping, the other is a boy awake). I thought she could say what each person was doing and then I would give her a little smartie or something. The conversation went like this:

Me- ¿Qué está hacienda él?
T- He is sleeping
Me- ¿Puedes decirlo en español?
T- He is sleeping
Me- El...
T- El is sleeping
Me- No, El está durmido
T- El is durmido
Me- No, repite, El está durmido
T- El es sleeping
Me- No, repite, El
T- El
Me-esta durmido
T- is durmido

As you might imagine, this was a little frustrating. I even had my older 4 year old daughter saying what was on the card first. T mixes Spanish and English up so well! I guess it takes patience and consistency. I have thought about how I can help her speak more Spanish.

This brings me to a new feature of this blog. It is called el Juego del Jueves. I am very excited about it. I have researched various Spanish teaching books and changed them around to ways that I think will be wonderful to help children start speaking more. The games will be geared towards smaller children, but can easily be adapted for older children, including high school age if you want. My new goal with my girls is to play a new game each week to increase their speaking in the language. I will post a new game each Thursday and hope you will try it out. I have 16 new games to share with you. I hope that posting this will help me keep my goal to do this each week.

Please let me know how you get your kids to speak completely in Spanish and not Spanglish...I would love new ideas. Thank you!

(By the way, I don't think bribing is bad. I think sometimes an extrinsic reward can motivate them just enough to get them going. I do think that it shouldn't be the only reason they are doing it and that you should slowly stop giving them treats or rewards over time. If I bribed them for everything, they would always expect a treat in order for them to do anything I ask them!)

Language Development & Movies

I love all the wonderful resources there are for language learning! Since I am not a native speaker, I want my children to be exposed to the "perfect" pronunciation of things. I am always looking for more videos and TV shows that my children can hear that will help them have better pronunciation.

After reading, The Bilingual Edge (which I highly recommend), I learned that books are the most important thing for language development. Some parents want to expose their children to other languages so they buy CD's and movies of languages that the parents cannot speak and the children will probably not speak with any other human being. What children need, according to the book, is a real living, breathing person talking to them in this language to learn the language. It makes sense. Why would we want to speak what we only have heard from a TV screen. Communication and interaction with other people is the key to learning any language, even our first language.


For the past two weeks, we have only watched one hour of movies on Thursdays with my girls. This is the total TV time they have had all week. The rest of the week they talk about it and pretend with their dolls that they are rescuing animals like Diego. I think we could watch a little more, but it has been neat to see them speak more as they play and talk with me than just sit down and watch TV. I do think movies are a wonderful resource for pronunciation and exposure, but it should not be the focus on language learning. The Bilingual Edge suggests talking about the movies, puting it on pause to ask questions and do similar activities after the movie. Sometimes my girls just watch it so I can get some things done, but I have been trying to talk about the movies more to get the most out of them.

Is watching Dora bad?

I think it is funny when parents say their children are learning to speak Spanish while watching Dora. Yes, they are learning a few words here and there and sometimes some phrases in Spanish. I think this is a great thing for children and gives them some cultural awareness, but children are not learning how to really speak fluently in Spanish. There are some who think speaking only in Spanish is important and others who think it is okay to mix the two languages. I am a believer in complete immersion if at all possible. When I learned Spanish, by living in Honduras for 3 years as a teenager, I took classes that were only in Spanish. There was no English spoken. I started to think in Spanish. Kids will be able to speak with more fluency if they are not translating what they have to say from English to Spanish. They will be able to think and speak only in Spanish. In fact, if my kids ask me what a word means like "lobo", I try to explain to them what it is in Spanish or show them a picture instead of telling them it is a "wolf". Again, I think immersion is the best and the ideal. Immersion cannot be done in every situation. Those parents sending their kids to Spanish classes where English is spoken some is a great alternative. What are your thoughts?

I was kind of against Dora at first, but then I realized that you can dub all Dora movies completely in Spanish. This version is for kids in Spanish speaking countries to teach them a few words in English. Now we always dub Dora in Spanish and the kids get lots of great Spanish. I really love it because the characters speak very clearly and they are easy to understand. They do teach the kids a few English words in every episode. My 4 year-old gets a kick out of using English and Spanish and I don't think a little bit hurts.

Only some of the Dora episodes are dubbed in Spanish (Summer Explorer, Puppy Power, Dora Undercover, Dora's First Trip and Shy Rainbow) or buy special editions that are dubbed in Spanish that can be found here- http://www.spanishtoys.com/UDDora.asp

Another series we love to dub is Magic School Bus. They speak pretty fast and the vocabulary is more advanced, but my girls also like to watch these. I plan on using these more as they get older. For those with boys, Diego can also be dubbed completely into Spanish. I like Diego, but my girls prefer Dora.

*Most of these same videos can be dubbed in French also!

Hope this helps someone! Also, please tell me your thoughts on complete immersion versus mixing English and Spanish.

Como se dice?

Posted by Tati:

When A was 2 years old, I felt like I was wasting my time speaking Spanish 3 days a week. She would take longer to figure out what I was saying and then she would always respond in English. I decided to stick with it and when she was about 3 1/2 it suddenly clicked. She started speaking in full sentences in Spanish. Now, A is 4 and I would say about 75% of the time she talks to me and responds to my questions in Spanish on the days we speak Spanish. Today at lunch, she said, "Quiero mas leche y macaronis y...como se dice beans en espanol?" It made me happy that she even asked me how to say a word using Spanish. She gets excited about speaking Spanish. If I mess up and switch into English on a Spanish day, she will remind me to speak in Spanish. She is at the perfect age and loves it so much. I have to take advantage of this time!

I have read in many books and spoken with so many people who say that their children refuse to speak the second language with them as they get older. Children figure out that the majority language is much more popular. Then, the majority language is also easiest for them to use since they go to school all day long. I am hoping with homeschooling, my children will continue to speak the Spanish language.

How do you get your children to keep speaking in Spanish (or another language)?

Wanna Jugar with Mee-go?

For those of you who do not speak Spanish, "Wanna jugar with mee-go" is Spanish and English very badly mixed together. As we have taught our girls Spanish, we hear a lot of Spanglish. When my oldest daughter, A, was two years old, she asked her little 4 month old sister if she wanted to play with her using this Spanglish phrase.

Journaling in Scrapbook page says: Anna has started to speak Spanglish since we have started to teach her Spanish. She understand Spanish, but mostly responds in English. She will say "esta dormida" "la leche se cayo" "esta en el carro" Her favorite words are tobogan, columpio, carro, patito, agua, leche and pan.

Lessons Learned: Motivation is Key for Language Learning

Yesterday, my two daughters aged 4 and 2 played with a 3 year old girl from Mexico. My 4 year old is now speaking in full sentences in Spanish and can really communicate. My 2 year old understand a lot of Spanish, but really only says 10-15 words in Spanish. I heard her speak the most ever last night because she wanted to play with the older two girls. She would repeat things they said in full sentences, but would add some Spanglish to it. The girl from Mexico said, "Tengo dos hermanas" and T would say "Tengo two hermanas, too." At least I know she is understanding because she translated dos into two.

Some other ways I am trying to motivate my children to speak Spanish:

1. We go to fun Spanish storytimes at the library even if it is a drive.
2. We listen to fun Spanish music in the car.
3. We watch fun movies dubbed in Spanish.
4. I search for anyone that speaks Spanish and invite them over to develop a friendship with them. We found this neighbor who has a daughter that speaks Spanish (mentioned above), so we try to have her over a lot.
5. We get at least 5 new Spanish books from the library a week.
6. We have a Spanish speaking babysitter from Chile who only speaks to them in Spanish.
7. We search and go to any type of Latin cultural events in the area. We have gone to a Latin festival in the park and a Celebracion de Los Ninos activity.
8. They impress grandparents by showing off singing and speaking in Spanish.

What do you do to motivate your children to learn another foreign language?