As a language teacher, I am obsessed about my pupils and my children’s spanish learning.
Last summer we spent three weeks in Spain and I can truly see the benefits even now. I’m hoping to repeat this language journey next summer and maybe enrol the eldest into a week long language camp to boost his Spanish as we naturally speak more English together than Spanish.
Since the summer spent in Spain my eldest has been having Spanish lessons (I tried teaching him, but it was too easy for him to wriggle out of it). i find him having a tutor works better as he likes the guy who teaches him and I can build on it during homework. I’m still looking for similar aged
Spanish friends over here but I know it can’t be forced.
My youngest has had no choice in learning, he has a Spanish au pair, he goes to Spanish play groups and hopefully he will attend spanish Saturday school when he is totally toilet trained.
Other things we have: Spanish CDs in the car, spanish DVDs, Spanish apps, spanish games, sing songs and lots of Spanish books. Sometimes my eldest will ask me for the corresponding word in Spanish or pick up a book left lying around. Sometimes we make spanish appropriate holiday treats or crafts and relate it to something we have read or seen.
I hope that by creating memories in Spain for my kids, their love of the language will grow and maybe some day we will move there in some capacity, till then I am working at their pace and will not force anything so their love can blossom.
Part of the monthly blogging carnival, please hit link to see other bloggers, parents interpretation and ideas
multicultural blogging carnival
bilinguebabies 
Where is the Spanish Saturday school please? Gracias!
It’s Latin American, called Gabriel Garcia Marquez, based in Kennington. I can’t recommend it as we have not been but I like the sound of it. I’m sure there are others locally?!
Thanks! I don’t think we have any in Hertfordshire 😔
It could be your opportunity to create one?!! Get a group of interested parents together and you never know, you will be opening your bilingual free school next!
“my others”? This is either a typo or you are not a native English speaker. No problem, I am sure your Spanish is far superior to mine since I am a monolingual. 😉 Just pointing it out to help.
Good for you…nice to see this kind of support in UK! Keep going, it is absolutely worth the effort. We are monolingual parents and have raised a fluent-as-a-native trilingual ( Mandarin, Spanish and English) and soon we head back to Provence and Tahiti to add French. (She is 12 and is about to finish the first 6 years of Chinese reading and writing curriculum).
She is an American and has been speaking Spanish from birth so was fluent when we arrived in Spain when she just turned 6 ( and was already an advanced English reader at a Harry Potter level), but the time there dipping into a local school ( a few months for 4 winters between our world travel with home education) helped her tremendously with reading and writing Spanish like a Spaniard.
Now she is already teaching students on 3 continents all 3 languages ( 4 to 30 years old,…even a geophysicist!) in person and via skype and making excellent money for a child her age and gaining great entrepreneurial experience that will serve her well in life and adds to her homeschooling learning.
It IS a lot of work in those early years, but so worth the effort!
Thanks, I am native English though fluent in Spanish. The typo was one of a multitasking mother and an auto correcting device, thanks for pointing it out!
Wow I would love to know how you managed to raise a trilingual, I am far too scared to add anymore languages. Tough french would be natural given i have some knowledge there.
It sounds like you have moved about a bit? With the aim of trilingual ism?
Please tell us more
Thanks
Audrey
I love how children can sponge up a language when they visit another country! Looks like vacation in Spain was definitely worthwhile. I always get excited when I hear of other’s bilingualism journey. Thank you for submitting this post for last month’s multilingual carnival. I really enjoyed it!