do you teach your kids spanish? (El Paso, China: daycare, new home, neighborhoods)

[LEVOW]

This kind of feeds off the thread ," does anybody in el paso talk english" but my kids only talk english, that is their first language, they dont really have a desire to learn how to talk spanish. I teach them daily though, sometimes talk to them in nothing but spanish, the reasons i do this are for a number of important reasons for me.
1. theyll be able to get a better job, and make more money, if theyre able to speak and write both languages. Bilinguals in alot of fields, get paid more than their counterparts.
2. I want them to talk to their grandparents in spanish so they can communicate better and more effectively.
3. Simply because i dont want them to forget their roots, i want them to be proud to be mexican american, embrace all the oppurtunitys that both cultures have to offer.
plus.......spanish is such a beautiful language, its a very respectful, personable, you have the word "usted" for your loved ones, for people that u respect, and "tu" for your buddys, i think its such a beautiful thing, when u can carry a converstion in english, spanish, sh.....even in spanglish, i dont mind, if people only talk spanish, thats them, who are we to judge!

[southernbliss]

I think that is great that u want your kids to know more than 1 language no matter what that language is, it can only help them as they grow into adults.
Saying that I do think if u live in the U.S. that english should be the 1st.language and everything after english is just a big plus,I know I want my kids to learn spanish here and my son is taking spanish this year in school, my daughter is getting good due to the kids in school teaching her and my 12 year old knows a few words also, hell my 7 year old knows a few words!!(now I feel dumb)
I hope one day to go to Germany and I will want my kids to learn german then also, we have many german freinds here so we are learning a few words now!!
So LEVOW I think u are doing a great job for your kids by onpening there eyes to the whole world and not just on part of it!!!

[HookTheBrotherUp]

My wife and I have three children, one that is still an infant. The two older ones were spoken to in Spanish exclusively since birth, the reason being is that they would pick up English through TV, friends, and daycare and of course, from us when it was needed. Our infant daughter is spoken to exclusively in Spanish by us as well, but brother and sister speak to her in English and she understands both perfectly.

Even with the two older ones, we still speak to them in Spanish. My primary language is English, my wife is from Spain, so you know what her primary language is.

Our kids speak perfect English with no accent, and speak Spanish with a little English (American) accent. It does sound different though because they speak the Castilian version of Spanish, different words too, and of course, with what most people call the lisp on certain words. For example, corazon is said as 'corathon'.

I was the only one in my family who spoke Spanish to the kids, my kids cousins, even some aunts and uncles, cannot speak Spanish, yet they look Mexican, and have Mexican last names. It was always funny to watch our toddlers interact with family and friends in El Paso because everyone in El Paso spoke to them in English, yet they just starred back. Our friends and family were astonished when we told them they only speak Spanish!

But as I said, our two older ones speak English as their primary language now, but they can also speak Spanish. In fact, when my two speak in English to me, I ignore them and tell them (in Spanish), that I don't speak English. That used to work so well until they figured out I was speaking English to my wife, and friends all the time. I still pretend not to understand, they laugh, but still talk in Spanish to us.

Kids have an amazing ability to learn two, even three languages at the same time. Studies have shown that there is a part of the brain that is active at the early years, but not in adult years. So when children learn a language, it is almost effortless, adults have to study and try harder than young children.

I have an aunt from Mexico who moved to England, met her husband who is German, married and moved to Switzerland. Mother and father only speak English to each other, but each parent speaks their language to the kids. The kids then speak perfect English, Spanish and German, and to add, they also had to learn the local Swiss dialect where they live, so almost 4 languages. I witness this each time I visit, truly amazing.

As Levow mentioned, our kids can converse with relatives in Mexico, Argentina and Spain of course, plus all their family in the US. They can also be left to be babysat by those same people when the need arises.

Sorry for the long post.

[mistabinks]

Don't apologize for the long post Brother.

I wish more people did that with me. Heck, I wish I encountered the neighborhoods that Missinggreen and Alikat talk about. My Spanish would probably be much better.

[Muhnay]

Good idea.. I am going to start teaching my kids Chinese. Everyday I am going to teach them a little. See I am bilingual too.. just not in Spanish.. Oh I know some.. being in El Paso you just pick stuff up.. and when I was in Mississippi I really started to learn it from some Guatemalans who I hung out with. Why Chinese you ask.. because they are the fastest growing population in thew world, America owes them so much money and with out quick dropping economy.. soon Those Chinese will own our country and we will have to know the language of our new home land. I don't think they will be as Kind to their new southern neighbors as we have been either.

I think its great that Levow will teach his kids Spanish. They will need it here in El Paso.

[malamute]

I tell my kids if they're going to stay in El Paso they need to speak Spanglish or Spanish and they might as well forget about learning English, but if they might like to some day travel or live in other areas of the USA, they should learn English.

[mistabinks]

Originally Posted by malamute

I tell my kids if they're going to stay in El Paso they need to speak Spanglish or Spanish and they might as well forget about learning English, but if they might like to some day travel or live in other areas of the USA, they should learn English.

You would actually tell your children not to learn English because they are in El Paso? You truly believe that there are that many people in El Paso that only speak Spanish. You think there are that many people that your children need to learn Spanish as their first language? You really believe that? If Spanish is that important in El Paso, then why do we even have local stations in English? If Spanish is that prevelant, how come all four local broadcast networks don't do the news in Spanish?

[Smooth from ELP]

We speak spanish in front of them but its their Grandparents that are really teaching them.

[lipbalm]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

Good idea.. I am going to start teaching my kids Chinese. Everyday I am going to teach them a little. See I am bilingual too.. just not in Spanish.. Oh I know some.. being in El Paso you just pick stuff up.. and when I was in Mississippi I really started to learn it from some Guatemalans who I hung out with. Why Chinese you ask.. because they are the fastest growing population in thew world, America owes them so much money and with out quick dropping economy.. soon Those Chinese will own our country and we will have to know the language of our new home land. I don't think they will be as Kind to their new southern neighbors as we have been either.

I think its great that Levow will teach his kids Spanish. They will need it here in El Paso.

well actually........ My girlfriend just got back from 1 month stay in China and she says plenty people there speak at least a little English. You see, English is the universal language of business, that's why a chinese can communicate with a European, a south american can communicate with an African. While Chinese might be spoken by the largest number of people, English is by far the most common language through out the world.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Very true; I've been to China, there were plenty of English speaking people; they crave to learn English there. The number of English speakers is on the rise there.

I often go to the Middle East, Dubai, Doha, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, etc., and I've yet to run into a local who does not speak English. It is a requirement in most countries. In fact, you will find English on almost every passport of any country. English is the language of the world.