Bilingual Fun: How are your Spanish skills?

¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Estoy bien y ¿tu? Muy bien, gracias. How many of you are having flashbacks from sophomore year in high school? How many of you took French, but can generally understand these phrases? How many of you never took Spanish at all, but are familiar with these phrases just because Spanish is so commonly spoken and heard in our country? The answer is probably many of you! As a former “high school Spanish student” myself, I can clearly relate to learning the language later in life.

Learning a language after the age of 13 is a difficult challenge and if you are not in a situation where you will continually use it, language retention is often lost. My language education came mostly from the immersion method, as I lived and worked in various Latin American countries. My husband and I made the choice to begin our children’s language education very early (from birth), so that their development in a second language happens naturally as they are growing.

If you are fans of Dora and Diego, the fact is that you probably have some Spanish floating around your home. These shows have certainly hit the mark with engaging children to actively learn the language. Exposing children at a young age to multiple languages benefits their cognitive skills, as they easily have the ability to absorb and retain languages. For more information and resources about early language instruction, visit The National Network of Early Language Learners, www.nnell.org.

In each article, I will present new words and phrases, so that you may introduce or reinforce the Spanish language at home with your children.

· Hola: Hello
· Adiós: good bye
· Buenos dias: good morning
· Buenas tardes: good afternoon
· Buenas noches: good night
· Rojo: red
· Azul: blue
· Verde: green
· Amarillo: yellow
· Blanco: white
· Negro: black
· Morado: purple
· Rosado: pink
· Anaranjado: orange
· Café: brown
· Gris: gray

Considering this is National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15- October 15), I wanted to share some interesting facts from the US Census. Hispanic Heritage Month is a month-long event that celebrates diversity and focuses on the contributions and achievements of Hispanics.

42.7 million: the estimated Hispanic Population in the US as of July 1, 2005, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority, 14% of the nation’s total population.

13: the number of states with at least half a million Hispanic residents (AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL NJ, NM, NV, NY, NC, TX, WA).

4.6 million: the Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, CA., the largest of any county in the nation.

1.6 million: the number of Hispanic owned businesses as of 2002.

31 million: the number of US Households with residents age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home.

1.1 million: the number of Hispanic veterans of the US Armed Forces

If you are looking for some fun activities and craft ideas to do with your children to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, visit www.crayola.com/calendar/detail.cfm?event_id=161&year=2006

Also, if you love the food, culture and music of Latin America, check your local event listings, as many cities have some fantastic events and festivities for families during Hispanic Heritage Month. ¡Adiós!