The Bilingual Mami

12/12/2022

🖤🌹
“Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom.

He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as "proof".

When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac.

Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the event of Guadalupe, "El Nican Mopohua" (written in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano), give some information on the life of the saint and the apparitions.

Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico.”
*Source- National Catholic Registry

12/12/2022

Which of these do you do with tour family? Which one is your favorite?

We do all of these 😆🙈🙌🏻🎄🐴👶🏽!

07/26/2022

If I could count how much money I spent on Spanish resources, I could probably have gone on a little weekend trip 😅🙈✈️!

After having my 4th bilingual baby, I realized that there isn’t a need to waste this much cash🤑🙅🏻‍♀️!

1. Many of the resources I bough, I never had time to use because… well life 🤪😬. So yes, they are still put away somewhere in my office, waiting for the day we have time to pull them out!

2. Everyday activities are actually more language rich than artificial resources! At a young age, kids learn from interacting and being exposed to authentic real life activities. Things they can touch, smell, see, and interact with!!! That is where language neuron connections are formed!

⋒ GROCERY SHOPPING:
Take your kids shopping with you, name all the stuff you see: yogurt, vegetables, pasta, flowers, etc! Describe them: are they big, small, cold, freezing, yummy 😋? Use all your language and let your little one soak it up!

⋒ COOKING:
Give your child directions and even let them mess up! “Pepito, mezcla la maza”, let him look at you with confused eyes, and then model your request. “Prueba esto, a que sabe? ¿Te gusta? ¿Has probado algo similar alguna vez?”. Let them make messes, “ay Dios mío, ¿se te regó eso? Ven y te doy un trapo para que lo limpiemos, ven y te ayudo”! The kitchen is a language rich playground 🛝 🥘

⋒ W**D PICKING:
I live in the south, so picking weeks is a weekly activity for us 🙈😆🌱. But this menial and annoying task can also be a Spanish resource. “Mira arranca la planta”, “pon las plantas en el balde” “vamos a investigar que tipo de cizaña es esta”. “Mira este insecto, ¿de que color es? ¡No tengas miedo, este no hace nada! ¿Quieres atraparlo en un vaso? Entra a la casa y trae uno, uno bien grande y de vidrio”.

Oh, daily activities, the most wonderful language resource we can find, if only we include our children in these daily activities. Let’s ditch those fake plastic florescent flash cards and give our kids the REAL DEAL! They deserve reality, they long for it, their absorbent minds crave it, and they will make real linguistic connections this way!

07/24/2022

Have you notice how effortlessly young children. learn to speak the main language they are exposed to? This is because one of the most intense sensitive periods for language aquisition is from the womb until about 7 years old. Babies love to hear the human voice and will listen with extreme attention. Their brains absorb and are able to reproduce the sounds that they hear, while tuning out other sounds.

But even in this general biological reality, every child is a new creation, a totally unique being, each with different interest that fire up their core.

The same way that children learn language naturally in this sensitive period, they do so efficiently when relating to their personal interests and sensitivities.

When we fill our daily schedule with prefabricated activities, ball, ballet, educational tablet time, school, etc. We are actually obstructing our ability to observe WHAT exactly our child is truly interested in. So then, we are aimlessly repeating the vocabulary related to these “boring” activities, and thus the child seems to forget then, and reverts to their majority language (because those words are naturally there already for them).

However, when a child has sparked his interest in something, this is a mini sensitive period unwrapping itself before our eyes. That subject is the one we should speak about with them. Because their mind is fascinated by it, you won’t need to use the word many times before they remember it.

Have you noticed sometimes they learn a word in five minutes and others you need to say them over and over again? This is why!

Tell me, what words did your child learn effortlessly and which ones have been hard for them?

07/22/2022

Do you cringe when your child does something risky? Yep! So do I! But I usually hold myself back from saying the usual, “be careful” words 😬.

Why? Because I’ve learned about how the benefits of RISK PLAY go hand in hand with language development:

⭑SPEAKING A NEW LANGUAGE IS RISKY:
As a former language teacher, I can assure you kids are SCARED to use the target language, the language they are trying to learn. You can call on them, have them turn and talk, or even give them time to write their answer before speaking. Yet still, some kiddos will never take the risk to say their sentence. Risk play normalizes preforming outside of your comfort zone, something extremely IMPORTANT to speak a language other than your own!

⭑ SPEAKING A NEW LANGUAGE REQUIRES CONFIDENCE:
Who do you think dared to speak the language in class? The children with the most confidence! It didn’t matter if they were shy or soft spoken, kids who had confidence in themselves, were willing to take a risk (even in a sweet soft voice 😍). When your child is in a situation where everyone speaks English, which ones are going to not shy away from answering to you in your language? The ones with confidence! The ones who don’t feel they need to fit in with their peers! The ones who believe they were born to stand out 🤩! This is one of the major benefits of risk play! When children do something risky and difficult, they develop the confidence to know they can do whatever they set their mind to. They are confident in their body and it’s abilities, their self esteem grows! When you constantly tell them “be careful” you are telling them you believe they can’t… and what does this do to their self esteem?

⭑SPEAKING A NEW LANGUAGE REQUIRES PERSISTENCE:
When a toddler begins to try to climb the stairs, he probably will fall the first time. But will he give up? No, the next day after he has fallen he is right back there trying to climb again. The need to explore is inherent in early childhood. It takes persistence for kiddos to control their body when they are learning to do something risky. Similarly, to going on a new language!

07/21/2022

✧ Is raising a bilingual child starting to feel overwhelming? ✧

➳ EMOTIONALLY OVERWHELMING?
Are you comparing your kids language proficiency to friends and family? Are you feeling like a failure? Are intrusive thoughts telling your you failed your child by not providing them with a connection to their culture, identity and language?

➳ FINANCIALLY OVERWHELMINGLY?
Are you being shoved a thousand curriculums, activities, apps, programs, virtual groups, and more that promise to help your child speak your language?

➳ LOGISTICALLY OVERWHELMING?
Do different people in the family speak different languages and you all just can’t continue to communicate naturally in one? When you go to other people’s houses they don’t understand what you are saying to your child? Do you feel awkward sticking to your target language in public? Do you feel like you just don’t speak the language well enough to do this 😩?

STOP ✋! PASSING DOWN YOUR LANGUAGE SHOULDN’T FEEL LIKE WORK!!!!!! 🙅🏻‍♀️

RELAX, you are good enough! Your child’s proficiency is ENOUGH! No matter where they are at today!

BREATHE , you don’t need any of those extra resources to do this! You are all your child needs! Our world is a natural playground of language opportunities!!!!!! 🤎🌿🐝

Give yourself GRACE! There are many language policies that can work for each family based on their comfort level. You don’t have to be perfect. Take it one day at a time. Brainstorm ways to add your language that logistically work for YOU! You can do anything!!!!

———-

Which of these lies is the one getting in your way?? Type it here and throw it to the trash with me! 🗑 Let’s go back to the basics, let’s raise bilinguals through simplicity and love, that is the only thing you need!

I believe in you 🤎

07/22/2020

This bilingual mom always assumed her baby would be bilingual, but didn’t really have a plan. As it came naturally to her, she began speaking to her daughter in English. At around 15 months, when her daughter was saying her first words only in English, she realized it was time for her to change something 💪🏻❤️.

Slowly, she began to introduce Spanish until it became a habit. Now, her daughter is Spanish dominant 😱😱!

How did they go through this process? What tips does she have for any families who want to add a little more Spanish into their home as they journey into bilingualism?

Join the conversation with .bilingual.therapy as she shares her struggles and success in transforming her family from an English only home into a mostly Spanish familia ❤️❤️❤️!

She is such an inspiration and I loved interviewing her today!! ☀️☀️☀️ CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO WATCH ☺️📺🔥


https://www.instagram.com/tv/CC7Np20BRyR/?igshid=9w5g7hiyrexz

07/08/2020

I got to interview this English Speaking mom who is raising her baby as a Spanish Speaker ❤️👊🏽

She tells us about her Spanish journey and how her parents raised her to be bilingual even though they were not Spanish speakers 😱! She shares her beautiful story on how this experience lead her to want to give her daughter the gift of bilingualism 🙌🏻👌🏽🥰!

What is she doing? What language do they speak at home and what tips does she have for anyone wanting to increase Spanish (or any minority language) in their household ☀️☀️☀️🌈💫!

Super inspiring words of encouragement ☺️☺️☺️☺️

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCWa8WLhDdR/?igshid=19c8n7bp7s64b

02/14/2020

Happy Valentines Day amigos 💕! Nothing is better than loving two times ✌🏻😘

02/08/2020

¡¡¡Hola todos!! For those of you who have been dying trying to learn the , I’ve made a tutorial for you!!!!!

I feel so proud that Colombian music made it to the Super Bowl that I NEEDED to be part of the movement to spread Champeta accross the globe 😉❤️! In this tutorial I show you the basics of Champeta and I teach you part one of the Champeta segment of the Shakira ‘s super bowl halftime show!

My msg is, even if you SUCK at dance, join me in spreading Champeta latino love by recording yourself doing the so we can bring awareness of Latino culture, dance and awesomeee!!! Once you upload it plz tag me so I can see you!!!! I will LOVE it even if your feet can’t go as fast as Shakiras 😂😂😂, mine deff can’t either 😆😆😆.

Ready, set GO!!! Let’s spread champeta love ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

https://youtu.be/ZOOrou8fhPM

Help me share the Champeta Challenge from the Halftime Show 2020 to helping spread CHAMPETA love across the globe 🌎! If you are not a dancer, this tutorial i...