Not-so-terrible Twos

Last week the eldest Little Monkey turned two. Two-year-olds can be a very challenging as I'm sure you know. They are extremely cute, but have big emotions that often cannot be managed very well. They want to be independent, but they still need us so much... For these and many other reasons, this age is often called the 'terrible twos'.

However, for parents raising bilingual kids, two is a sweet age. Language development really takes off and we start seeing results of our hard work around the little one's second birthday. As we once described it to our blog friend Crecer en Inglés, the first two years of raising a bilingual kids feel like painting in the dark, you cannot really know how it is turning out. But around age two, my friends, you start seeing the light, and it feels incredible!

Also, if it is your first kid, after two years you have gotten used to the 'rules' you have decided to follow in the bilingual adventure. In our case, we are now more consistent and have the rules much more defined than when we started the blog.

Our Spanglish

When I met Papa Monkey he couldn't speak any Spanish, at all. Okay, to be fair he could say 'cerveza' (beer), 'gato' (cat) and some mexican dishes with a, let's say, interesting accent. My English wasn't that great back then, either. I hadn't studied it since high school and I was used to the British accent. Maybe my grammar was ok, but I wasn't anywhere close to being fluent. I wish we had recorded some of our first conversations, it would be completely hilarious to listen to them now! 

One year of friendship, two and a half of long distance relationship and an American wedding later, we decided we would settle in Madrid, Spain for a while. And, still, Papa Monkey's Spanish was like unicorns, non existant. However, there he came, the bravest person I know, I pomise. Two weeks after he arrived, he fumbled through family conversations and he could understand absolutely everything! He would go downtown Madrid, get to places, talk to people... I admire him so much! Even more, during our stay in Madrid, he completed a Master's there, in Spanish! And he passed the exams, turned out papers and even gave presentations.

More books

Today we wanted to tell you about our last trip to Powell's books (if you do not know what we are talking about, we explain in our previous post Spanglish Books). This time, we came back home very happy with all of our purchases. As usual when we go to Powell's, the Little Monkey had a blast. We first went to the kids' section, where they have tiny tables and chairs where kiddos can read and choose the books they like. We read with the little one and then moved to the bilingual kids' books section, which is not as cozy as the other, but, as we told you before, it is very extensive.

We bought three bilingual books:

New words

The reactions you get from other people when you speak to your kid in a different language in public are curious. Often, people show instant interest in the exchange. They ask you what language it is (here they are used to the sound of Mexican Spanish) and have a lot of questions. Some people, after chatting about it for some time, share their own stories: one of their kids parents or grandparents is native in another language and they would love if they could communicate with each other in that language. They usually want to know what you are doing. Other times, families with older kids share their successful stories raising kids bilingually. And sometimes people have nothing to share, but they are just bored and want some chit chat, waiting rooms are sooo uneventful...

One of the questions we have had asked the most is: 'How do you introduce new words?' The answer should be simple, we said Papa Monkey would speak in English and Mama Monkey in Spanish, but it not usually the case when introducing words. We usually offer him the word in both languages. If we see a duck, for example, we say: 'Look Little Monkey, that is a duck, pato in Spanish' or vice versa (the equivalent sentence in Spanish).

First words

If you have decided to raise your kid bilingual, I am sure have been told that your little one will take longer to talk than other kids. I don't really want to get too technical, but you can take a look online at what experts have to say. There are plenty of studies that demonstrate that there is not a delay, bilingual kids just learn to talk differently.

In our case, we weren't too worried about a possible delay. Anyhow, right after turning six months, the Little Monkey said his first word: 'Mama'. Very soon came 'Baba', which seemed to be 'Papa' (he recently changed to Dad) and, then, his by far favorite of all times: 'Teteeta' (booby in Spanish). After this, he kind of stopped calling mom or dad because he could ask for food whenever he wanted!

Little by little he is learning more words, forgetting some, and remembering some of the ones that he forgot. Some are in English, some in Spanish and some are, funny enough... In Spanglish (those that are a mix between both languages). Before turning one he said as well: estay (stars), lie (light), tie (high five), mah-mah-mah (more), gat (cat)... Not simultaneously, but we've counted up to 15 words. Well, at age 1 a baby is expected to say, at least, one or two words.

Spanglish books

We love baby books and have a lot of them for the Little Monkey. Some of them are in English, some in Spanish, but we especially enjoy the bilingual ones. I know, most baby books have such simple texts that you can read them in English, Spanish or Mandarin Chinese (if you happen to know the words!). 

But when we look for bilingual books we look for the ones with an actual story. Those books that are able to keep the kid's attention from cover to cover. Did I make it clear that we really really love books like this? And you know what? The price is the same as the one-language version of the same book. So, Papa Monkey reads them in English and Mama Monkey in Spanish. Or at least the first time, because the Little Monkey just entered the phase where he wants us to repeat everything over and over. So, often, we read it in one language, then the other one, then the first one again, and the second one, and... Yes, we end up reading it in made up Chinese!