Happy New Year!!! I cannot believe it's already 2022 and that more than ten days have passed in this new year! There is no question about it: time flies!
The new year has always been an opportunity for me to reflect on the accomplishments of the year and lessons learned. 2021 was a little different with a pandemic in full swing and two little girls growing up too fast!
As I reflected on what I learned in the year, one thing became very clear: Continuing on our bilingual / trilingual journey is a must, but there are a few bad habits that i have to leave behind!!
#1 STOP TRANSLATING : this is such a bad habit! When i'm playing with my daughters and I'm speaking in Spanish and they tell me "I don't understand mama tell me in English", I translate what I just said! This takes away the opportunity for them to learn new vocabulary and adopt new words. Next time, instead of translating, I will respond in Spanish with "Ah ok. What i mean is [insert explanation]". They will understand. I know they will. This is how they learned English! No one translated words to them , they just understood what I was saying. The same can be done for Spanish!
#2: STOP RESPONDING IN ENGLISH. It is so easy for the majority language to take over and seep into every single aspect of your life. If you don't pay attention, next thing you know everyone is speaking the majority language, and the target language is forgotten. While I don't believe in forcing your child to respond in the target language, this doesn't mean that I have to respond in the majority language. I need to keep the Spanish language present in and respond in the target language.
#3: STOP FEELING LIKE YOU ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH!! Because I am doing enough! And YOU are doing enough too!! The simple fact that you are reading this blog shows the commitment that you have towards your child's language learning. So don't be hard on yourself, forgive yourself, and know that you are doing a g reat job!
I hope you found this helpful! Let me know in the comments what bad habits you want to leave behind this year!!
Thanks for reading!
Con carino,
Alexa
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