Hello from Barcelona

Jesús, welcome! It's great to have you here! I appreciate your warm words, too.

Let me start by saying that it sounds like your positive attitude and strong language ability could produce some significant success over the years. It's hard to say, of course, how actively your sons will be able to use English during their childhood--their output ultimately depends on the amount and types of input you're able to provide--but it's absolutely true, as you said so eloquently in the quote below, you can't really "fail" at this quest. (See Have You Failed at Raising a Bilingual Child?)


The key will be implementing effective habits and routines, and building up your resources in the minority language, so you can sustain as much exposure to English as is realistic for your lives. At the same time, another challenge will likely involve the question of need: after all, since you regularly use Spanish in the home, too, your sons (particularly the older boy) probably won't feel an organic need to use English. This is where you may have to be very resourceful and creative about eventually seeking out opportunities where they must use English to interact with others.

Another important issue to consider is whether you and your sons would really feel comfortable if you now switch to speaking mostly English with them, after your initial relationship was established in Spanish. Only you can judge what's best for your family, but it may be wise to ease into your English efforts more gently by, say, starting with a daily read-aloud session in English--and make that the bedrock of your efforts moving forward--as you continue to use Spanish more generally. From there, you could then gradually implement further times and opportunities for English, so it becomes an increasingly larger part of your family's lifestyle as time passes.

Jesús, I'm cheering for you and I look forward to hearing what happens!

Thanks Mayken, Adam and Annamari for your words! They are really encouraging.

I will keep at it every day with a smile on my face, and of course I will try not to go bananas if things turn out to be more difficult than I anticipated (I like your web motto, Adam, it's so appropriate to describe how one feels sometimes on this journey).

This may sound funny but although I am actually putting quite some effort into it, I still feel relaxed about the results, I mean I spend a lot of time every day reviewing vocabulary/grammar on my own, practicing with Skype friends to refresh fluidity and spontaneity, searching online for sources of info and ideas but at the same time I don't expect to reach the ultimate goal (which is raising a bilingual child) but just to establish the FOUNDATIONS for this to be possible. If that is achieved I am more than satisfied. And from there on, let's fly as high as we can.

I am adopting two different methods with my children (although at some point I hope to merge them together):

With my 6-year-old boy the method is more subtle, I haven't actually spoken to him in English in a consistent way until now (for one reason or another I've had another priorities), so what I'm doing at this stage is getting him into English through games, random questions, funny comments about this and that, and also some routine activities that are done day after day, week after week. For instance I have started translating school textbook with him every Thursday (it's called Coneixement del Medi in Catalan, and we have a notebook called "Social and Natural Sciences" where we are reproducing everything in English, for him to answer the questions as in the original version). He loves it, because I do it with him just after he has gone through those contents at school and he enjoys re-answering the same questions again in English.

We also read all bedtime stories in two languages, first in Spanish then in English, so that he can stretch that storytelling time a bit longer.

At some point I will switch to proper English books for children, I cannot wait to start with the stories of my favorite writers for children, Roald Dahl. (The books are sitting on my shelf ready to be picked: The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...)

Yesterday he made me laugh with a comment about what is the difference between a kid and a boy (and I promise this didn't come from me). He said that kids become boys when they are a bit older, and I said what do you mean a bit older, are they still children?, so he replied...well yes, but boys are allowed to own a mobile phone, you know... He still says everything in Spanish although he knew the two words kid and boy and tried to explain the difference by himself (which was not real but it didn't really matter to me).

However, with my other son (1 year old) I am trying just to speak in English all the time (OK, maybe just MOST of the time) so that English sounds are as familiar to him as any other language noise (Spanish and Catalan) he gets in school and home environments. I'm sure that my input might not be enough and perhaps my words be just a drop in the ocean of the majority language, but I'm still curious to see the effect when he starts babbling his first words.

AnneMari, I have looked at your blog as well and it is fantastic, you have put a lot of love and care into it, I'm sure you do a great job as an early language teacher and helping parents to follow your ideas.

I would also like to say that if any bilingual parents wish to meet up in Barcelona for any kind of activity with our children (weekend get-togethers or trips, visit farms, playgrounds, go for walks etc) our family is totally up for it.

Best wishes for everyone

Jesús