Hola from Brisbane, Australia
Apr 8, 2016 1:03:53 GMT 9
Post by Christobel on Apr 8, 2016 1:03:53 GMT 9
Hi everyone,
I think I might be finally getting onto something with all these resources, thank you!
I was born in Australia but moved to Argentina and then Uruguay from age 7 to 29, so I completed primary school in Spanish and learnt through total immersion with English at home and my Mum doing some additional distance education in English with me at home. I then went to a bilingual high school, but most subjects were in English as I was in the International stream. Then University in Spanish and married to a local while working in Spanish teaching music and Teaching English as a Second Language. After a big reshuffle and crisis point, I divorced my ex and came back to Australia with the rest of my family to establish a bit of identity and roots. Now I'm married to an Australian with a beautiful 3.5 year old girl and embarking on this bilingual journey.
I seem to go in waves of effort and then get snowed under with work and other demands! But I keep coming back to it every time my head is above water and I try to give it another push and set up systems to help with the busy times.
So far, we've been to Spanish playgroup when she was a baby - and then I had to work in that time slot. At about 2, I found another Spanish playgroup on a different day which then became too much with work and travel (also holidays and discontinued meet-ups). So at 2.5 I enrolled her in a childcare centre that had a Spanish program and that has been a good consistent commitment which is ongoing. I tried running a little music group in Spanish, but our Spanish-speaking families are really spread out across the whole region and it's very hard to make it sustainable for enough families to make it viable.
We have always had lots of CDs, DVDs, books and apps in Spanish which have thankfully kept things going through the drier patches, and last year we went to Latin America to catch up with all my friends and show my family part of my heritage. Of course, it was difficult to not speak English amongst ourselves as my husband doesn't speak Spanish, but she has gained an awareness that Spanish is spoken by many people in many countries and I think this has helped with her view of the language. She now seems to see herself as speaking Spanish as opposed to her father - not that he isn't supportive. He has been reinforcing as he picks up words and even tries reading Spanish books to her while I provide some pronunciation assistance with the more muddled attempts.
She's doing well in her Spanish lesson at Kindy and her comprehension isn't too bad. I think she struggles because her English is actually VERY well developed and quite sophisticated for her age, so she doesn't produce much. I think she also has a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist and seems to like to have everything sorted in her brain before she attempts things. In any case, she has now started spontaneously repeating things I say to her instead of complaining and a few weeks ago she came up to me out of the blue and said "preciosa!" It took me a little while to catch on, but this is something I call her in Spanish so I was delighted.
Our next goal is to get a native Spanish-speaking nanny in for a few hours who will only talk to her in Spanish to create a need. And then for me to get support and inspiration / motivation / reminding to speak to her in Spanish every day so that I can form a habit and start to not have to think about it so much! And a new "To Do" addition from the recommended podcasts: create my own audio books so that my husband can put the stories on for her or facilitate self-access.
So, that is why I have ended up here, looking for ways to create need and increase exposure.
I think I might be finally getting onto something with all these resources, thank you!
I was born in Australia but moved to Argentina and then Uruguay from age 7 to 29, so I completed primary school in Spanish and learnt through total immersion with English at home and my Mum doing some additional distance education in English with me at home. I then went to a bilingual high school, but most subjects were in English as I was in the International stream. Then University in Spanish and married to a local while working in Spanish teaching music and Teaching English as a Second Language. After a big reshuffle and crisis point, I divorced my ex and came back to Australia with the rest of my family to establish a bit of identity and roots. Now I'm married to an Australian with a beautiful 3.5 year old girl and embarking on this bilingual journey.
I seem to go in waves of effort and then get snowed under with work and other demands! But I keep coming back to it every time my head is above water and I try to give it another push and set up systems to help with the busy times.
So far, we've been to Spanish playgroup when she was a baby - and then I had to work in that time slot. At about 2, I found another Spanish playgroup on a different day which then became too much with work and travel (also holidays and discontinued meet-ups). So at 2.5 I enrolled her in a childcare centre that had a Spanish program and that has been a good consistent commitment which is ongoing. I tried running a little music group in Spanish, but our Spanish-speaking families are really spread out across the whole region and it's very hard to make it sustainable for enough families to make it viable.
We have always had lots of CDs, DVDs, books and apps in Spanish which have thankfully kept things going through the drier patches, and last year we went to Latin America to catch up with all my friends and show my family part of my heritage. Of course, it was difficult to not speak English amongst ourselves as my husband doesn't speak Spanish, but she has gained an awareness that Spanish is spoken by many people in many countries and I think this has helped with her view of the language. She now seems to see herself as speaking Spanish as opposed to her father - not that he isn't supportive. He has been reinforcing as he picks up words and even tries reading Spanish books to her while I provide some pronunciation assistance with the more muddled attempts.
She's doing well in her Spanish lesson at Kindy and her comprehension isn't too bad. I think she struggles because her English is actually VERY well developed and quite sophisticated for her age, so she doesn't produce much. I think she also has a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist and seems to like to have everything sorted in her brain before she attempts things. In any case, she has now started spontaneously repeating things I say to her instead of complaining and a few weeks ago she came up to me out of the blue and said "preciosa!" It took me a little while to catch on, but this is something I call her in Spanish so I was delighted.
Our next goal is to get a native Spanish-speaking nanny in for a few hours who will only talk to her in Spanish to create a need. And then for me to get support and inspiration / motivation / reminding to speak to her in Spanish every day so that I can form a habit and start to not have to think about it so much! And a new "To Do" addition from the recommended podcasts: create my own audio books so that my husband can put the stories on for her or facilitate self-access.
So, that is why I have ended up here, looking for ways to create need and increase exposure.
