Visiting Spain last month was the best move I’ve made since I said yes to my husband’s marriage
proposal: just 2 weeks of mingling with Spaniards turned my son Nickey (who’ll be 4 in August) into
an active speaker of Spanish!
Before we went to Spain he understood everything I said but only dropped a few words here and
there in Spanish mixed in with his English. He could only string 2‐3 easy words in a row in Spanish
before getting stuck and reversing the syllables. He could say a few standard sentences, of course,
and also enjoyed saying long words like "zapatitos” ,“zanahorias” ,“chiquititos” but he would never
speak Spanish in public.
The difference is that now, without any prodding from me, he chooses to talk to me in Spanish,
sometimes stringing together sentences of as many as 7‐8 words and with the right grammatical
structure! Of course, he’s still filling in the blanks in his Spanish vocabulary with English words, but
that’s happening less and less often the last few days. I would say that he’ adding at least 10‐20 new
words/day. We’re now at the stage 70% Spanish‐30% English –but just when we are alone.
Last night at a party he made me so proud when for the first time ever he spoke to me in Spanish in
front of strangers! He came to me with a beautiful calendula –plucked roots and all from my friend’s
beloved garden‐ and said to me with perfect accent and diction: “Mama, esta flor es para ti! Put it en
agua!”(Mom this flower is for you. Put it in water)
Just hope he still brings me flowers and addresses me in Spanish in 10 years time!
Lana
PS: Here there are a few links your children might find interesting.