You might think that Spanish-speaking parents have it easy when it comes to raising kids who are bilingual in Spanish and English. But that’s not necessarily true.
We were reminded of this recently when a Spanish-speaking parent asked us for help. Their kid understands both Spanish and English, and does speak some Spanish. But they prefer responding in English.
The parent wants the child to be fluent in both languages, but they aren’t sure how to get their child to speak in Spanish more often. Here’s what we told this parent — hopefully, this is advice your family can use, too!
English Can Crowd Out Spanish
Even when the main language at home is Spanish, sometimes parents don’t ask the kids to speak it. What evolves is a situation where parents speak to each other and to their kids in Spanish — but the kids respond in English.
If this never changes, then the kids will grow up to become passive or receptive bilinguals: They understand Spanish, but have little to no ability to speak it.
Why does this happen? Spanish-speaking parents might assume that learning to speak in Spanish will “just happen” for their kids the way that it did for them. But this is never safe to assume. The dominant language of the society you live in has a huge effect on your kids.
So even though you speak Spanish at home, they may be more interested in speaking the language they hear from their friends at school, on television or from their favorite singer.
Give Your Child the Gift of Spanish!
Create a Spanish Environment at Home
This means that Spanish-speaking parents in an English-dominant society have to be deliberate about helping their kids get in the habit of responding in Spanish. That goes beyond just speaking Spanish to them at home. Are you also taking steps like these to build an immersive Spanish environment?
- Watching Spanish-language shows together and talking about them.
- Setting rules around when Spanish must be used — for example, when you’re preparing dinner and setting the table.
- Filling your home with books in Spanish.
- Helping your kids acquire Spanish vocabulary related to an activity they love, whether that’s ballet or soccer.
You can find many more ideas like these here on our blog, so please take some time to explore other articles to find the ideas that are most relevant for your family.
At the end of the day, though, helping your kids become comfortable speaking Spanish comes down to just one thing: Practice. Yes, hearing you speak Spanish helps. So does being exposed to Spanish through books, TV or YouTube videos. But what helps even more is conversational practice.
No one becomes fluent overnight. But every time you require kids to respond in Spanish, you’re moving them one step closer to fluency. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. When you let kids slack off in their Spanish replies, conversational fluency becomes harder and harder to attain.
The truth is that kids who are more at ease with English than Spanish will respond in English until you insist otherwise. This is why it’s so important to require Spanish responses not just every now and then, but consistently.
Get More Support for Your Kids’ Spanish Journey
Need more ideas on encouraging kids to respond in Spanish? Micah Bellieu, TruFluency Kids founder and CEO, has some amazing tips.
You can also enroll them in our online Spanish immersion classes. We base all lessons on the Bellieu Method, which encourages students to speak in their target language using what they’ve learned.
We are also proud of our native-speaker teachers! They make sure every class has some fun activities in Spanish, like singing, reading, dancing, doing crafts, and even cooking.
Sign your kids up for a 30-minute trial class now! It’s super personalized, because there are no more than four to six students in each class. After the trial, you’ll get to join a parent Q & A to answer all your questions.
