Hi there. It’s Micah Bellieu from TruFluency Kids. I’m going to guess that if you clicked on this video, then you have some questions about helping your kids become fluent in Spanish.
Those questions might include:
- Is it worth the time, effort and, possibly, expense?
- What does being fluent really even mean?
- How long will it take for your kids to become fluent in Spanish – and can you speed up the process?
Today I’m going to answer those questions. But before we dive in, don’t forget to like and subscribe, so you can get our latest videos that support your kids’ language-learning journey.
Why Choose Spanish for Your Child’s Second Language?
All right! So first things first. Is it worth it for your kids to learn Spanish? Well, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that we think Spanish fluency is an extremely valuable skill and that it will benefit your kids in many different ways.
Learning Spanish Can Help Their Careers
First, being fluent in Spanish will open up career possibilities for them someday. We live in a world that is more connected than ever. Companies are constantly looking to reach new, international markets.
So they need bilingual or even multilingual people on their teams. Spanish is one of the best languages to learn for business. It’s the second most-spoken language in the world!
Spanish Can Help Them Connect to Other Kids
But your kids won’t have to wait until they grow up to benefit from Spanish fluency. Knowing Spanish will help them connect with other kids who are native speakers, especially if you enroll them in a dual-language school or preschool.
They’ll also build more cultural awareness and empathy. When your kids learn Spanish, they also learn how the people who speak Spanish express their ideas, emotions and interact with each other.
Language Learning is Good for the Brain
Finally, learning another language is just good for young brains. Bilingual children can switch from tasks easily, focus their attention, and code-switch, using their executive functioning.
This “cognitive flexibility” aids in children’s self-control as they learn to suppress and select languages in conversation. These internal workouts strengthen the brain’s cognitive muscles and are a fun challenge for children.
Spanish Fluency
OK, now that we’ve established how learning Spanish benefits kids, let’s talk about what fluency looks like. When we talk about fluency here at TruFlueny Kids, we mean the ability to have conversations in Spanish about almost any everyday topic.
This doesn’t mean they know every word in the language, or won’t struggle or have to think about words or won’t sometimes make errors – we do that in our own language, and we’re still considered fluent.
Our goal is to speak easily and accurately – which is the definition of the word fluent actually according to Webster’s dictionary.
Levels of Language Fluency
The levels of language fluency are spelled out in a lot more detail in an article from our sister business, Fluency Corp. I’ll drop a link in the description to this video.
But the main things you need to know are, one, attaining fluency doesn’t happen overnight. So you’re doing the right thing by getting your kids started early!
Two: Your kids don’t have to ever reach the highest possible level of fluency in order to make learning Spanish worth it. If they practice Spanish for years and still have an accent, or still have to pause and reach for a word sometimes, that is OK.
The Spanish skills they do have will still open doors. And they can decide what they want to do with it later: continue improving, study advanced vocabulary, travel, be that cool person who is bilingual, or simply continue using the level they have.
How Long Will It Take For Your Child to Get Fluent in Spanish?
Now to the big question you’re probably wondering about: How long will it take your kid to become fluent in Spanish? The answer is “it depends.”
Obtaining a basic level of fluency requires 300 hours of conversation practice with a real person.
An intermediate level of fluency takes 600 hours or more. But this intermediate level will allow you to do almost anything honestly.
You might not be getting a PhD in Spanish or conducting business, but you can hang out with Spanish-speaking friends easily, you can live in a Spanish-speaking country easily, you can work pretty darn well, but there will be some struggle in that unless you focus on formal or business/professional Spanish.
But the younger your child is when they start learning Spanish, the more rapidly they’ll get fluent and the easier it will feel for them. Another factor is how much exposure your kids get to Spanish.
A child who just takes Spanish classes a few hours a week, in a very small setting (how many kids in the class matters and how much talk time they get in class matters) will take longer to become fluent than one who takes classes, watches videos in Spanish, music in Spanish, books in Spanish, and a Spanish speaking babysitter from time to time, or all the time, and has Spanish-ONLY speaking friends that they consistently hang out with.
In other words, you can’t get around the hours it takes to become fluent. But you can help them rack up those hours more quickly.
Levels of Language Fluency
The levels of language fluency are spelled out in a lot more detail in an article from our sister business, Fluency Corp. I’ll drop a link in the description to this video.
But the main things you need to know are, one, attaining fluency doesn’t happen overnight. So you’re doing the right thing by getting your kids started early!
Two: Your kids don’t have to ever reach the highest possible level of fluency in order to make learning Spanish worth it. If they practice Spanish for years and still have an accent, or still have to pause and reach for a word sometimes, that is OK.
The Spanish skills they do have will still open doors. And they can decide what they want to do with it later: continue improving, study advanced vocabulary, travel, be that cool person who is bilingual, or simply continue using the level they have.
So what should your game plan look like?
Of course, we’d be thrilled to have your kids in TruFluency’s online Spanish classes. We focus on giving kids that crucial conversation practice. Most of our clients take two lessons a week, which is about two hours of Spanish immersion weekly.
You could also enroll your kids in a Spanish immersion preschool or a dual-language program at school.
At home, take advantage of all the resources on our blog, where you’ll find lists of things like fruits and vegetables or months of the year in Spanish that you can practice with your kids.
On our YouTube channel, your kids can watch videos from our instructors and enjoy fun activities in Spanish. You could also look for Spanish books, Netflix shows or music your kids will enjoy.
Ready to take a bigger step?
Travel to a Spanish-speaking country over summer break. Or hire a babysitter who’s a native Spanish speaker. Just remember that everything you do adds up and helps your kids get a little closer to Spanish fluency.
So I hope I’ve answered some of your questions about how to help your kids become fluent in Spanish. If you’d like to learn more about the topics we talked about today, the description of this video has lots of links to explore.
And if you have a question I didn’t cover today, we’d love to hear from you. Just go to trufluencykids.com/contact. Seriously, we love nothing better than talking about this stuff, so let us hear from you. Hopefully, your kids will be joining us for classes soon!
