English & Spanish Phonics Simultaneously?

[Slache]

I grew up speaking a lot of Spanish and didn't learn to read or write it until middle school and at that point it was instantaneous. I planned on using the same method with my kids, but he wants to write in Spanish now and is of course doing it incorrectly. So, if I teach English and Spanish phonetics at the same time will it backfire?

[JDoe]

Spanish phonetics are way easier than English so technically not a problem. You may get some pointed questions about the intelligence of whoever invented english, but ...

 

 

I say go for it when the interest is there, as it can also backfire if you wait.

[linguistmama]

I teach both English and Spanish phonics at the same time. My second reader is similar to the first in that she progressed much more quickly in Spanish. So now she just chooses whatever book she wants to read to me in Spanish and she is still using a phonics program for English.

[Renai]

It could, but you never know until you try :D. It didn't work for my oldest, but she had dyslexic tendencies early on - noticed in Spanish, then became quite apparent in English - so I backed off English and continued Spanish. Oh, we did Spanish first. We started English phonics in earnest in 2nd, then 3rd grade. 

 

Also, it is taught differently in Spanish and English. In Spanish, reading and writing is taught using the syllable method - ma, me, mi, mo, mu - whereas English is not. Doing it at two different times of day, and using two different methods (syllable vs individual sounds), helps with differentiation of the two languages.

 

Just know, that however you do it, it is normal if they get the "i" and "e" mixed up in English for a bit. Didn't want you to worry. :)

 

[bakpak]

I had the same question awhile back, and I ended up doing the dominant language 1st and with much more emphasis, followed by the 2nd. If the two languages you are using are used equally in the home, then working at the same time might work fine however. My DD5 read English very young and is reading around 6th grade level now and she's reading Spanish now at a 1st grade level at least, so I don't think it hurt moving at a slower pace in the 2nd language, although some might wish their children to be more even in level. At her request, she's also back to working on reading/learning French again recently, so following your child's lead is great advice IMO. I would try it and see how it just naturally shakes out.

[Brad S]

DS grew up with both Spanish and English--Mom always spoke Spanish, Dad spoke English to DS when it was just the two of us, and we spoke Spanish when it was the three of us. DS just started reading in English by himself, perhaps because of bedtime stories and asking what signs meant, so it was not phonics based. About a month or so later, I took 5 minutes each in two days and explained how the "pronunciation rules," or something like that, were different in Spanish than English, and he started reading Spanish too. Of course, there were still words he didn't know, although they were mostly words he'd never heard before. It was so simple I was quite surprised.

 

I think that it really helped to have read English first since reading Spanish phonetically is so much simpler than English. Although our speaking roles were planned, and I'm sure that would work for virtually anyone, I'll have to admit that the reading part was just dumb luck. I don't know how well that would work in other situations.

[Amira]

My son is in a bilingual school and has been learning to read and write in both English and Spanish. It works fine since, as others mentioned, Spanish is logical. He can read Spanish without trouble even if he doesn't know the meaning of all the words. I wish it were as easy to teach children how to read and write English!

[Slache]

My son is in a bilingual school and has been learning to read and write in both English and Spanish. It works fine since, as others mentioned, Spanish is logical. He can read Spanish without trouble even if he doesn't know the meaning of all the words. I wish it were as easy to teach children how to read and write English!

Darn tootin! It's good to know that an entire school is doing it. We've begun it and since Spanish *is* so logical it takes hardly any extra time.

[msec123]

There are many similarities between English and Spanish. Any one can learn simultaneously.First of all, both languages use the Roman alphabet. That knowledge helps build a phonemic and phonological foundation.Most of the words in English have a related word in Spanish. With similar sound, appearance, and meaning. And learning to read and write uses the same basic processes (phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, comprehension, writing mechanics).

[composr]

I definitely encourage you to teach both at the same time, if that's what you'd like to do! There's nothing wrong with teaching them in order, of course, but there is no significant advantage to holding back one for the other. If you do them at the same time, simply be encouraged by working consistently, and expect the process to take more time to sink in. They are, after all, doing a bit more than their monolingual peers, and have a bit more processing to work through.

 

In general, there's a good track record for results when learning to read and write bilingually (or more), if the parent(s) is(are) committed to consistency, gradual steps, and an understanding that it will take longer.

[sanjay12]

Many similarities between English and Spanish. Any one can learn simultaneously.First of all, both languages use the Roman alphabet. That knowledge helps build a phonemic and phonological foundation.Most of the words in English have a related word in Spanish. With similar sound, appearance, and meaning.

[Guest Debater]

The recommendation I have is to teach both at the same time and look into finding a friend their own age (native speaker) to practice conversational Spanish.

I'm a native Spanish speaker and had to take English as another subject from first grade up to graduating in College. I honed in my skills in translating when I entered college and all my textbooks were in English. When it came to homeschooling our girls we decided to teach English primarily and as an additional subject Spanish as a Second language. Although both our girls were fine with the phonetic way reading and writing both languages they did not feel comfortable speaking Spanish. I created all of my materials and taught Spanish at a homeschool coop, which helped the girls feels they were not alone, but it wasn't until high school that they chose to go to "real" school and had to put it into practice due to the ESL program the school had in place. They were both basically paired with a new student non-English speaker and were forced to learn to communicate with the Spanish they had "in the back of their head" LOL it was a great relief when I saw all of it was there. Necessity is the key. Today they both speak Spanish and although their English accent still makes them feel apprehensive at times they are confident enough to speak it.

[Guest msarts]

No,it wont backfire because First of all, both languages use the Roman alphabet. That knowledge helps build a phonemic and phonological foundation. And 30% to 40% of all words in English have a related word in Spanish. With similar sound, appearance, and meaning. Except for a couple of word order exceptions, sentences in both languages have the same basic structures (as compared to English and Chinese or other non-Latin derived languages).