Spanish: Help me get back on track

[Slache]

I was supposed to be raising the kids bilingual, but I've failed abysmally. I speak Spanish but my husband does not and isn't serious about learning it. Due to the my infrequent use of the language my ability has suffered greatly. What do I do? These are my thoughts...

 

1. Buy a formal curriculum such as Song School Spanish or La Clase Diverdida (suggestions appreciated).

2. Listen to music and watch movies in Spanish as frequently as possible.

3. Speak Spanish as frequently as possible.

4. Find lots of Spanish books to work slowly through (suggestions appreciated here as well). There's a thread on here somewhere about great Spanish literature I need to find.

 

What do you suggest?

 

Thanks.

[Ariston]

Is it accurate that your kids are 5, 3, and newborn? If so, then here's what I would do (well, what I DID do, in a similar situation.) Speak to the newborn only in Spanish. You would be amazed how much everyone else will learn, including your husband :)

 

Your other kids are young enough that if you speak to them they will pick it up too. But I've found nothing has improved the Spanish in our house as much as speaking to the newborn. The baby doesn't resist it because s/he doesn't know any language yet, so Spamosh is as good as any. And the older kids (and even a disinterested husband) will start to use it with the baby, because then it becomes the baby's language.

 

All of baby's books and eventually tv can be in Spanish, too.

[Slache]

Is it accurate that your kids are 5, 3, and newborn? If so, then here's what I would do (well, what I DID do, in a similar situation.) Speak to the newborn only in Spanish. You would be amazed how much everyone else will learn, including your husband :)

 

Your other kids are young enough that if you speak to them they will pick it up too. But I've found nothing has improved the Spanish in our house as much as speaking to the newborn. The baby doesn't resist it because s/he doesn't know any language yet, so Spamosh is as good as any. And the older kids (and even a disinterested husband) will start to use it with the baby, because then it becomes the baby's language.

 

All of baby's books and eventually tv can be in Spanish, too.

That's brilliant! Thanks!

[Alexa Di]

Have you watch POCOYO?  You can find it inyoutube.  It may be worth a try as it is simple enough for little ones, and easy for the baby to be around.   Also, you can get cheap easy readers on Amazon.  We used ebooks from Elisabeth Nossa because my son was into non fiction and he got really excited to use the tablet.    

[alcoserfamily]

^{To bring myself back into using my Spanish, I watched several short shows on Netflix, it rebooted my confidence. Then for the children while teaching, I read short colorful books from the library. I would have them try to identify as many words as they could from the reading. As in any language, Hearing, Reading, and writing need to be frequent!  We are using Español, En Vivo as a base line for our workbook curriculum.}