Anyone with Spanish as their primary/first language?

[Pamela H in Texas]

We took in two Hispanic babies (brother and sister) almost two weeks ago. They are absolutely precious. We are using Spanish with the older one the best we can, but we feel kinda clueless in some ways.

 

I was hoping someone could tell me a dozen (or two) first words and phrases we should be listening for as well as could actively work with him on. I figure this may be slightly different in different languages simply because some words would be easier or harder depending on the language. Also, maybe it regularly sounds different by babies than adults?

 

And then we looked up a phrase (don't remember which one), but there is actually a saying in Spanish to use instead rather than a direct translation. That got us thinking, what if "give me five" is significantly different? Or maybe Hispanic babies learn something different INSTEAD? He could still learn the English version, but I'd like him to still have the opportunity for the Spanish alternative also. Again, not saying there IS one for this, but if there are things LIKE that, I'd like to know :)

 

Anyway, right now, we give directions (and redirections) in Spanish otherwise he ignores us. Well, we do try to say it both ways. Usually though, I say it in English on instinct then translate it. If it is something extra important or he doesn't care to mind, I'll say it multiple times both ways.

 

Okay, so just hoping someone has some ideas. We are doing Spanish otherwise also. We have some videos in Spanish. I am doing the Teach Your Baby to Read (type program) in Spanish (not to teach him to read necessarily, but he is getting things like body parts in Spanish and I'm learning more also).

 

BTW, I have never taken Spanish more than two weeks of SOS and LiveMocha. My daughter took a couple years with BJU's curriculum at a private school. She took extra interest in it so has read books in Spanish, got a Spanish Bible, etc. And my hubby has some coworkers. We ask people in the congregation for key phrases if we can't figure it out and/or the translator we have seems "off."

 

I thought about doing a Spanish program for myself, but I figure I really need an order for babies, not adults, learning. It makes sense to have a general idea of what the first 200 words babies say (especially the first dozen or two) rather than than what an adult would use first in conversation.

 

Thanks!

[chiguirre]

Gee, this is a tough one. Each country may have different words for some of the basic baby things.

 

Mama, papa, mami, papi are (I think) standard everywhere.

 

Tetero is bottle in Venezuela, but I know there's also biberon although I don't know where they say that. For a baby in Venezuela, a frequent early word is "tete" for tetero. Agua is also common, but since moms call it aguita, it may be guita. Leche is also an early word.

 

Give me five in Venezuela is chocalo, I'm sure that varies and I don't know what other countries say.

 

For don't touch, Venezuelan parents use caca or guacala (that gu is a w sound).

 

Mimir is sleep, again I don't know if that's the word your foster child will know.

 

Berinche is a temper tantrum.

 

Zapato is often substituted by papato. But flip flops or crocs are cholas.

 

I hope this helps you, but if you really want to know words they'll actually have used, you'll have to find someone who know the words they use in the country their family is from.

[MusicMama]

There is a book called Kids Stuff Spanish. I use it as I am trying to teach my kids spanish, but I am not fluent. It has lots pf phrases like, get your shoes, let's go to the park, stop running in the house etc. You can find it here. HTH!

[Pamela H in Texas]

thanks y'all :)

 

We want to communicate with him the best we can. And we want him to be comfy. He seems to appreciate us trying (at least as much as a baby can). LOL

[Sputterduck]

I'm not a native speaker, but but one of our missionaries who is Mexican has a 12 month old grandbaby that I'm around every day.

 

Here they use:

teta - bottle

They call him papi sometimes. That sounds weird in English but is common in Spanish.

They say, "Bailale, bailale... bailale, bailale" to get him to dance.

parate - when they want him to stand up and walk (google translate renders pararse as "stop" but they insist to me that it means stand up)

cuidado - when they want him to be careful

vamonos - when they want him to come with them somewhere

Que quieres? - when he's complaining and they want to know what he wants

correle - what they tell the children in running games

popo- for when he's pooped in his diaper.

pañal- diaper

 

That's all I can think of right now. Also, proper Spanish and Spanish that people actually use can vary quite a bit. What you learn in books may have nothing to do with what he knows.

[Mabelen]

I'll give some input as to what we say in Spain.

 

Gee, this is a tough one. Each country may have different words for some of the basic baby things.

 

Mama, papa, mami, papi are (I think) standard everywhere.

Yep, pretty much.

 

Tetero is bottle in Venezuela, but I know there's also biberon although I don't know where they say that. For a baby in Venezuela, a frequent early word is "tete" for tetero. Agua is also common, but since moms call it aguita, it may be guita. Leche is also an early word.

We do say biberón for bottle, tete is short for chupete or pacifier, agua for water but we do not shorten it to guita.

 

Give me five in Venezuela is chocalo, I'm sure that varies and I don't know what other countries say.

We say chócala (as in choca la mano, therefore chócala instead of chócalo).

 

For don't touch, Venezuelan parents use caca or guacala (that gu is a w sound).

Caca works really well, it just means poo poo.

 

Mimir is sleep, again I don't know if that's the word your foster child will know.

We say the same thing in Spain but it really is baby talk and only used with very very young kids, the real word is dormir.

 

Berinche is a temper tantrum.

It is spelled berrinche, but we use the same word.

 

Zapato is often substituted by papato. But flip flops or crocs are cholas.

Zapato is zapato, papato might be again baby talk. What you use really depends on what your feelings are about using baby talk with your child. Flip flops are chanclas or chancletas.

 

I am just going to give you a few key words that you might want to know.

 

Sueño for sleepy.

Hambre for hungry.

Cansado for tired.

Triste for sad.

Enojado for angry.

Contento for happy.

Pipí for wee wee.

Caca for poo.

Sucio for dirty.

Limpio for clean.

Baño for bath or bathroom.

Ropa for clothes.

Bonita for pretty.

Guapo for handsome.

Te quiero for I love you.

Bien for good.

Mal for bad.

Juguetes for toys.

Muñecos for dolls or stuffies.

Dibujos for drawings.

Cuentos for stories.

Parque for park.

Calle for street or simply outside.

Casa for home or simply indoors.

 

Comida for food.

Leche for milk.

Pan for bread.

Galletas for cookies.

Fruta for fruit.

Carne for meat.

Pescado for fish.

Verdura for vegetables.

Arroz for rice.

Huevos for eggs.

Frijoles for beans.

Mucho for a lot.

Poco for a little.

 

Good luck with everything and let us know if you need any help.

[desertmum]

How about "Te quiero" for "I love you". Many babies say "quero" (ke-ro).

"Apurate" (hurry up).

[Nart]

Some phrases that are important to know are:

"Tienes hambre?" the direct translation is "do you have hunger?" but means are you hungry?

 

"Tienes sed?" is "Do you have thirst" is the literal translation for "are you thirsty?"

 

"Quieres mas?" Do you want more? and "No hay mas" there's no more

 

"Donde te duele?" Where does it hurt you?"

Te lastimaste? Did you hurt yourself?

Tienes sueno? or mimis (pronounced mee-mees) Are you sleepy?

Quieres leche? Do you want milk

Quieres jugo? Do you want juice.

 

If you can get a CD (Los colores is good) or download some songs by Jose-Luis Orozco. He sings kids songs in Spanish. If you watch TV they have shows like Go, Diego, Go in Spanish and then the phrases they highlight are in English (exactly the opposite of when you watch it in English). Try to find the TV channel for univision or telemundo and let him watch some cartoons in Spanish just so he can keep up listening to Spanish. Ordinarily, I would never recommend TV, but since he is in foster care he might be returned to an primarily Spanish-Speaking household and it is important that he doesn't forget how to speak Spanish. If he is with you in an English speaking home, he will become primarily English speaking within 6 months and will have a hard time understanding and speaking Spanish. Good luck!

[Pamela H in Texas]

Thank you very much for all the information.

 

I am worried about the Spanish/English thing, especially with little sister. With him, we do speak Spanish (though obviously probably not good Spanish), but he's hearing English A LOT. And with sister, we do tend to just use the English because it isn't an issue of comprehension.

 

We really want to respect him, his family, their culture. Our congregation has many Spanish speaking (and other languages too) families so we can give him some exposure to native speakers. And I do the Teach Your Baby to Read type thing on power point which is native speakers, both male and female. I thought some tv and music would be appropriate. In fact, the HeadStart people gave me some stuff the other day. Maybe I can ask the caseworker if mom and dad could read some books on recording for him also (if it won't upset him too much). He absolutely LOVES books.

 

Thankfully, my daughter can read Spanish well. And her accent isn't as horrendous as mine. Because of some toddler experience as well as being very language capable, she does pretty well. So she helps us. I just cannot match exactly what she does.

 

Questions are REALLY bad for us though. His answer to EVERY question is no. Any questioning tone is met with shaking his head. When we KNOW the answer is yes, we nod with our "si", but he hasn't followed suit. Our three yr old (English speaking) can't do choices (yes/no, chocolate/vanilla, etc) either. You never realize how much you depend on questions and choices until you have two kids who can't answer!

 

But he is a whole different kiddo when you use the Spanish.

We are using baby sign also, hoping that between the three, we'll communicate somehow.