Raising a Bilingual Child

Have you ever stumbled upon a great resource and felt the need to share it with the world? I just did and I’m about to share. Some of you may know that my husband and I are raising a bilingual / bicultural child. She is only 22 months old so we are well aware we have a long road ahead of us regarding her language skills therefore I am always on the look-out for good resources and Google is my favorite way to find them.
Our story in brief:

I grew up speaking, reading and writing Spanish at home because my parents were both natives of Mexico and Spanish was their preferred language. They are both educated and made it a point to work hard to maintain the use of the minority language at home with both my brother and I. That said, we were born, raised and educated in the US so our constant daily influence was English. I am fully bilingual and these skills have served me well throughout school and work but I recognize that it was through my parent’s constant effort that I acquired this very useful tool and want to give my daughter the same gift they gave me. My husband understands Spanish well enough but his skill level is much more conversational. He is fully supportive but both he and I speak predominately English to each other. This worries me. It worries me because I don’t feel that we expose her enough to the “minority” language and therefore I wonder if we will succeed in raising her bilingually.

For this reason I have been researching online. I’m looking for support and tools and just last week I came across a GREAT resource: Multilingual Living Magazine. It is an online magazine that needs our support! The writers are passionate volunteers and the content is excellent. They can be found on the biculturalfamily.org website. The site is also very useful and full of great information, tips, links to blogs etc. Our lives are enriched by information and I hope you find this site as valuable as we do. May it contribute to your journeys.
All the best,

Lilli, Jb, & Gaby