I know. I really do.
You have been racking your brain for how to say “Don’t put the cheese in your ear!” in Spanish 20 times this week and it’s getting too hard to constantly think about.
Take a day OFF.
You heard me. We all get tired of thinking – your brain begins to throb and you start saying things you don’t mean (“Ataca a tu hermana!”). I mean “Ayuda a tu hermana!” **
And then, when you are down, a friend who knows the journey you are on, sends you a video that makes you laugh, shake your head, and you remember. You remember why you are working so hard to teach your children another language. Why you are investing all your spare hours (that you would rather be sleeping) to make this happen – so they can have a life of understanding that you currently don’t. (But, you are learning, so you will!)
Remember how I told you the girls at my chiropractor’s office are all bilingual? How it didn’t used to be that way? They are super sweet and one of them I am decently friendly with. The last time I was in, I told her that I had decided to teach my family Spanish.
Today, I had another appointment. She said “Hola!” to the babies and guess what? Mi chanchito smiled at her. Why? Because she knew what it meant! She recognized the word! Now, granted it’s just hello, but it’s a start.
It showed me that my work is paying off. Baby steps. Pasos pequeños (small steps).
So, what do you do when you don’t know what to do next?
Find something simple. For me, I hit a wall when I had learned most of the phrases I say to my twins. I chose something easy to keep my sanity, but to also keep moving forward.
I decided to make a poster of colors, shapes, and names of their toys. This is simple, doesn’t take too much brain power and while I sit next to them to play, I can easily glance up to it when referring to a toy.
Other posters you could make are listing fruits and veggies or of everyday phrases (God bless you! See you later! Have a good day!)
Ask your kiddos – What do you want to learn to say in Spanish? Customize a poster for them: put their name on the top and all the phrases they want to learn translated – and a response if needed.
My head hurts – often – and I’m constantly wondering if I am doing any of this right and pretty soon I’m going to need to ask someone who knows more than I do. But, for now, I can say simple things in Spanish and wait to see if they learn them. Fingers crossed they do.
Note: There used to be affiliate links in this blog – there are now NONE. Why? Because I got tired of keeping up with it and really, I just want to help people learn and it makes me happy that you even visited this page. Maybe someday, when I have a TON of time on my hands (which will probably be in about 10 years) I may add affiliate links. But, for now, just enjoy the blog for what it is – a great place to get some FREE stuff, read some FUNNY stuff, and learn some AWESOME stuff. 😘 Chao!
Learning Spanish as a Family 