Almost 3 Year Old Learning Spanish

First of all, great job by wanting your child to be bilingual! It is such an advantage!

Videos and TV are great, but kids need the interaction to learn it faster. Great job in signing her up for a class!

As for the speed of learning, remember that not everyone learns at the same pace. I used to teach English as a Second Language and had 50 mins a day with my students. At that rate, and by being in an English-only classroom the rest of the school day, we found out that statistically, it will take a student around 7 years to be literate. Ofcourse, some would sooner, but that was just the average.

If you want her to speak it fluently sooner than not, you will have to immerse her in the language. If a change of sitters is an option, consider that. Take her to a Spanish speaking church once in a while. Don't worry, you'll find a lot of Bilingual parents! Make friends with latino families and have play dates.

If you attend class with her, take notes and practice what was given in class at home. Every day. Kids learn mainly by memorization and play. Kids memorize through repetition. Have her "play" in Spanish with you. Give her the opportunity to speak what she knows.

All in all, learning a language is a slow process. There are things you can do to speed things up, but all in all, it requires patience. Keep up the good work!

We have struggled with this for years with our kids as well. I was fortunate enough to live in Latin America for 7 years and used to speak Spanish quite fluently. Not so much any more since I don't use it daily. When we first moved abroad, I had to learn Spanish fast or I couldn't talk with any other kids at school. I learned best by watching TV in Spanish. Immersion is the best motivator.

I tried to teach my kids at home but it is tough because I'm not a teacher so I have no framework for how best to teach a language. They were also hearing it with my "Gringa" accent and I would prefer they learn from a native speaker - accent and all.

We really like Language Stars but with exposure only once a week, the most you can hope is that they recognize a few words and have an awareness that English isn't the only language in the world.

However, as the others have said, keep working at it. As long as you give them a foundation now when they are young, they will be able to pick it up easier later in life when they take it in school or have the desire to learn. Every now and then we do Spanish day or Spanish hour where we can only talk in Spanish to each other. The kids hated it at first because it was frustrating for them but as we learn more and more, they seem to be more involved and enjoying it.

Because this is an ongoing concern in our house, I started selling some Spanish vocabulary games which you might like - Spanish Bingo (http://www.chocolatecakeclub.com/eespbigafork.html) and Spanish Flash Cards (http://www.chocolatecakeclub.com/bawospriflca.html).

My kids also really like the Professor Pocket CDs. They like the mix of music and storytelling with the Spanish language - http://www.professorpocket.com/shop.php.

Suerte!

S. Kirchner
www.ChocolateCakeClub.com
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Like Sue K., I lived in a Spanish speaking country for a couple years and my husband is of Mexican descent and also speaks Spanish fluently and while both our children (ages 3 1/2 and 6 1/2) are bilingual there are still struggles so hang in there! The video Bilingual Baby was helpful with my first son and with both my kids listening to music by "Jose Luis Orozco" (a children's entertainer - CD's are available lots of places including Amazon or his own website) and other nursery rhymes in Spanish has helped them along their language paths considerably. A lot of the melodies are the same as nursery rhymes in English so the children are familiar with the music and therefore seem to pick up the words quickly - especially to songs with animal sounds a la "Old McDonald". I would also take her to cultural events - everywhere from Navy Pier to the zoos and the libraries seem to have performers in Spanish such as storytellers and singers. If you'd like some more suggestions or talk some more, please feel free to send me a private message directly. Best of luck!!!!

Rosetta Stone. It's brilliant. You learn by seeing pictures and building with what you've already learned, not with vocabulary lists. It's very organic. And since you'll have to do it with her, you'll learn some Spanish too. She's truly at the perfect age for it too, since she's got her English a little more sorted by now. I'm a native Spanish speaker, and we tried Spanish with my daughter from the beginning, but she shunned it since it only worked on me, my mom, and her twice a week nanny. It didn't work in daycare, on her dad, friends, other grandparents, etc. At that stage of speach, she just wanted to be understood and there was no pay off with Spanish. But now, at nearly 3, she's developed a sudden interest and is soaking it up like a sponge.

Not sure where you are taking your daughter for class but we recently discovered Multilingual Chicago and have been very pleased. It is half of what Language Stars charges. They have a summer camp program that is one day a week for 3 hours (6 weeks) for $270. Maybe the larger chunk of time will help your daughter to learn more. Just a thought. Good luck! mulitlingualchicago.com

Muzzy is a good kids' system. Immersion is the fastest way to learn. So move to Spain (just kidding, of course - wouldn't we all love to do that?) Just be patient and continue the exposure. If you have a bilingual immersion program for elementary school, I would highly recommend it!