Here's a cute video made by Susan Dorn, of Let's Play in Spanish, showing a toucan teaching a mouse how to say "Happy Mother's Day" in Spanish.
Happy Mother's Day to all those who mother, whether to their children, other people's children, or those who are taking care of their parents. ¡Feliz Día de las Madres!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
"Perdon" vs. "Con Permiso" by Guest Blogger La Guera
Today's post is by my first guest blogger, La Guera (The Blond). She's not a native Spanish speaker, but she's studied abroad in Spain during college and later took a course in Mexico. She continues to learn as she teaches her son to speak Spanish.
My almost three year old son is consistently interrupting conversations to share his excitement about something or to get attention when I am not focusing on him. I was talking to his maestra at his Spanish Immersion pre-school about the difference between "Perdon" and "Con Permiso or Permiso" in Mexico. She gave a concise explanation that I'd like to share.
Use "Perdon" if you have already done something. For example, bumped into someone.
Use "Con Permiso" or "Permiso" if you would like to do something. For example, interrupt a conversion, leave the table or ask them to move so you can pass by someone.
I would appreciate any other opinions on this explanation.
When my son interrupts, I am currently teaching him to say "con permiso" first.
My almost three year old son is consistently interrupting conversations to share his excitement about something or to get attention when I am not focusing on him. I was talking to his maestra at his Spanish Immersion pre-school about the difference between "Perdon" and "Con Permiso or Permiso" in Mexico. She gave a concise explanation that I'd like to share.
Use "Perdon" if you have already done something. For example, bumped into someone.
Use "Con Permiso" or "Permiso" if you would like to do something. For example, interrupt a conversion, leave the table or ask them to move so you can pass by someone.
I would appreciate any other opinions on this explanation.
When my son interrupts, I am currently teaching him to say "con permiso" first.
Friday, April 13, 2012
"Speaking in Tongues" documentary
A few months ago, I went to a screening of the documentary "Speaking in Tongues" about four students who attend public school in San Francisco where the primary language of instruction is not in English. Two of the students learn to speak, read and write in Mandarin, one learns in Cantonese, and one student learns in Spanish.
The two students learning in Mandarin come from families that are non-Asian. They get exposed to a new community and culture, among other things. The girl learning in Cantonese deepens the connection with other members of her family, particularly her grandmother, in a way that her English-only speaking parents and siblings do not. The boy learning in Spanish comes from a family where Spanish is the main language spoken at home.
I was most surprised at how he benefited from learning in Spanish at school. Apparently, many kids who speak a non-English language at home will lose fluency in their native language. Studying in Spanish helped this boy not only strengthen, but also increase his proficiency in both Spanish and English.
The "Speaking in Tongues" web site has a bunch of short videos "highlighting key issues in multilingualism". They seem to touch on many of the topics the film addresses. There are also a couple of pages listing Myths & Realities about bilingual education. The site has a link for finding screenings of the film, but there aren't that many upcoming screenings.
The two students learning in Mandarin come from families that are non-Asian. They get exposed to a new community and culture, among other things. The girl learning in Cantonese deepens the connection with other members of her family, particularly her grandmother, in a way that her English-only speaking parents and siblings do not. The boy learning in Spanish comes from a family where Spanish is the main language spoken at home.
I was most surprised at how he benefited from learning in Spanish at school. Apparently, many kids who speak a non-English language at home will lose fluency in their native language. Studying in Spanish helped this boy not only strengthen, but also increase his proficiency in both Spanish and English.
The "Speaking in Tongues" web site has a bunch of short videos "highlighting key issues in multilingualism". They seem to touch on many of the topics the film addresses. There are also a couple of pages listing Myths & Realities about bilingual education. The site has a link for finding screenings of the film, but there aren't that many upcoming screenings.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Bilingual Careers
I was talking to my daughter while we shared a long table with a guy and his laptop at a coffee shop recently. He noticed me speaking to her in Spanish and asked if I was raising her to be bilingual. I said, "Well, I'm trying, but I really don't know very much." He expressed his approval and encouragement.
He said he grew up in Mexico and spoke Spanish natively. He's still bilingual today and even uses it for his job. He works for Microsoft doing speech recognition.
It seems like learning Spanish will only help my children in their future careers, whether they choose to be interpreters, translators, teachers, work in the restaurant business, landscaping business, construction, or become professional soccer players.
As usual, I asked for a few phrases. He said my daughter can say, "Estoy atarada" when she's "stuck" physically, which is often. She likes to squeeze her chunky body into places that are clearly too narrow for her. When she's done eating, she can say, "Ya termine."
He said he grew up in Mexico and spoke Spanish natively. He's still bilingual today and even uses it for his job. He works for Microsoft doing speech recognition.
It seems like learning Spanish will only help my children in their future careers, whether they choose to be interpreters, translators, teachers, work in the restaurant business, landscaping business, construction, or become professional soccer players.
As usual, I asked for a few phrases. He said my daughter can say, "Estoy atarada" when she's "stuck" physically, which is often. She likes to squeeze her chunky body into places that are clearly too narrow for her. When she's done eating, she can say, "Ya termine."
Saturday, February 4, 2012
"We Got the Baby Jesus" party
As commented on in a previous post, we got a Baby Jesus figurine from a piece of Kings' (Rosca) Cake at a Three Kings party we went to in January. If you get a Baby Jesus figurine, you're supposed to throw a party around Feb. 2nd. So, tonight, that's what we did.
I'm really not comfortable throwing parties. I feel like the opposite of Martha Stewart. I've thrown more parties since my son turned a year old (3.5 years ago), than I threw during my whole life before that.
This was the first party I didn't stress about or even feel that much anxiety about. It helped that we only invited three families, and they're all really down-to-earth. Plus, the only thing I made was fruit salad and Mexican hot chocolate.
My husband and I had tamales at the Los Altos Fall Festival last year that were really, really delicious. I kept their card and wondered when I would possibly ever need to drive all the way to San Jose to buy tamales. This party was the perfect excuse.
I got pork tamales and corn tamales from Lucy's Tamales Factory. It was really easy, you can even order online. It's about $2 per tamale, which I didn't think was too bad. (I don't know, is that expensive for a really good tamale?)
I googled "Mexican hot chocolate" and found a really simple recipe from Rachael Ray. I used 1 cup of Whole Foods Organic semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of dark chocolate chunks. It tasted quite good, if I don't say so myself.
We had seven kids there, and of course their favorite food was the Veggie Straws I bought from Costco. My 4.5 year old son really liked the pork rinds I bought from our neighborhood grocery store. I was surprised since he's not particularly adventurous with food.
For beer we had Dos Equis XX Ambar and Negra Modelo. We probably didn't need to have Mexican beers, but my husband likes them anyway so it seemed appropriate.
I think the party was a big success. Everyone had a good time, most of the food was eaten, people stayed later than they intended because they were enjoying themselves, and I think we strengthened our ties to each other a little.
I did learn two things in Spanish. If you sneeze, you can say, "Perdón", and other people will say, "Salud" (health). I wondered if you would say, "Con permiso" if you sneezed, but my friend said that's more if you're passing by someone who's in your way.
If you want to tell your son to turn off the light in the bathroom because he always, always leaves it on, you can say, "Apaga las luces".
I don't think I was really obligated to throw this party, but I'm very, very glad I did. I got out of my comfort zone presenting food I haven't served before, inviting people I know but am not super, super close friends with (although I hope we will continue to get to know each other better), and continuing to ask questions about Spanish culture, food, and language. The more I try to learn how to speak Spanish, the more I realize it's just a beginning to create new relationships, participate in new communities, and see the world from another perspective.
I'm really not comfortable throwing parties. I feel like the opposite of Martha Stewart. I've thrown more parties since my son turned a year old (3.5 years ago), than I threw during my whole life before that.
This was the first party I didn't stress about or even feel that much anxiety about. It helped that we only invited three families, and they're all really down-to-earth. Plus, the only thing I made was fruit salad and Mexican hot chocolate.
My husband and I had tamales at the Los Altos Fall Festival last year that were really, really delicious. I kept their card and wondered when I would possibly ever need to drive all the way to San Jose to buy tamales. This party was the perfect excuse.
I got pork tamales and corn tamales from Lucy's Tamales Factory. It was really easy, you can even order online. It's about $2 per tamale, which I didn't think was too bad. (I don't know, is that expensive for a really good tamale?)
I googled "Mexican hot chocolate" and found a really simple recipe from Rachael Ray. I used 1 cup of Whole Foods Organic semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of dark chocolate chunks. It tasted quite good, if I don't say so myself.
We had seven kids there, and of course their favorite food was the Veggie Straws I bought from Costco. My 4.5 year old son really liked the pork rinds I bought from our neighborhood grocery store. I was surprised since he's not particularly adventurous with food.
For beer we had Dos Equis XX Ambar and Negra Modelo. We probably didn't need to have Mexican beers, but my husband likes them anyway so it seemed appropriate.
I think the party was a big success. Everyone had a good time, most of the food was eaten, people stayed later than they intended because they were enjoying themselves, and I think we strengthened our ties to each other a little.
I did learn two things in Spanish. If you sneeze, you can say, "Perdón", and other people will say, "Salud" (health). I wondered if you would say, "Con permiso" if you sneezed, but my friend said that's more if you're passing by someone who's in your way.
If you want to tell your son to turn off the light in the bathroom because he always, always leaves it on, you can say, "Apaga las luces".
I don't think I was really obligated to throw this party, but I'm very, very glad I did. I got out of my comfort zone presenting food I haven't served before, inviting people I know but am not super, super close friends with (although I hope we will continue to get to know each other better), and continuing to ask questions about Spanish culture, food, and language. The more I try to learn how to speak Spanish, the more I realize it's just a beginning to create new relationships, participate in new communities, and see the world from another perspective.
Monday, January 16, 2012
My own Juguemos en Español (Let's Play in Spanish)
My kids were both home today because of the holiday, so I thought it'd be a great opportunity to sing some of the songs from Juguemos en Español and use some of my handy-dandy charts. I even made a new chart, Las Vocales (vowels). Las Vocales goes by the tune from the very opening of Mozart's "A Little Night Music".
My 20 month old daughter was happy just to get our musical instruments out. I felt bad, we rarely play with them since my 4.5 year old son just wants to play with Star Wars Legos, and when we do that, my full-time job is to keep my daughter away from the Legos. She's a bit like Godzilla razing a small Japanese town.
But I digress. My 4.5 year old wrinkled his nose when he saw my charts, and said it was for babies. Luckily, a friend of his who is almost a year older is in Susy Dorn's Let's Play in Spanish class. Take that, you little know-it-all. Oops, did I really type that? Being surrounded by young children does seem to lower my maturity level.
Still, I managed to sing a bunch of songs with them. My son especially liked using a drumstick to point at the pictures as they were being sung. The music is a bit fast for him though. The only instrument he really wanted to use was the drum, which drowned out a lot of the music. But we marched through some songs, and he got to blow a train whistle for a few tunes, so overall I think he liked it even though he later told my husband that it was "boring".
I did realize that it would have helped to create a playlist of just the songs I was going to play. I ended up searching for songs a lot, and that allowed the kids to get distracted. I need to find a way to display the charts where my son can reach it, but my daughter can't, at least, not when it's his turn to point.
I felt discouraged at times, but I reminded myself it was just my first try. The kids did stick with me through it. Later, we went in the car, and I played some of the songs, and my son sang along to "Los Colores". It was just a little thing, but I felt pretty validated.
I think if I practice a few more times with just my kids, I could work out the kinks. Then maybe I'll be courageous and invite some other families over to join us. Wish me luck.
My 20 month old daughter was happy just to get our musical instruments out. I felt bad, we rarely play with them since my 4.5 year old son just wants to play with Star Wars Legos, and when we do that, my full-time job is to keep my daughter away from the Legos. She's a bit like Godzilla razing a small Japanese town.
But I digress. My 4.5 year old wrinkled his nose when he saw my charts, and said it was for babies. Luckily, a friend of his who is almost a year older is in Susy Dorn's Let's Play in Spanish class. Take that, you little know-it-all. Oops, did I really type that? Being surrounded by young children does seem to lower my maturity level.
Still, I managed to sing a bunch of songs with them. My son especially liked using a drumstick to point at the pictures as they were being sung. The music is a bit fast for him though. The only instrument he really wanted to use was the drum, which drowned out a lot of the music. But we marched through some songs, and he got to blow a train whistle for a few tunes, so overall I think he liked it even though he later told my husband that it was "boring".
I did realize that it would have helped to create a playlist of just the songs I was going to play. I ended up searching for songs a lot, and that allowed the kids to get distracted. I need to find a way to display the charts where my son can reach it, but my daughter can't, at least, not when it's his turn to point.
I felt discouraged at times, but I reminded myself it was just my first try. The kids did stick with me through it. Later, we went in the car, and I played some of the songs, and my son sang along to "Los Colores". It was just a little thing, but I felt pretty validated.
I think if I practice a few more times with just my kids, I could work out the kinks. Then maybe I'll be courageous and invite some other families over to join us. Wish me luck.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Mexican Avocado Salad
This isn't about language, but one of my favorite things to do is to eat, so I thought I'd share this Mexican avocado salad recipe. I made this for a Christmas Eve dinner, to go along with tamale pie. Both the tamale pie and the salad were very, very delicious.
Ingredients
Preparation
In a large mixing bowl combine, drained corn, chopped artichoke hearts, avocado, drained & rinsed black beans, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped cilantro and salad dressing. Mix well. Add pepper to taste. Refrigerate for one hour and serve chilled.
Reprinted from:
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
El Día de los Reyes (Kings' Day)
After New Year's Day, Mexican families still have a very special date to commemorate and enjoy. On January 6, most of the Hispanic world celebrates El Día De Reyes, the Epiphany, remembering the day when the Three Wise Men following the star to Bethlehem, arrived bearing their treasured gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the Baby Jesus.
On the night, of January 5, the figurines of the Three Wise Men are added to the nativity scene. Before going to bed the children place their old shoes under their bed or in the living room, where the Wise Men will leave them their presents. Some also place outside the house, some hay and a bucket with water for the animals, and even some cookies and milk for Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar.
The children spend the day playing and admiring each other’s presents, sharing them with friends, talking about how they were able to hear or see the Reyes Magos when they arrived at their home, how one of them heard the camel’s footsteps, how the other saw a shining crown in the dark night! Meanwhile, adults prepare for the Merienda de Reyes, an early evening dinner that friends and families share to celebrate the Epiphany.
People go to the markets and stores to get the needed ingredients to prepare the feast. All over the country, in every city and in every little town, bakeries offer the Rosca de Reyes, an oval sweetbread, decorated with candied fruit.
The Merienda de Reyes is truly a multicultural event. The Spaniards brought the tradition of celebrating the Epiphany and sharing the Rosca to the New World. The Rosca is served along with Tamales, made of corn which was the pre-Hispanic food, and hot chocolate. Chocolate is also a gift from the native peoples of the New World.
(excerpted from http://www.inside-mexico.com/featurereyes.htm)
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