I was talking to some fellow Latina moms the other day and they were all pretty surprised that Julian understands and speaks Spanish. He still speaks a bit more English (about 60%), which I blame on his Sesame Street addiction, but so far he's been doing pretty good in both languages. Well, when these moms asked my what method I was using to make sure my kid grows up bilingual, I didn't know what to say! To be honest we aren't following any method or technique, we're just being ourselves. They were pretty surprised of my answer, and I was too. And well, yes, I got some criticism, but hey, not everybody is the same!
When I was pregnant I read tons of books and articles on the different ways of raising a kid bilingual, but when Julian was born we just decided to let it flow. Both of us are bilingual, although I tend to speak more Spanish than my fiancé, but still both languages are used at home. Both of the cultures (American and Mexican) are present since my fiancé was raised here and I was raised in México. We have a bilingual/bicultural life, not consciously, that's simply our life. The only thing we have talked about, and agreed on, is that Julian will attend a Dual Immersion Bilingual School... and that's mostly because I wan him to learn proper Spanish grammar and I know I might not have the time to teach him.
One of my friends was telling me how her parents didn't speak a word of English while they were home, since they wanted their kids to get used to the language. My friend grew up thinking she was being forced to speak Spanish and now prefers to speak English, even though she's fluent in both. Everybody is different and has different experiences, but I definitely don't want my kid to feel like he's being forced to be "Mexican"... he is a Chicano, Mexican American. We (his parents) are the generation 1 1/2, those born in México and growing up in the states. We speak Spanish, English and Spanglish... We eat tamales on Nochebuena not because we want to make a cultural statement, but because that's what we do! Just like we get presents on Christmas Day AND El Día de los Reyes. His daddy sings to him in English because those are the songs he knows, just like his mommy only knows the Spanish songs she grew up listening. And same thing goes for books, tv shows, and games... both my fiancé and I are bringing to the table those things we grew up with, they just happen to be in different languages. Our thought is that if Julian grows up seeing that both of his parents are bilingual and bicultural he'll embrace both languages and cultures as well.
We might not be raising our bilingual, Chicano kid the "right way" but so far is working. Actually, I don't even think there is a "right way" of raising a kid bilingual! And people might want to criticize our lack of methods and techniques, but each family is different. This is just what's working for us, some other families might have different experiences and that's totally acceptable too. Now if I see that my kid is not 100% bilingual in a few years, I might rethink what we're doing (or not doing)... but for now, our little Chicanito is just fine!
MJ
