Thursday, June 01, 2006

THE SPANISH LANGUAGE


Statistics say that 50% of all babies being born in the United States today are Hispanic. I should be spending whatever spare time I have learning Spanish. Bubby knows enough to get by, two of my adopted children are Hispanic & my children learn Spanish as a language in school. But instead, I use my spare time to read up on the latest celebrity news in People magazine. Pathetic, I know.

Izzy has been very curious about other languages. The children are always talking about Spanish or speaking in Spanish. Izzy's favorite show is Sesame Street and they always have a segment about learning a "word of the day" in Spanish. So the other day, I was incredulous when Izzy asked me how to count in Spanish. My first thought was to say...."I don't know, go ask your Dad or your Sister or your other two Brothers." But no one was home so I taught Izzy how to count to 5. I'm embarrassed to say that as high as I can count.

So after repeatedly starting with our index finger and ending with our thumb saying,
"Uno, (index finger)
Dos, (middle finger)
Tres, (ring finger)
Cuatro, (pinkie)
Cinco" (thumb)
Izzy got it. He was proud. I was desperate to start learning Spanish before he asked me another question.

Later on that day, my incessant-thumb-sucking Izzy came up to me to profess his new found knowledge.......
"Mommy" he said with the most tender face and tears just about to spill from his eyes, "I need a new Cinco."

3 comments:

Gatxan said...

Tallulah,

I've been reading your blog lately. Hope you don't think it an intrusion... but I enjoyed it so much ;) After reading your post today I thought that maybe I can give you something back. As I am Spanish I can tell you how to count till more than five...

Seis – six
Siete – seven
Ocho – eight
Nueve – nine
Diez – ten

Want more? I’ll be glad to help.

Serendipity said...

OMG, I cannot even managed to teach my kids "Bisaya," my very own language, how am I going to manage teaching them a language I don't even have a mastery of?

Anonymous said...

Yay! I just ran across your page by pure coincidence (I was looking for online Spanish resources for my students), and I think I can help!

Get MUZZY! It's a video program developed by the BBC. Basically, it's a cartoon story with interludes aimed at teaching language. It's available in several languages, including Spanish, and the kit includes not only the videos (on VHS or DVD), but a parent instruction book, kid's activity books, a script of everything said in the video, audio cassette or CD with songs and such from the cartoon, etc. My students LOVE Muzzy!

Muzzy is expensive if you get it from the source (www.early-advantage.com/), but if you have the patience, you can get it for much less on e-bay. There is one buy it now seller that has Level 1 (the orignial series) for a flat 59.99, in fact.

Hope this helps! Trust me... I think you'll enjoy watching the video along with the kiddies! It's FUN! Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help!

Melissa MB Wilkins
melissambwilkins AT yahoo DOT com

Melissa MB