Elizabeth & español

There haven’t been any posts on Elizabeth’s language developments for quite a while. The short version of the story is: She’s fluent in English, but she hasn’t wanted to speak Spanish...

What?! I know... But it’s true.

My theory is that her sensitive spirit (and keen mind) have contributed to her remembering feeling different from all the other children in K-2; consequently, she chose to shut out Spanish. And we chose to not push Spanish while she was obviously alternately excited about forming complete sentences in English and (very!) frustrated when those didn’t come easily. Her intense personality also contributed to the overall picture, of course.

But she has made it quite obvious that her resistance is not to the idea of another language. How? By showing a keen interest in French! (Yes, she’s a real joy to her mother’s heart!) Somewhere along the line she realized the concept of multiple languages and, upon discovering that I know French, she began asking: “How do you say _____ in French?” gleefully repeating the words with great gusto – and accuracy, too! (We listen to CDs in French now and then to encourage correct pronunciation; I still pronounce French words with a Spanish accent...)

Elizabeth continues to understand Spanish; the foundation is obviously there. When I speak Spanish, she says: “Let’s talk in English!” I continue in Spanish; she answers logically in English. We go back and forth until finally – she inserts a word or phrase in Spanish!

Thankfully, she has taken a renewed interest in Spanish in the last month or so. In the last few days she’s been asking: “How do you say _____ in Spanish?” We’ve definitely been encouraging Spanish in light of our upcoming trip. Dr. Lopez has also been helping by rewarding the occasional phrase with a caramelo! (¡Mil gracias, hermano!)

Funny story:

We watched Mary Poppins in Spanish while on vacation. (I love multiple sound tracks on DVDs; Elizabeth still doesn’t know that the DVD is even in English!) She latched onto the chimney sweeps’ song, singing part of it and inquiring about the rest.

I sang: “Chim-chiminea, chim-chiminea, chim-chim-che-ri.”

To which she replied: “No, Mommy! It’s chim-chim-che-RO!”

“You’re right! I got confused…” (Hee! Hee!)