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Thankful for My Son's Enthusiasm on Learning Spanish

This past weekend as I sat at the table surrounded by books in Spanish, printables, and materials to teach our son Spanish - I felt overwhelmed. For a few minutes as I watched my son gather his toys from the floor to begin our lesson I thought, “Can I really teach my child to be fully bilingual, and biliterate?” I silently prayed to God to use me as an instrument to teach my child the gift of another language. 


I’ve faced many challenges, celebrated many milestones; and have had regrets as well. It has been so much work, time, and dedication in helping my child to become bilingual considering our present circumstances: completely monolingual environment!

Now, I’m working on teaching him to read in Spanish. Which is so much different than simply speaking to him in Spanish. 

Once our son finished putting his toys away he tells me with the biggest smile,  “¡Mamá listo!” I smiled, and so our Spanish lesson began. He was really enjoying himself, and when it was over he was upset. He wanted the lesson to continue. Then he tells me, “¡No, Mamá vamos otra vez. Es muy divertido!”

My worries instantly subsided with his reaction. Then I realized that this was God’s answer to my prayer: my son’s enthusiasm to learn Spanish! I am so thankful for his contagious enthusiasm, and excitement to learn a new language. This is exactly what I needed to continue in our journey. This will keep us both motivated, and looking forward to sharing together new learning experiences, and milestones in his language learning. 

This will be one of the greatest gift I can ever give him, and I am so thankful for his desire to learn Spanish!

Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Or doubted your ability to teach your child another language? If so, please share, and comment below. I would love to read about your experiences.

This post was written for inclusion in the November 2013 multilingual blogging carnival hosted by Bringing Up Baby Bilingual.