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| La Loquita, 4 |
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| Goofy Girl, 7 |
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| Drama Mama, 9 |
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| Sweet Thing, 10 |
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| Smarty Pants, 11 |
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
No entiendo español
No entiendo español....that is the phrase that all my kids speak fluently...in español.
Living in Puerto Rico, it is just the natural assumption that you speak Spanish. The kids especially are expected to speak Spanish because they LOOK Puerto Rican.
Often, people will just start speaking to them, expecting them to respond. They would just stare with this blank look on their faces. We told them they had to let people know that they didn't speak Spanish, otherwise, they would think they were just rude, bratty kids!
Tonight, when at the mall, a sales person was speaking to La Loquita. She responded to him in inglés, but she understood him! Woohoo!
Papa Loco and I have declared domingo/Sunday Spanish only days. This is already easy to implement when we go to church all in Spanish. Now for Papa and I not to give in!!
Living in Puerto Rico, it is just the natural assumption that you speak Spanish. The kids especially are expected to speak Spanish because they LOOK Puerto Rican.
Often, people will just start speaking to them, expecting them to respond. They would just stare with this blank look on their faces. We told them they had to let people know that they didn't speak Spanish, otherwise, they would think they were just rude, bratty kids!
Tonight, when at the mall, a sales person was speaking to La Loquita. She responded to him in inglés, but she understood him! Woohoo!
Papa Loco and I have declared domingo/Sunday Spanish only days. This is already easy to implement when we go to church all in Spanish. Now for Papa and I not to give in!!
Mira mis nenes!! Son grande!! No me gusta!!!!!!!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Sobre Los Años
We have now lived in Puerto Rico for just over a year. Wow did time fly by too fast!
When we first moved, I'd say I had a intermediate level of Spanish knowledge. More than a beginning, but not fluent. Enough to be dangerous I like to say. I took Spanish in all 4 years of High School...which looking back, it is more than evident that my first two years were the only ones which I learned anything. The last two years were more of a social hour. The teacher taught a college level Spanish course and it was as if our class was nothing more than a way to get some money w/o really having to work.
Even with a bare minimum of Spanish, I was able to test out of the first year in college. My Early Childhood Edu degree didn't require any more than that, so I didn't take anymore Spanish. I did however have to use my pathetic attempts when I was doing my student teaching at a daycare. We had a little boy whose family did not speak ANY English and none of the staff spoke ANY Spanish! I still fondly remember "O" as one of my favorite kiddos. We managed to stumble our way through the year and before long, he was teaching his family English!
Once I graduated from college, I began teaching in my hometown. I was working with the Head Start program. My 2nd year there, we had a family from Guatemala join our school district. The kids had no English skills! It so happened that the older siblings' teachers were good friends of mine, and we often used to bounce ideas off each other on how to help them and their family succeed. There was a ministry person who used to be in South American missions, who translated when he could for meeting with the parents. The rest was up to us! We labeled the classroom in both English and Spanish (a first for this class!). It became painfully obvious that the school system as a whole, had very little resources to help this family succeed. Even one of the high school level teachers wouldn't help/communicate with this family, which lead me to believe she really didn't have any conversational Spanish, outside from what she taught in school.
A few years go by and I meet my Puerto Rican husband. We would speak in Spanish some, and Papa was definitely willing to help me. I would listen to his brother/sis in law's conversations and over time began to understand more and more. However, until we got the kids, I never really spoke in Spanish.
In 2006 we became instant parents to three children who did not speak English. Even their Spanish was rather limited. I learned quickly phrases to speak to them and we managed to always understand each other. Over time, their Spanish diminished and English became the primary language. Even Papa began to speak to them only in English. It saddens me now to see how easily it was for them to lose that primary language.
One of my main reasons for moving to Puerto Rico was that I wanted the kids to be immersed in the Spanish. I know that we have ALL made huge strides from what we knew over a year ago.
I'm not afraid to speak anymore, although I know I still butcher a lot of words/pronunciations. The kids will play with kids who only speak Spanish and while I know there is still a barrier at times, they can always seem to communicate their needs.
With us homeschooling the kids, they have not been forced to really work on their Spanish. Enrolling them in public school has been a thought, but one we have not pursued at this time. So we continued to practice daily at home. We try to have 1 day a week when we speak only Spanish to them and they have to speak Spanish back. Sometimes it works out better than others.
We have gone (although not recently) to the public library to the kids section, where we are learning to read in Spanish. Just like they learned to read in English, now we are working with easy reader's in Spanish.
Poco a poco....we are getting there!
When we first moved, I'd say I had a intermediate level of Spanish knowledge. More than a beginning, but not fluent. Enough to be dangerous I like to say. I took Spanish in all 4 years of High School...which looking back, it is more than evident that my first two years were the only ones which I learned anything. The last two years were more of a social hour. The teacher taught a college level Spanish course and it was as if our class was nothing more than a way to get some money w/o really having to work.
Even with a bare minimum of Spanish, I was able to test out of the first year in college. My Early Childhood Edu degree didn't require any more than that, so I didn't take anymore Spanish. I did however have to use my pathetic attempts when I was doing my student teaching at a daycare. We had a little boy whose family did not speak ANY English and none of the staff spoke ANY Spanish! I still fondly remember "O" as one of my favorite kiddos. We managed to stumble our way through the year and before long, he was teaching his family English!
Once I graduated from college, I began teaching in my hometown. I was working with the Head Start program. My 2nd year there, we had a family from Guatemala join our school district. The kids had no English skills! It so happened that the older siblings' teachers were good friends of mine, and we often used to bounce ideas off each other on how to help them and their family succeed. There was a ministry person who used to be in South American missions, who translated when he could for meeting with the parents. The rest was up to us! We labeled the classroom in both English and Spanish (a first for this class!). It became painfully obvious that the school system as a whole, had very little resources to help this family succeed. Even one of the high school level teachers wouldn't help/communicate with this family, which lead me to believe she really didn't have any conversational Spanish, outside from what she taught in school.
A few years go by and I meet my Puerto Rican husband. We would speak in Spanish some, and Papa was definitely willing to help me. I would listen to his brother/sis in law's conversations and over time began to understand more and more. However, until we got the kids, I never really spoke in Spanish.
In 2006 we became instant parents to three children who did not speak English. Even their Spanish was rather limited. I learned quickly phrases to speak to them and we managed to always understand each other. Over time, their Spanish diminished and English became the primary language. Even Papa began to speak to them only in English. It saddens me now to see how easily it was for them to lose that primary language.
One of my main reasons for moving to Puerto Rico was that I wanted the kids to be immersed in the Spanish. I know that we have ALL made huge strides from what we knew over a year ago.
I'm not afraid to speak anymore, although I know I still butcher a lot of words/pronunciations. The kids will play with kids who only speak Spanish and while I know there is still a barrier at times, they can always seem to communicate their needs.
With us homeschooling the kids, they have not been forced to really work on their Spanish. Enrolling them in public school has been a thought, but one we have not pursued at this time. So we continued to practice daily at home. We try to have 1 day a week when we speak only Spanish to them and they have to speak Spanish back. Sometimes it works out better than others.
We have gone (although not recently) to the public library to the kids section, where we are learning to read in Spanish. Just like they learned to read in English, now we are working with easy reader's in Spanish.
Poco a poco....we are getting there!
Señales
In our casa, we've had signs/señales of Spanish hanging on our walls. Ironically, none of these things I've found/bought while living in Puerto Rico!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Espanglish
'Espanglish' has now been accepted into the Spain's Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language.
Spanglish or espanglish is a commonly used term for mixing both English and Spanish together. It happens A LOT here in Puerto Rico.
We speak a lot of Spanglish at home. The kids know a lot of random vocabulary words and use them daily in place of their English counter parts.
Leche has always been leche, rarely milk.
Pan is always pan, not bread.
We sit in the sala, not living room.
The older three kids can count past 100 in Spanish, have been since they were very young. They know colors, shapes, etc.
These things have been a part of the language that we use without even thinking. Our goal is to get whole sentences and phrases to become an every day part of their language!
Goofy Girl, 7, is very quick to use her Spanish knowledge with Abuela, especially when it comes to getting food/snacks! And Abuela is so happy to hear her asking in español, she will give it to her happily!!
Our biggest 'problem' we've found is that there are so many people here who speak both languages fairly fluently, that they don't "need" to use Spanish. There are people who live here in Puerto Rico knowing a handful of Spanish and manage to survive.
Over the summer, the kids went to a few different VBSs. Two were at English speaking churches that we do activities with. One however, was at a Spanish speaking church, one that a friend went to and recommended.
I was really excited for the kids to be forced to use their español skills...only to find out that the counselors and leaders spoke to them in English! The program itself was in Spanish and the songs were all in Spanish, but they didn't use it nearly enough!
I'm glad that they have friends that they can speak with, pero, quiero por ellos practican mas español y menos inglés!
Spanglish or espanglish is a commonly used term for mixing both English and Spanish together. It happens A LOT here in Puerto Rico.
We speak a lot of Spanglish at home. The kids know a lot of random vocabulary words and use them daily in place of their English counter parts.
Leche has always been leche, rarely milk.
Pan is always pan, not bread.
We sit in the sala, not living room.
The older three kids can count past 100 in Spanish, have been since they were very young. They know colors, shapes, etc.
These things have been a part of the language that we use without even thinking. Our goal is to get whole sentences and phrases to become an every day part of their language!
Goofy Girl, 7, is very quick to use her Spanish knowledge with Abuela, especially when it comes to getting food/snacks! And Abuela is so happy to hear her asking in español, she will give it to her happily!!
Our biggest 'problem' we've found is that there are so many people here who speak both languages fairly fluently, that they don't "need" to use Spanish. There are people who live here in Puerto Rico knowing a handful of Spanish and manage to survive.
Over the summer, the kids went to a few different VBSs. Two were at English speaking churches that we do activities with. One however, was at a Spanish speaking church, one that a friend went to and recommended.
I was really excited for the kids to be forced to use their español skills...only to find out that the counselors and leaders spoke to them in English! The program itself was in Spanish and the songs were all in Spanish, but they didn't use it nearly enough!
I'm glad that they have friends that they can speak with, pero, quiero por ellos practican mas español y menos inglés!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Siri puede hablar español
Woohoo! I so need Papa Loco to upgrade my phone with OS6! I'm very excited about the Siri speaking Spanish feature!
Cross Cultures
One thing that has always made me laugh a little is the general
assumption from most "white Americans" is that all Spanish speaking
people are the same.
In my hometown area, anyone Hispanic, must be Mexican. And of course here in the country illegally.
When I married a Puerto Rican, I wasn't sure how my redneck family would react. I'm sure I put the fear of God into Papa the first time he met my dad. I don't think he said more than 5 words, so my dad wouldn't hear his accent! To look at Papa, he is fair skinned and pale as me. He has black hair and deep brown eyes compared to my blonde hair, blue eyes. Most people didn't believe me that mi suegro is a red head!
When we got into fostering, we were hopeful for Hispanic children. We had learned in training that there was us and one other foster home that could speak Spanish, yet a growing number of Spanish only speaking children entering care in our county. Over the course of our fostering years, we fostered 7 children. 6 of them were Mexican American, 5 of them we adopted, the other is the half brother of our older three children, who was reunified with their bio mom.
I must admit that my family was more accepting of my children than I thought they might be. I did get asked once by an uncle if the kids spoke "foreign"....I'll just assume he meant Spanish.
In the course of our adoption, we faced some trials. Literally. You can read more about our journey on my family/misc blog. We found ourselves in a contested adoption trial with our older 3 kids' bio father, who had been deported to Mexico. It turned into a 2 1/2 year court 'battle', despite only actually going to court 5 full days.
One of the crimes against us is that we are not Mexican. We could never give the children their 'real' culture. We are and have always been open to sharing with the kids about their culture. However, one problem the bio dad/lawyer had defining was exactly WHAT their culture was.
The kids were all born in the United States. Smarty Pants went to Mexico one time when he was a week old, was there for less than two weeks. From what we've been able to learn, the kids had such a crazy upheaval life before they came to us, their 'culture' had nothing to do with their ethnicity, it was trying to survive a life of chaos and neglect.
The kids didn't eat a lot, if any Mexican food, they existed on cereal and sandwiches. Their bio parents were Catholic, but in name only. None of the kids were baptized, nor had they ever been taken to a Catholic Mass. When asked about any particular family traditions, the kids knew of none, nor did their bio parents share any. We even offered to take the kids to Mexico to visit their bio dad and his side of the family one a year or so, if he would sign over parental rights. Bio dad was given MANY chances to do the services asked of him by Dept of Children Services, both here in the states and after his deportation. He refused to do any of them.
In the end, the judge ruled in our favor. Yes, there are cultural differences in children being raised in Mexico, or the States, or Puerto Rico. We've never denied that, nor have we tried to erase that from them. We have many friends from Mexico and as is expected, there is no 'one way' to do anything!
From the food to the celebrations, to even the words/accents used, there is a mixture. This is the same across the United States as it is in Mexico. It is also true for all Spanish speaking countries. Spain is as different from Colombia, as is different from Peru, as is different from Venezuela, etc.
So we are now in the process of bringing up our Mexican-American children in Puerto Rico, eating Puerto Rican food, observing Puerto Rican celebrations/holidays. They will develop a Puerto Rican Spanish accent (once they are fluent in Spanish hehe). We have tried to reach out to their bio parents to know what celebrations and holidays are important to them. We've gotten nothing.
We talk about Mexico. We have marked on the map the areas their bio dad lives, his family, the area that bio mom's family came from. We talk about some of the foods, the history, the 'main stream' culture of Mexico. Yet this does not define them. Their adoptions are open, so it is possible for them to have a relationship with their bio family as they grow up.
These kids are definitely on their way to being well rounded, cross cultured kids. They have Mexican, Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, and Mid-West USA 'gringa' influences. They do not define themselves as one particular ethnicity. To them, they are just who they are. They have pride in their mixed heritages.
Now if we can just get them speaking Spanish fluently!
In my hometown area, anyone Hispanic, must be Mexican. And of course here in the country illegally.
When I married a Puerto Rican, I wasn't sure how my redneck family would react. I'm sure I put the fear of God into Papa the first time he met my dad. I don't think he said more than 5 words, so my dad wouldn't hear his accent! To look at Papa, he is fair skinned and pale as me. He has black hair and deep brown eyes compared to my blonde hair, blue eyes. Most people didn't believe me that mi suegro is a red head!
When we got into fostering, we were hopeful for Hispanic children. We had learned in training that there was us and one other foster home that could speak Spanish, yet a growing number of Spanish only speaking children entering care in our county. Over the course of our fostering years, we fostered 7 children. 6 of them were Mexican American, 5 of them we adopted, the other is the half brother of our older three children, who was reunified with their bio mom.
I must admit that my family was more accepting of my children than I thought they might be. I did get asked once by an uncle if the kids spoke "foreign"....I'll just assume he meant Spanish.
In the course of our adoption, we faced some trials. Literally. You can read more about our journey on my family/misc blog. We found ourselves in a contested adoption trial with our older 3 kids' bio father, who had been deported to Mexico. It turned into a 2 1/2 year court 'battle', despite only actually going to court 5 full days.
One of the crimes against us is that we are not Mexican. We could never give the children their 'real' culture. We are and have always been open to sharing with the kids about their culture. However, one problem the bio dad/lawyer had defining was exactly WHAT their culture was.
The kids were all born in the United States. Smarty Pants went to Mexico one time when he was a week old, was there for less than two weeks. From what we've been able to learn, the kids had such a crazy upheaval life before they came to us, their 'culture' had nothing to do with their ethnicity, it was trying to survive a life of chaos and neglect.
The kids didn't eat a lot, if any Mexican food, they existed on cereal and sandwiches. Their bio parents were Catholic, but in name only. None of the kids were baptized, nor had they ever been taken to a Catholic Mass. When asked about any particular family traditions, the kids knew of none, nor did their bio parents share any. We even offered to take the kids to Mexico to visit their bio dad and his side of the family one a year or so, if he would sign over parental rights. Bio dad was given MANY chances to do the services asked of him by Dept of Children Services, both here in the states and after his deportation. He refused to do any of them.
In the end, the judge ruled in our favor. Yes, there are cultural differences in children being raised in Mexico, or the States, or Puerto Rico. We've never denied that, nor have we tried to erase that from them. We have many friends from Mexico and as is expected, there is no 'one way' to do anything!
From the food to the celebrations, to even the words/accents used, there is a mixture. This is the same across the United States as it is in Mexico. It is also true for all Spanish speaking countries. Spain is as different from Colombia, as is different from Peru, as is different from Venezuela, etc.
So we are now in the process of bringing up our Mexican-American children in Puerto Rico, eating Puerto Rican food, observing Puerto Rican celebrations/holidays. They will develop a Puerto Rican Spanish accent (once they are fluent in Spanish hehe). We have tried to reach out to their bio parents to know what celebrations and holidays are important to them. We've gotten nothing.
We talk about Mexico. We have marked on the map the areas their bio dad lives, his family, the area that bio mom's family came from. We talk about some of the foods, the history, the 'main stream' culture of Mexico. Yet this does not define them. Their adoptions are open, so it is possible for them to have a relationship with their bio family as they grow up.
These kids are definitely on their way to being well rounded, cross cultured kids. They have Mexican, Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, and Mid-West USA 'gringa' influences. They do not define themselves as one particular ethnicity. To them, they are just who they are. They have pride in their mixed heritages.
Now if we can just get them speaking Spanish fluently!
Welcome/Bienvenidos
Hello! I'm Mama Loca, blog author of La Mama Loca where I blog about our family life, adoption, and moving our family from the mid-west to Puerto Rico.
Our move to Puerto Rico is what lead me to starting 'talk conmigo'. We have now lived in Puerto Rico for just over a year! Mi esposo, Papa Loco, is from PR, and after 11 years in the mid-west, he felt the need to come home.
Our children (yes, there really are 5) are all Hispanic, however, their bio families were from Mexico descent. Our older three children (Smarty Pants, Sweet Thing, and Drama Mama) came to us knowing only Spanish. B/c SP was about to start Kindergarten, we started speaking to the kids in mostly English, while still keeping some of the Spanish.
By the time SP started school, he felt like speaking Spanish was a bad thing, therefore, he wanted to drop Spanish nearly completely. This sadly happened all too easily and carried over to the girls as well. With all their friends speaking only English, school speaking only English, and most of our family (my side) speaking only English, their Spanish fluency soon disappeared.
With the move to Puerto Rico, we knew we'd need to beef up our Spanish once more. It has continued to be a harder change than I once envisioned. However, we continue to make progress. Poco a poco!
This blog will highlight some of our efforts to bring español back into our daily lives!
Gracias!
La Mama Loca
Our move to Puerto Rico is what lead me to starting 'talk conmigo'. We have now lived in Puerto Rico for just over a year! Mi esposo, Papa Loco, is from PR, and after 11 years in the mid-west, he felt the need to come home.
Our children (yes, there really are 5) are all Hispanic, however, their bio families were from Mexico descent. Our older three children (Smarty Pants, Sweet Thing, and Drama Mama) came to us knowing only Spanish. B/c SP was about to start Kindergarten, we started speaking to the kids in mostly English, while still keeping some of the Spanish.
By the time SP started school, he felt like speaking Spanish was a bad thing, therefore, he wanted to drop Spanish nearly completely. This sadly happened all too easily and carried over to the girls as well. With all their friends speaking only English, school speaking only English, and most of our family (my side) speaking only English, their Spanish fluency soon disappeared.
With the move to Puerto Rico, we knew we'd need to beef up our Spanish once more. It has continued to be a harder change than I once envisioned. However, we continue to make progress. Poco a poco!
This blog will highlight some of our efforts to bring español back into our daily lives!
Gracias!
La Mama Loca
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