Today’s word is a simple one (in honor of the Chiquita):

Jugar

[hoo-GAR]

which in English means to play.

Here’s how it’s conjugated in the present:

Yo juego [HWAY-go] (I play)
Tú juegas (you play)
Él/ella/usted juega (he/she/you plays)
Nosotros jugamos (we play)
Ellos/ellas/ustedes juegan (they play)

Here are some related words/phrases:

juguetes [hoo-GET-tays] (toys)

juegos [HWAY-goes] (games)

jugar a las muñecas [moo-NYEH-kaws] (to play with dolls)

jugar a la pelota [pay-LOW-taw] (to play ball)

jugar al béisbol [BAYS-bowl] (to play baseball) ~more on this one coming soon!

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With less then a month until November begins, I figured it was time to share my big news.

This November, I will attempt to write a 50,000-word novel. (!!!)

Yes, I’m serious. I’m going to be joining thousands of other crazy people who will take part in the annual November endeavor, National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.

I first found out about this a few years ago, when I was still in grad school and it seemed much too daunting for a student. This year, I’m planning to pack the house and move halfway across the country in November. Not to mention the fact that we go camping at the beach every Thanksgiving. Do you think I’m crazy yet?

The truth is, I’ve decided there will never be The Perfect Time to take part, so I just decided to do it. I’ve been reading books on writing and pondering possible plot elements, and basically getting totally psyched up for it. I even have a new friend who’s joining me. I’m nervous, anxious, excited and a little intimidated but I’m going to go for it.

What I love about NaNoWriMo is that it’s about accomplishment. Every writer who reaches the 50,000 mark is a winner. The philosophy behind the movement is Quantity, Not Quality. There’s no editing (that’s for the next 11 months), and it doesn’t matter if your “novel” ends up crappy. You can always rework and rewrite later. Even though there’s an insane 30-day deadline, there’s very little pressure.

And the deadline is the most important part. I’m sure everyone who’s had to write a research paper knows that without that deadline it never would have happened. And those of you who know that I’ve attempted (and never finished) fiction projects in the past will believe me when I say, I need the deadline. I think it will help me finally cross-off that item that’s on many people’s lifelong to-do list: write a novel.

I plan to give weekly updates on Saturdays here at Gidget Loves Language, as I countdown throughout October and then as I progress through November.

So wish me luck! And please, pray for my soon-to-be neglected house & family.

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I’m going to be re-publishing some posts here on Gidget Loves Language that were written on an old blog. This was originally posted on October 13, 2007.

Here is a cool Spanish music video that shows the lyrics (called a Typographical Video) of the song Ya No Sé Que Hacer Conmigo by Cuarteto de Nos. It would be great with the teaching of el pretérito.

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This week I bring you an appropriate idiomatic expression:

Estoy a dos dedos de algo nuevo.

(a dos dedos de equals the English idiom “on the verge of”)

which in English translates to, I’m on the verge of something new!

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today’s word is actually a phrase, or rather, an idiomatic expression:

Poderoso caballero es Don Dinero.

(literally: Mr. Money is a strong cowboy)

which in English translates to the idiom, Money makes the world go round! {Idioms are not supposed to be literally translated, I just thought you might want that for vocab purposes.}

I’d like to think it’s love that makes the world go round, but hey, I didn’t coin the idiom… and Moondoggie does think I’m a bit of a hippie… so anyways…

Bilingual Chiquita Update

Not a whole lot to report this week… but she’s improving gradually all the time. A couple things of note, when I say, “Dime por favor” (“Tell me thank you”), Chiquita will enthusiasticly sign “please”- this is pretty cool. She’s also started doing this cute thing with her hands where she turns them up, as if to say “Where is it?” and she does the same “sign” when I say, “¿Dónde está?” She’s also saying her own version of agua interchangeably with wa-wa, probably because they sound so similar (more on this next week).

Thoughts on Language Learning

Since I’m talking about money this week, I just wanted to briefly touch on how this topic fits with bilingualism. There are so many benefits to learning another language, some of them cognitive, social and cultural, but there are even financial benefits in this day and age to knowing another language.

I did a quick search on monster.com for jobs with the keyword bilingual and over 5,000 came up (it didn’t specify how many over 5,000 but just read >5,000), then on careerbuilder.com I did the same search and came up with 10,579 jobs. Now with the economy the way it is, that in and of itself should be enough evidence for the benefit of learning a second language, especially at a young age when it will really sink it, and achieve the most fluency.

So let’s say you learn a second language as a child (or even later in life, which while harder, is still valuable!), and you get a job that was listed as a bilingual position. Well, chances are, you’re going to be making more money, than the average monolingual employee.

For aspiring businessmen & women, an article I read by Laura Morsch of careerbuilder.com stated that 31% of executives speak two languages and 9% speak four. Morsch goes on to report cite salary.com saying that

On average, bilingual pay differentials range between 5 and 20 percent per hour more than the position’s base rate.

Can I get a “wow!”? Learning another languages can open up a lot of doors for our children, and the time and effort spent now and throughout their education teaching and/or encouraging them definitely has the potential to pay off.

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today’s word is another that is fun (and pretty) to say:

mariposa

(mah-ree/tee*-POH-sah)

which in English means, butterfly!

*if you roll your “r” it sounds more like a “t” sound… if you can say “ladder” or “butter” then yes, you can roll your “r‘s”– that “dd/tt-er” part is basically a rolled (or trilled) “r!”

Bilingual Chiquita Update

This past week, I’ve started to feel more comfortable (more on that below) with speaking to Chiquita in Spanish, and my little sponge is embracing these new words and phrases like it’s nothing. I love to hear her say “oh-wah” (hola) and it’s super encouraging to see her sign eating (she puts her fingers to mouth) when I ask her, “¿Quieres comer almuerzo/desayuno?”

Chiquita is also picking up on, and seemingly understanding the meaning of common commands that I say often, like súbete (go up(stairs)), bájate (get down), and ven aquí (come here). I’m not saying she always obeys… but she seems to get what I’m saying.

Thoughts on Language Learning

Here’s my profound (wink, wink) thought for the day on this issue… the more you do it, the easier it gets. I know it sounds simple but it’s true! This is true, of course, in most things we do… practice makes perfect… and while I’m not shooting for perfection, practice also makes easier, better, smoother, etc. And despite the fact that we’re basically having a one-way conversation, it’s good for me to practice, too!

Let’s be honest here, one of my hesitations in starting this “project,” was basically that I thought I’d feel stupid. I’m not a native speaker and despite 2 degrees and teaching experience in the subject, it still doesn’t always come naturally to me to speak or respond in Spanish… and plus, I thought, she wouldn’t understand me, so then I’d really feel stupid!

But then I really thought about it. When I first started speaking to Chiquita (in English), at birth, did she understand anything I said? or respond to me? The answer is no. And at 16 months, I’m going to go out on a limb here, and guess that she still doesn’t understand everything I say in English. So why should I feel stupid speaking to her in Spanish? Eventually she’ll understand everything I say (hopefully, in both languages!), but for now, I have to remind myself that this is a learning process. She’s gradually absorbing words and associating them with their meanings, and it’s an exciting process to watch, as a linguist, and a mom!

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Today’s word is possibly my favorite word in Spanish:

cacahuate

(kah-kah-WAH-tay)

(how fun is that to say?!) which in English means, peanut!
{another way to say peanut is maní}

Bilingual Chiquita Update

In just a couple of weeks, Chiquita is already reacting and responding to my Spanish. Thanks to her sign language, she understands that gracias = thank you, más = more, terminada = all done, comer = to eat, and ¿dónde está? = where is…?.She doesn’t usually try to say these words, but if I say them she’ll sign them or indicate understanding.

She also understands and attempts to say hola, mono (monkey), leche (milk), carro (car), and pelota (ball), off the top of my head.

Thoughts on Language Learning

When monolingual speakers hear about raising a child bilingually, there are some immediate doubts which rise. I recently found an article citing recent research which busts a few commons myths, such as

• Learning two languages in childhood is difficult and can result in delays in language development.
• Bilingual children have less exposure to each of their languages than monolingual children. As a result, they never master either language fully and, compared to monolingual children, they never become as proficient.
• Young bilingual children can’t keep their languages separate; they use both at the same time; they are obviously confused.
• Using both languages in the same sentence or conversation is bad. Parents can discourage and even prevent their children from doing this by making sure that each of them uses one and only one language with their child at all times. The same goes for other adults who interact with the child.

I’ve studied many of these issues in the past and was really excited to find recent research continuing to prove that these are, in fact, myths, and are not true. If you’d like the read the article by researcher & professor Fred Genessee, click HERE.

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I figured we’d start simple… today’s word is

palabra

(pah-LAH-brah)

which in English means, word !!

Bilingual Chiquita Update

There are many different ways to raise a child bilingual; this has always been a desire of mine, but it didn’t seem practical since neither my husband nor I are native speakers of another language, which I feel would be necessary to confidently use the OPOL (One Person, One Language) method. Another system is ML@H (Minority Language at Home) which I’m again, not quite confident in myself enough for, and plus, my husband speaks Spanish minimally.

I really got fired up about all this when I found the website, Multilingual Children’s Association (I’ll refer to them as the MCA), which is full of resources and ideas for raising kids bilingually, even when the parents are monolingual (my husband) or speak a non-native foreign language (me). I know that now’s the time to do this– I’ve studied language acquisition a little and know that Chiquita is currently in the critical period for learning a language– everyone knows how spongy little kids are!

For now, my language system is going to consist of me speaking in Spanish as much as possible (I’m starting with a few transitional weeks where I repeat words that are familiar to her in both languages– it’s helpful that she knows some sign language, which lends her to understand the concept even when I use a new word), and eventually I hope to put her in a Spanish toddler program (a couple of hours a week with native speakers), then a Spanish preschool class, and ultimately I’m going to pray that we live near and she can get into a Dual-Immersion elementary school.

According to the MCA, Chiquita should be exposed to Spanish for about 30% of her waking hours, in order to develop proficiency in both languages. For us that boils down to about 2 1/2 hours a day. My goal is to be speaking Spanish to her from the time she wakes up until lunch (when possible) and on days when that morning time is shortened, I’ll try to incorporate Spanish in the afternoon. We will continue to speak English as a family when Moondoggie is home, although as Chiquita grows up and improves, I hope we can modify that. I also plan to incorporate Spanish through music, books, DVDs eventually, and interaction with native speakers.

So, that’s my plan! I’ll try to give you a weekly update including things I learn along the way.

Any comments?

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¿Que pasa, queridos lectores? / What’s up, dear readers!

Tomorrow, the day after Labor Day, is the day when school should start in my opinion. Some school districts still follow this but where I live most already started (Aug. 11th was the earliest I heard!). This is the time of year when I long to buy school supplies, just like Joe Fox (once, my romantic Moondoggie bought me a bouquet of sharpened pencils for Valentine’s Day!).

Since I will not be going back to school (be it as a student or a Spanish teacher), for the second time ever since I was 5, I’ve decided to implement another weekly post.. Whenever I tell people I teach/taught Spanish, I’m always hearing, “Oh, I wish I knew Spanish.” Well, here’s your chance, people! Every week, I’ll be giving you a word (or a few) or a phrase in Spanish. So you probably won’t achieve fluency here, but learning new words is always fun and helpful!

Also, if this does inspire you to take up learning Spanish, I’d be happy to try to answer any grammatical questions you have by email (click the Contact tab above).

On Tuesdays I will also include a little blurb updating you on my attempts to teach my daughter Spanish. Yep, I’ve decided to go for it, even though I’m not a native speaker. More on this later…

Stay tuned until tomorrow… hasta mañana! And Happy Labor Day!

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