Babygirl is Bilingual! and Goodbye...for Now

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

I woke up this morning with babygirl by my side as usual. And as usual, we went through our regular morning snuggle routine which includes me asking babygirl to point to her nose, eyes, mouth and ears. Usually this game means I take babygirl's hand and guide her to the different parts of her face. Then she  responds by grabbing a handful of my face, usually my lips, and tries like the devil to pull them off. This is followed by uproarious laughter. Hers, not mine. I know, sounds delightful, but I just assume one day babygirl will reward me by actually pointing to her nose herself.

Well, Meltingpot readers, today was that day!

Preparing for my usual lip twist, babygirl shocked the sugar out of me when she very deliberately pointed to her nose when I asked, "Where's your nose?" I then scared the sugar out of her when I  screamed squealed in delight. Now,  el esposo was close by. And since he believes I carried babygirl for nine months and birthed her without the use of pain reducing drugs for his sole pleasure, he had to show me that babygirl could do the same in Spanish. "Donde esta la narîz? he asked sweetly. And wouldn't you know it, babygirl pointed right to her nose.

And there you have it. At exactly one year, babygirl has proven to us that she is bilingual. El esposo and I are so proud :)

And now to totally switch gears and to explain the 'Goodbye' in the headline. Don't worry dear readers, Ms. Meltingpot is not going anywhere for good. I'm simply taking a short hiatus while I upgrade the Meltingpot. My goal is to have the new & improved Meltingpot ready to debut in time for the BlogHer2012  conference, which I will be attending in New York City. (Will any of you be there? I'd love to meet you in person.)

So, feel free to check out the archives if you really want to read more Meltingpot entries. Or feel free to follow me on Twitter @LoriTharps. And be sure to check back on Monday, August 6 for the big reveal.

Thanks for sticking with me here on The Meltingpot and by all means, if there's something you'd like to hear more or less about here as I revamp, please leave me a message in the comments section.

I appreciate you all.

Peace!

School's Out! Ms. Meltingpot's Plans for the Summer

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

In just a few short minutes, my boys will burst through the door with all the exuberance and excitement expected from the last day of school. Yes, it's official. Summer is here.

In the Kinky Gazpacho household, summer really is summer because el esposo and I both work in academia, so in theory everybody is free from work. Of course in reality, not so much. El esposo is getting his PhD and this summer he has to study non-stop for his comprehensive exams in early fall. The boys will be in day camp for only three weeks. Babygirl? Well, she'll be passed off between el esposo and I throughout.

But what about me, you ask? What's on my agenda for the summer? Besides camp counselor, chef, chauffeur and babysitter? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here's what I'd like to accomplish before September 1st. And I figure if I write it down here, you guys can keep me on task. Or at least drop a comment or a suggestion once in a while to keep me motivated. So, in no particular order, here's what I have to do this summer:

1. Write the proposal for my next book. Yes, I'm already working on the next book project. It's non-fiction and a significant departure from my previous books and yet the themes of identity and discrimination will ring familiar. Just a hint, the book has to do with the color purple. Not the book, by Alice Walker, but the actual color purple.

2. Upgrade The Meltingpot. Dear, readers, I went to the awesome Blogging While Brown Conference last weekend and was so inspired. I love The Meltingpot. I love you all. If I could quit my day job and just produce awesome stories for this blog, I would. In the meantime, I can at least make the Meltingpot experience a little more user-friendly and unique. So stay tuned for the upgrade.

3. Write a few magazine articles that I've been thinking about for the last couple of months.

4. Learn French. Okay, I already wrote about my dream of learning French a few posts back. Well, I'm on my way. In true Meltingpot style, I checked out a French book & CD from the library. I've been watching some films in French and English and I've found some free online websites to visit that promise me I'll be speaking like a native in no time. (By the way, if anyone can recommend any other online websites for language learning, please let me know. Merci!) Of course, I'm not going to master an entire language in eight weeks, but I want to be comfortable enough that I can represent our family's interests when we ...

5. Go to Montreal! Okay, so, this has gone from dream to reality. We are going to Montreal, come hell or high water. Here's why. I need some place to practice my French and motivate me to keep practicing my French. I want the children to have an experience in a foreign country this summer and we can (inexpensively) reach Montreal by car. And I really want an excuse to eat French fries smothered in gravy, but be able to call it a cultural experience.

6.  Update passports. Can you believe, dear readers, that I have to get passports for all three of my children. I knew babygirl needed a new passport and so I just checked the boys', just in case. Wouldn't you know, they both expire in July. Did I mention operation Montreal happens in August? How do you say poetic justice in French.

So, there you go dear readers. Those are my summer plans. Of course, I didn't mention some sort of exercise should also happen in all this. Running? Walking? Bike riding? Chasing my boys around the park? Swimming? Who knows? But I'm sure it will all be an adventure.

So, what are you all doing for the summer? Please share and inspire us all. I'm listening.

Peace!

Speaking in Tongues: Raising Bilingual Children

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

I hope everyone who had a holiday to celebrate this past weekend had a wonderful one. We did, but there was so much celebrating going on, I almost forgot it was Easter. We were celebrating my parents' retirement, my younger son's first Little League baseball game and my sister's birthday. And somewhere within all of that revelry, el esposo and I were hosting old friends whom we haven't seen for over five years. And that's what I want to talk about.

Imagine this scene, dear readers. Our friends who came to visit are both ethnically Chinese. The wife was born in Hong Kong and came to the United States with her family as a young girl. We met in New York City when we worked at the same magazine. Her husband, also Chinese, was born in France, but his mother is Spanish and his father is French. So the husband's first language is French, but he also speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. They have two kids.

Because I love an excuse to entertain, we also invited another family over to eat with us. In this family, the father is German and Spanish, but raised in Madrid. Mom is Malaysian. They have two kids.

So, here you have a gathering of six kids, six adults and babygirl. One parent speaks to his children in French. One parent speaks to her kids in Cantonese. Two parents speak to the kids in Spanish. And two parents speak to their kids in English. And the kids, bless their multilingual hearts, respond in the proper language to the proper person. It was truly amazing to witness. And it was loud!

Us parents, we were having a great time discussing our own trials and tribulations trying to raise our children bilingually, or in some cases, tri-lingually. Every family had their own system but it all seemed to work. Our Chinese friends only allow their kids to watch TV in either Chinese or French. And both kids attend a French immersion school. El esposo has never spoken a word of English to our kids. Ever. Our German/Spanish friend initially spoke Spanish to his son on one day and then the next he would switch to German. That got old fast, so he quickly decided on Spanish and has been consistent every since. At the end of the day, everyone decided that consistency in whatever method one chooses, is the most important element of successfully raising bilingual kids.

What do you think? What's your secret to teaching your kids a second/third language?

I'm so listening. And in the meantime, here are some links to websites that might have some more answers.

Spanglish Baby
Growing Up Global
InCulture Parent


Peace!

From the Mouths of (Bilingual) Babes

Just sharing this very hilarious snippet of dinner table conversation from our Kinky Gazpacho household.

Older son: Mom, I finished my Harry Potter book.

Me: That's great.

Older son: I think that's the longest book I've ever read.

Me: Fantastic. Good for you.

Younger son (who by the way thinks his older brother is God): Esai read Harry Potter! Yeah Esai!

El Esposo ( said with fake confusion to younger son, to get him to repeat what he said in Spanish): Que?

Younger son to Papa: Esai ha leido Pelo Potter!

The End

Happy Monday. Make it a great week.

(p.s. for the non-Spanish speakers out there, pelo means hair in Spanish. Now do you get it?)

Just a Link...In Spanglish

Hola,

Whenever I discover a website or blog that speaks to me as mother of color, raising bilingual, bi-cultural, biracial kids in the United States, I get pretty excited.

So, today all I'm doing is posting the link for a website I just stumbled upon called Spanglish Baby:Raising Bilingual Kids .

Based on the title you can probably figure out that it's a website all about raising bilingual Spanish/English kids, but it's so much more. They have a great list of resources of teaching tools, music, books and other websites. In addition, they post excellent stories and articles from a wide variety of parents, experts and mama bloggers and the site is really user-friendly, attractive and fun. It feels like a community and a destination for all of us trying to preserve and/or create a dual-heritage for our kids. Even if you aren't trying to raise Spanish speakers, I think you'll enjoy the information being shared.

Check it out. And while you're at it, what do you think is the hardest part about raising bilingual kids in this country? I'd say, finding places outside your home where your children can practice speaking and/or hearing their "second" language.


Peace/Paz!