Teaching your child words in a second language isn’t as daunting as it sounds. Below are some resources that we used with our kids, starting as young as a few months old.
{Raising a child to be completely bilingual is VERY, very hard unless one of you speak the second language well and use it all the time– or if you are living in a country where the main language is something other than your own.}
This post is not about raising bilingual kids, but rather how to introduce a second language (in this case, Spanish) to your baby, toddler, or small child. This is associating individual words to objects and getting familiar with the sound of the Spanish language.
You can read about how to build on this knowledge in my second post, here: “Teaching Your Child Spanish: Moving From Single Words to Sentences”
Books
Rebecca Emberley Series
We started our collection with the entire bilingual board book series by Rebecca Emberley. This is a fantastic series to have and read to your kids because it has lots of basic words, and it is just a couple of pictures and words per page. Perfect for kiddos who still have a short attention span.
You can find these on Amazon here: (click individual titles to see on Amazon)
Or buy them used through Thrift Books here:
(Click here) “Bilingual Board Books by Rebecca Emberley”
First 100 Words
Another book we’ve used over and over again, and has been a favorite with my kids, is the Bilingual version of “First 100 Words”
You can find that on Amazon here: “FIRST 100 WORDS – Primeras Palabras “
Bright Baby is another great series:
Click the titles to see on Amazon:
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Also, these two board books which use small sentences instead of individual words.
Click the titles to see on Amazon:
BUENOS DIAS, BEBE! (GOOD MORNING, BABY!)
BUENOS NOCHES, BEBE! (GOODNIGHT, BABY!)
Duolingo
If you don’t speak Spanish, you’ll want to download the Duolingo app and work through the lessons yourself. This will help you so much with pronunciation so you can confidently read to your child. You don’t want to read the above books over and over to your child and be pronouncing half the words wrong! You can also find someone who’s first language is Spanish, and have them coach you through the words in your books to make sure you have them down before starting with your child. The basic words are very easy to learn, so do not be intimidated by this!
Look for Duolingo in the app store, or create an account on your computer!
Spanish Teacher
Don’t get hung up on having an actual “Spanish teacher” for your kids. If you know someone who’s first language is Spanish, and they’re willing to spend some time speaking to your baby or toddler once a week, this will do just fine! Your child mainly needs exposure to the language at this point. Whoever you find can simply read books in Spanish, play with your baby while speaking to them in sentences– just as you would play with your child and chat with them as you do it. If your child is two or above they can learn to count in Spanish, say the ABCs, and learn shapes and colors. A Spanish teacher can work with them on all of this!
Music
We have also enjoyed this CD of Lively Folk Music! It includes each song sung twice; once in Spanish and then in English.
Click here: Esta Es mi Tierra – This Land is My Land
[…] If you’re just getting started teaching your child Spanish, you’ll want to start with this post: “Teaching Your Child Spanish: Getting Started” […]