Spanish Tip of the Week: Remembering to use Spanish at home

It can be challenging to remember to use Spanish in the home, especially if your own first language isn’t Spanish, or if you have older children who are more comfortable using English.  Despite your best intentions, you may find that you aren’t using as much Spanish at home as you would like.  

One way to increase the amount of Spanish spoken in your home is to hang something on the wall to remind you to keep using Spanish as much as possible.   This could be as simple or as elaborate as you like.  If your child attends Pine Village, or another language immersion program, take a photo of them in their school T-shirts and hang it somewhere visible.  When you look at it, you will be reminded of how much you want to continue that wonderful learning at home. 

You could also simply write the word “Español” on a piece of paper.   You can do all sorts of things to dress this up and make it look like a work of art.  For example, you could use pretty paper and a calligraphy pen.  If you are artistic, you could paint it on a canvas or canvas board.  You could draw or print bubble letters, and have your children help you decorate the insides of them.  As a variation on this, have your children hold a piece of artwork like this and photograph the scene.   Whatever you do, make sure it reflects your family and your home.  Then have fun remembering to use Spanish with your family as often as you choose!