WWYD, re: Spanish lessons

joyco

::eye roll here::  Jay wants to get the boys Spanish lessons.  As in, his BFF's mom is a Spanish teacher and he wants to HIRE her (at $50/hour, no less!!) to teach the boys Spanish.  I say just let 'em watch more (annoying) Dora and be done with it.  I took 7 years of Spanish, I could use more in our day-to-day activities, I suppose.

We don't have the kind of money to just throw around at stupid language lessons!  Yes, I know that now is a prime time to teach the kids another language, but I'd prefer that language to be sign, TYVM.  So whatever.  

Would YOU hire a Spanish teacher for your kids?  Why or why not?

mcurban

Semi-related: Jack is obsessed w/ Spanish. OBSESSED. Not as much as w/ fast jets, but pretty close.

 

Now, to answer your question. No way. I think it would be awesome if they were in someone's care who spoke another language and that was the primary language used, but IMO, to get anything beneficial out of it, you would need her there (at minimum) at hour every day. Minimum. 

My preference would be to do an immersion program (like Nanann has her daughter in).

MrsAJL

I'm the daughter of a native Spanish speaker. She did NOTHING to teach me and my sister to speak Spanish. I took Spanish from 7th grade up through college and now I'm pretty fluent (though rusty). Public school and college Spanish was sufficient for me.

Frankly, I would not hire a Spanish teacher for my children. If I really wanted my kids to learn Spanish before it was offered in school, I'd force my mother to speak to them only in Spanish upon penalty of withholding grandchildren visitation rights (Kidding!)

I wouldn't hire a teacher at $50/hour for toddlers, but if there was a class that was reasonable, I'd probably enroll my kids in that (obviously for a different language, but you get my point.)

Nessia

No I wouldn't because I am a spanish speaker so I could teach the kids. Now have I? No, and that's sad. I basically think it's a waste of money if you aren't going to be using it at home too. So you're going to pay 50 for an hour a week, do you think they'll retain any of that if you don't use it regularly at home? Now if the question was would I pay more for a spanish immersion program at pre-school or school, yes I would. At least in that setting it is woven into their school day and it isn't *just* an hour a week. Learning a language and remaining fluent in it requires constant use. I only spoke spanish when i started kinder and I have lost so much because I just don't speak spanish anymore.

smb29

I don't think I'd hire someone at $50/hour, and just doing it a few hours a week isn't really going to help, it needs to be more a part of their lives.  I lived in South America a few times growing up, and picked up way more Spanish through daily life than through my tutor.  I do think its a good idea to introduce Spanish (or whatever language) at a young age, but you have to keep using it. My Spanish is terrible now.  There is a Spanish immersion daycare/pre-school near us, anything available like that where you are as an alternative?

Nessia

Looks like you've done enough research now to tell your DH he's crazy.

joyco

Nessia:

Looks like you've done enough research now to tell your DH he's crazy.

 

Yep.  ::wipes hands clean of this whole silly idea::  Thanks. 

And no, there aren't any immersion schools here in NB, as far as I know.  I might have to research further.  Dang.

SaraLouiseBride08

Umm, no. Not even if that was something I could comfortably afford. If there was some way Olivia could grow up around and speaking Spanish, that would be great! But just to pay for random lessons? I just don't think it's going to pay off, like pp said.

And, I think for y'all sign language is much more practical.

MrsMillerTime

Learning a second language is tough if they're not going to get regular (read: daily) reinforcement.  For that kind of money, it would probably be smarter for you guys to spend the $$ on R o s e t t a S t o n e and learn it as a family.  We (DH & I) have been talking about going that route so DH can learn Mandarin while giving me a chance to actually have someone other than my mom to talk to.

AustinMimi

My mom teaches three year olds and I'm pretty sure they don't do Spanish class yet. I think they start at kinder b/c that's when they start to really learn to read, but I could ask her to be sure if you want. Anyway, I'm not a language teacher, but two just seems too young to do a structured class like that. Otherwise, I can't really picture what the teacher is going to do with them? Sit around and speak Spanish to them while they play? I don't know that you'd really get the value out of the expense at this age.

amyliisa

Nope.  I agree w/pp's that if an immersion program were available at his preschool or school for an extra (fair) fee, I would want to enroll him in that.  But if I were you (and even if I were me) I'd definitely make teaching them ASL a priority over any other secondary language.  They obviously have an imminent need to know it, so they can communicate with their grandparents!

FeistyFille

If you don't use it, you lose it.  So unless this is going to be an ongoing extensive thing, I'd say it's a waste. 

I knew this French lady in Boulder.  Some parents hired her to just hang out with their baby (we're talking ~9mo here) and speak French to her, in the hopes that she'd pick it up naturally.  The French lady kinda thought they were crazy, but hey, they were paying her good money so...

joyco

See, that's the thing, I will probably never use Spanish around the house unless I realize I remember what a word was and say it and when I make fun of Dora, but otherwise nope.  Jay took French so he's no help there.  We will be throwing money away, is what I think. 

Ok, now to have Jay see it my way.  Damn it.

cia

joyco:

::eye roll here::  Jay wants to get the boys Spanish lessons.  As in, his BFF's mom is a Spanish teacher and he wants to HIRE her (at $50/hour, no less!!) to teach the boys Spanish.  I say just let 'em watch more (annoying) Dora and be done with it.  I took 7 years of Spanish, I could use more in our day-to-day activities, I suppose.

We don't have the kind of money to just throw around at stupid language lessons!  Yes, I know that now is a prime time to teach the kids another language, but I'd prefer that language to be sign, TYVM.  So whatever.  

Would YOU hire a Spanish teacher for your kids?  Why or why not?

I think in your situation, if I had to choose between Spanish and sign, I would choose sign because of the direct motivation that exists in your family to use it.  But if I had the option (and money) to do both, I would do both because I would see value in my children having knowledge of both languages (remember that I am the resident linguist, so take that for what it's worth.) However, I probably wouldn't go with BFF's mom as pp posters have said because I would be concerned that BFF's mom did not have experience teaching Spanish for the boys' level (guessing that she teaches school age and not 2 year olds).  I would choose a native or near native speaker, though, over Dora, since a key component of language learning is the interaction, something that is absent when the "instructor" is a television.

DH and I have been considering child care options that would include some sort of language instruction (i.e. an au pair around age 18 months), so yes I can imagine scenarios where I would hire a Spanish teacher for my kids. 

Abrooks

I would teach signing first b/c you want your kids to be able to talk to their grandparents.  (By the way - off topic but my friend works at the TX School for the Deaf and she's told me how many of the students parents never learned to sign so they can't really talk to their kids. I was appalled!  I can't imagine not learning to sign if my children were deaf.)  But back to the point.  Your boys should learn to sign first. It's more valuable in their family and their lives at this point.  

$50/hr for Spanish lessons??  Are you moving to Spain?  That's a whole lotta money for kids that don't even speak English well yet.  I absolutely believe in the value of a second language (as in I majored in a foreign lang in college) and I absolutely believe the best thing to do is teach children young. But - not for that money when there isn't a need. And there are immersion DVDs you can buy for them.  And if it's that important, look for that in a preschool program. DD gets Spanish 1x per week now and knows some basics. Nothing huge but it's a start and if we wanted to, we could definitely do more for her. At her age, she picks it up fast and understands it well.  And there are plenty of programs around that will teach them languages that don't require a private tutor.

BLONDIE6FT

if sign is important for your family, that's the way to go.  $50 an hour?? no way. you need a few hours a day to expose them to a language. so that is gonna be waaaaaaaaay too expensive.

i grew up hearing german (my mom and family, but was never taught it). the bad part of course, was that i had to STUDY my ass off to learn it. the good part is when you hear it young, it makes it easier to learn later and i have no accent in german.

$50 an hour? i just couldn't stomache that. T is in spanish immersion 2 days a week and we love it. sorry nb doesn't have that

bluestreet

I would hire a babysitter whose first language is Spanish and ask her to speak only in Spanish. That way you and your husband get to go to the movies, and it'd be about $10-$15 an hour!

My kids are bilingual in Spanish and English (their dad speaks only in Spanish to them and I speak only English, and they have to respond in the language in which they were addressed). Kids need at least 30% of their input to be in the target language to be fluent. However, getting them started earlier will make it much easier for them to study the language later, because you are priming their young and spongey language faculty for the sounds and grammar.

Should you decide to get a Spanish-speaking sitter, I can get you a list of Spanish speakers who are trained in child care.

ETA: I just caught that their g-parents sign. I'd *totally* do sign over Spanish, if only one is an option!

joyco

Abrooks--my mom's mom never, not once, learned a single sign.  She tried to force my mom to lip-read and my mom tried to force her mom to sign.  I guess I know where my stubbornness comes from!  It's not unheard of, and is quite sad, that there are deaf people who don't "speak" with their own parents.  My dad wasn't even born deaf and yet, his parents sign with him and he can lip read like a madman.

 

Anyway, we could do both languages (not at $50 an hour though!) and I love the idea of a baby-sitter teaching the boys, I'd love a list, bluestreet.  Thanks very much!

keado

I wouldn't hire a Spanish teacher for my kids if I didn't speak the language.  If it was important to me, I'd learn with them.  There are plenty of resources that the entire family can do together.  Maybe it can be a father-son bonding experience? 

Sounds like signing is important to your family, and such a valuable skill for them to have, so I would definitely make signing a priority.  

I'm with whomever said to hire a bilingual babysitter regularly - brilliant - win/win!! 

thethomps

No, but that's b/c I'm pretty much fluent and have been speaking/reading to DD in Spanish.    (Sorry, I had to put my smarta$$ answer first.)  Like pp said, unless she's there every day and you were reinforcing it by speaking with them as well, it's probably wasted money.  I consider sign a second language and think that is great that they're learning that!