My twin grand-daughter are not quite 20 months old and their comprehension of Spanish will soon exceed mine. Their parents speak mostly Spanish at home, and they are learning both English and Spanish as a natural result of hearing both languages on a regular basis. It is amazing how quickly young children learn language – their minds are little sponges. At this juncture the girls understand quite a bit, but don’t speak much yet, although soon they will be babbling away. They are smart little nietas!
My oldest daughter, Kelly; and her husband, Luis, are bi-lingual. Kelly initially learned Spanish in the classroom and expanded her skills with extensive travel and adventure in many Spanish-speaking countries. She has always sought out opportunities to immerse herself in Hispanic culture.
I recall showing Kelly the annual report of the company I worked for at the time, featuring a picture of the executive team. I commented that it was all middle-aged, white men and that Kelly lost out on all counts. She looked at me for a second and reminded me (her mother) that she is, in fact, white. I had to laugh — its true, I don’t THINK of her as white!
Once in awhile Kelly will slip in a Spanish word into our conversation if/when the English word eludes her. Luis is a native Spanish speaker, with excellent English skills. Once in a great while an idiom will slip him up; such as when describing his jacket that ‘breaks wind’.
Of course Luis’s command of English is light-years ahead of my limited knowledge of Spanish. Several years ago I chaperoned Kelly’s school trip to Spain; during which I walked into a restaurant and instead of saying I was hungry, announced that I needed a man. In my defense, the words hambre (hungry) and hombre (man) are phonetically VERY similar.
As a 14 year old Kelly presented me with a proposal to travel to Peru as part of a program she found geared to her age group. She raised funds, filled out forms, got her shots and got on the plane. This was before the advent of cell phones, and it took a day or two for me to confirm that she had arrived safely at her destination; including a confusing call with some young man in a hotel in Peru that just kept repeating: ‘No Problemo’ in response to my questions.
Kelly stands about 4’10”, but despite her small stature has always been a force to be reckoned with. When she sets her mind to do something, it will get done. There was true of the four year-old Kelly determined to button her own shirt, the 14 year-old Kelly heading off for great adventures in a foreign land, and the grown mother of twins returning to graduate school for a career change. Her new career will be a Spanish teacher in High School and woe be to the student who mistakes their new petite teacher as a pushover. She will go chihuaha on your behind.
There is one example of something Kelly has consistently failed to do after setting her mind to it. She will never surpass her mother as a gin rummy player. And if she disagrees, she can get her own blog.