Interpretations of a Bilingual Life

Since I have ventured in my doctoral studies and since I’ve started this blog I have had several individuals ask me about how they can teach other people, like their children, Spanish. I have my own ideals of what the process of language acquisition should be like, but the more I research it, think about it, and experience it, I am more and more convinced that if you want to pass the interest of learning a new language to someone else you should do it in a way that is most natural to you. In other words, sure there are methodologies or best practices, but ultimately you do what is most natural to you. Even when I research how I “should” teach a second language, the times my lessons have been the most engaging are when I am being myself. Sure the methodologies I am familiar with make my lessons more effective, but I am thinking about a few of my friends who have shared an interest in passing Spanish on to their kids. Recently, I shared with a friend, after she was expressing her dilemmas with teaching Spanish to her kids, the fact that her kids were being exposed to Spanish can make difference. The exposure may strike an interest as they get older. The sad truth is that language is the first thing families lose the longer they are in their new country. This is one reason why I am firm believer that everyone in the US should learn a second language, and I say this with great conviction. I believe it should be a requirement from the time a child enters school! Playing an instrument would also be nice. I know I may be reaching for the stars with that one. Either way as I delve into my Phd studies and try to narrow my research interests these are the issues I contemplate.