Category: Uncategorized
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Co-authored a multicultural & multilingual children’s book, Vitamina T for Tacos!
The adventure began during family carne asadas in our backyards! Mando Rayo and I, along with our significant others and children, would share common experiences about growing up in the US/Mexico borderlands. For us, it included nuances unique to our cultural experiences, in addition to delicious TACOS. This children’s book is not only about yummy […]
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Have Bilingual, Latinx Children Become a Commodity?
It is both surreal and ironic to me that this blog post still rings true for so many…. With the rise of dual language education in the U.S., have bilingual, Latinx children become a commodity? In other words, are children who walk into the dual language classroom already speaking two languages possessing a highly valued […]
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The Right to a Bilingual Education in California
When Proposition – 58 passed in 2016 it repealed Proposition 227. Proposition 227 eliminated bilingual education for students who speak a language other than English in the state of California. Proposition -58 makes bilingual education programs a requirement in public schools as long as they meet the following requirement. Community members have the right to […]
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What I have learned about raising multilingual children in the U.S. as a Chicana
I started this journey, this goal of wanting my children to be bilingual by reading books about bilingual parenting. None of the authors looked and sounded like me and none were born and raised in the U.S. like myself. If they were, they usually were not Chicana. My obsession in making sure my children knew […]
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Do Children Learn or Acquire Language?
Below is a video of our 3 year old speaking Mandarin. Her teacher sent it to us because she was very impressed with Siena’s accent in Mandarin and how natural it sounded. To be honest, I was very impressed as well even though I have no idea what she is saying. In fact, I find […]
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Our Multilingual Journey: Spanglish, Spanish, English, & Mandarin.
It’s not uncommon to walk into my home and hear a multitude of languages being spoken at any given time. Our 3 year-old, so far, is becoming prolific at translanguaging between Spanish, English, Spanglish, and Mandarin. She has a great role model of how to translanguage, her big sister! Sabrina has been translanguaging since she […]
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Making America (Immigrant) Again!
When I think of “America” I think of South, Central, and North America—that’s one of many flaws in Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. He is perpetuating the idea that “America” strictly applies to those of us in the U.S.A and belong to the dominant group or share the dominant groups views. I am left wondering, Donald […]
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Spanish as a right: We do what we please with our bilingualism!
I have been speaking to my daughters in Spanish since they were in womb. I have made zero accommodations for anyone in the way I choose to navigate our bilingual lives. I have had a range of experiences in which I was asked to simply speak English in public spaces to being asked when I […]
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Living in White (Public) Spaces
It never fails. I’m sitting in a cafe working away. Totally focused on my next writing project when I do what I always do. I look around the cafe (sometimes restaurant or store) and see who is present? Who is accounted for? Who is there? Who has the privilege of buying the food I’m buying. […]
Interpretations of a Bilingual Life 