Bilingual/Bicultural

Here's the very promised picture of the painting we got at San Jacinto. It's a very typical painting called bodegon that depicts fruits, veggies, and other things you would find on your regular Latin kitchen - hence its use for the kitchen and/or dining room alone. Around the painting there is stone called talavera which is also very traditional.

Ok, so I started with the painting because for me it symbolizes my cultural home, and home means so many things such as food, music, people, landscape and language. I have been thinking about this topic for quite some time as Alex keeps getting older and starts showing a deeper understanding of language. Although his vocabulary now consists of dada, baba, daddy, papa, and the occasional well-received mama I know he's storing in his little brain both languages: Spanish and English.  He understands both, it's quite interesting to see how he responds to each language and confirm that he knows what you're saying, for the most part, he just can't answer back with a sentence because he certainly answers back with some attempt at words and facial expressions. I mean just 2 days ago he started clapping out of nowhere and now whenever I say "aplaude" he instantly does it - with a big smile may I add.

As he keeps getting older I cannot express how important it is to me that he feels connected to his heritage. Most people think that because I'm at home with him all day speaking Spanish he will not be able to understand let alone speak English. It couldn't be further from the truth. Everything around him is in English and he will grow up here so whether he will speak English and understand American culture is a no brainer....of course he will! But whether he will speak Spanish and understand and relate to Mexican culture...well that will really depend on our efforts. Recently I purchased a book called Bilingual is better which gives research, history, and many many tips on helping mothers just like me raise their children as not only bilingual but also bicultural. I truly believe being both will enrich Alex's life and help him have a deeper appreciation for who he is and open doors for him.

I believe in the value of culture. There is a big gap between my older siblings and myself. So ever since I can remember my family has been multicultural. My oldest sister was already dating my Canadian brother-in-law when I was only 4 or 5. So I remember growing up listening to English frequently, and interacting with him. In fact, I can't remember a time of my life not knowing him. Then when I was almost 6 we moved to Sao Paulo Brasil. I learned Portuguese, and learned to know and love the culture which despite being called Latin as mine own, it's very much different. My mom tells me how she vividly remembers me singing the National Brasilian Anthem with my hand on my heart like a genuine Brasilian! I remember crying when we left and now I can only watch certain movies such as the Lion King and Pocahontas in Portuguese because I have never seen them in any other language. I have been asked if I had an identity crisis. Not at all! On the contrary! I was able to enrich my well-founded personality with aspects of the culture that resonated with me such as adding samba to my dancing repertoire.

From my experience you can love and identify yourself with more than just one culture. I want Alex to be enriched by the opportunity of having different cultures in his life just like mine was. It hasn't been easy as it is a struggle to find books that are correctly translated, toys that have both modalities of spanish and english and so forth. But for now I'm very pleased that he responds to me and the songs from Cri-Cri (the Mexican Walt Disney) that I sing to him every day! I know there will come a time when I will hear those dreaded words from his mouth: I don't want to speak Spanish! But I know that I will take a deep breath and continue to be consistent....because after all the benefits are not just for him but for generations to come.

PS. For those reading and want more info this website is amazing!   http://spanglishbaby.com/