For years educational experts have told us that it is important to introduce a second language to our children while they are still babies and toddlers. This is the prime learning time for new languages, when little brains absorb words like a sponge. And with today’s emphasis on the global economy, the world wide web, and the constant influx of immigrants, a second language really is helpful for just about anyone.
I’ve generally agreed with this, since my school system didn’t offer languages until high school, making it difficult for anyone in our Spanish class to incorporate a second language into their lives. A year after the class, few of us could say anything in Spanish other than asking where the bathroom or library is. I took Spanish in college also, and while I can still read some basic Spanish, I’m lousy at speaking it or understanding spoken Spanish. It’s a shame, too, because our city has a high number of Spanish-speaking immigrants (especially on my side of town), and breaking that language barrier would have been handy on several occasions.
Cordelia, however, seems to be listening to the experts, and has a strong interest in languages, as seen by her new preferences in TV shows. She used to love shows like Oobi, Higglytown Heroes, JoJo’s Circus and Blue’s Clues. But most of those shows hold little interest for her now, because at the moment, it’s all about Dora.
Dora is her new idol, followed shortly by Diego, and the newest member of her obsessions, Handy Manny. All three of these shows teach a little bit of Spanish in each episode. Not enough that a child will be speaking Spanish fluently, but they do provide some basic words and phrases to build and expand on.
Now, in full honesty, I have to tell you: I hate Dora. I can’t stand the whiny, football-head shaped girl, and her loud and obnoxious monkey. When Cordy first happened to see her, I didn’t mind, because it seemed like a decent show, and it is, until the repetition finally gets to you, and you go to sleep at night saying, “Tree…bridge…Treasure Island!” And don’t get me started on the messed up relationship she has with Map.
But, this little bit of TV each day is actually teaching Cordy Spanish. Besides parroting all of Dora’s annoying catch phrases (“Where are we going?” “Come on, let’s go!” “Swiper, no swiping!”), she’s also repeating things that Dora says in Spanish. A few weeks ago I caught her repeating something slowly to herself, over and over, and I struggled to figure out what she was saying. It sounded like, “uno, dus, gwace, quando, seeko.” And then I realized she was counting to five in Spanish, using some creative pronunciations.
At that point, I realized that I now needed to watch these shows with her, just to figure out what she is saying and praise her for learning new words. If no one reinforces these new words with her, she’ll stop using them. So while she’s learning Spanish, I’m re-learning it as well, even while rolling my eyes at Dora. (Thank goodness for Handy Manny and Diego – they aren’t nearly as hard to watch as Dora.)
Last week, my mom called me at work (she was babysitting Cordy that day) and asked, “Can you help me? She’s going up and down the stairs, and each time she goes up, she keeps saying something I don’t understand. It sounds like sue-bay. What does that mean?”
“Oh yeah, she’s saying sube. It means climb in Spanish. She learned it from Diego.”
“Oh! OK! That’s all I needed, thanks!”
So I suppose it’s good for me to learn Spanish as well, just so I can serve as a translator for Cordy. Otherwise she’ll be five years old and telling me off in Spanish, and I won’t even know she’s doing it.
Oh! How I wish I can spend more time with Cordy. I would totally teach her Japanese! That’d make your life more fun, wouldn’t it? =)
Fantastico! The cool thing is that she is absorbing some of the Spanish sounds and pronunciation, which will really help her if she takes Spanish classes as a bigger kid or teen–even if she forgets the actual words she learns from Dora.
It’s really awesome that kids are exposed to this stuff early on, unlike us. I took Spanish in school, and can only remember “Que pasa”.
Good for Cordy!
I can’t stand Dora’s voice either. Maya loved her at Cordy’s age, but Dora went bye bye really fast. She made me want to gorge my eyeballs out with teeny forks.
But learning another language is a good thing, I agree. Some schools these days teach Spanish to kids.
Supe.
I’m fwding this on to my Husband. He loathes Dora. He, at one point, said that he wants her deported. Oh, Husband.
Nichlas hasn’t yet discovered the world of Dora and Diego. Ariana, however, is engulfed.
That’s great! I was thinking about buying some Dora tapes for my baby. Maybe not. LOL. Haha. I think it’s wonderful that she’s learning and using all these words!
Urrrgggghhh…no me gusta Dora (is that right? My high school Spanish is rusty) but my daughter, even at age 6, still loves Dora and Diego. I just hate all the TV talkback stuff but at least it gives me a good excuse to get on my computer…lol
*LOL*
I loved this last line!!! I am one of those people that tends to get a bit paranoid if people are speaking a foreign language in front of me….I always think they might be saying something insulting about me. Isn’t that crazy? *LOL*
Anyway, I think it is a gift you can give your children to start them young when it comes to foreign language instruction. Sounds like she is picking it up just fine, too!
Even though I think it is extremely cool that Cordy is speaking Spanish because of those shows I still cannot bring myself to turn on Dora, Diego or Handy Mandy. I’ve watched about 5 minutes of each without Chicky present and I was ready to gouge my ears out with a fork by minute 3. I’m hoping Rosita on Sesame Street will help us in the Spanish language department.
I saw you were looking for a new person name how bout Maude?
Oh that is so cool! Yay Cordy! I actually like Dora…I don’t know why. I suppose we don’t watch her enough to find her annoying though. They took her off CBS kids….now we have crap.
I bet if I watched her often I’d find her annoying, too. 🙂
Strawberry says that her favorite colour is amarillo! I love that I now know a few Spanish words. The best word so far – caliente! I’ve turned into a Spanish Paris Hilton. (It was mandatory French classes that I suffered in school.)
I think Boots has the best songs!
I have to admit, I like Dora…. and thank God because my daughter is obsessed! I mean totally obsessed. Let’s see…. wehave
Dora clothes, Dora pajamas, Dora mini-couch, Dora chair, Dora bike, Dora sheets, Dora pillow, Dora blanket, Dora dolls, Dora books, Dora stickers, and every Dora DVD available at Wal-mart.
We had a Dora cake for her birthday and for Christmas she is getting the Dora Fairytale Castle all the Dora accessories, a Dora interactive phone, and a Dora play-dough set.
and I’m probably missing some stuff….
She also can count to ten in SPanish without assistance, says “abre” everytime someone opens a door… says “abajo and arriba” for up and down and a bunch of others. She also like Diego and Handy Manny…..but Dora rules the roost!
Dora and Diego are frequent tube visitors in our house too. While I was on maternity leave, I learned enough espanol from these two shows to kind of follow the dishwashers’ conversation at work when I returned. I can now ask for help and for them to wash the spoons. Useful, eh?
Spanish will probably be the language to know if all of the census bureau’s predictions come true.
Oh I HATE Dora! Not only is she whiny and has a football head, she yells all the time and spends too much time staring at the ‘audience’. It freaks me out. BUT, I do like Diego and Manny. My husband even sings the Rescue Pack song so much that I almost bought him one for Christmas! We haven’t been able to get our satellite installed since the move, so we haven’t had a chance to watch it in awhile, but I’m sure we’ll be right back to Diego and Manny soon enough!
Yay for Cordy learning another language!
“Tree, Bridge, Treasure Island!!!” For the life of me I cannot get this out of my head, just as you mentioned. I am so glad I am not alone.
I think Dora is great. I have my children watch it everyday! And they are picking up so much. I think it will be very useful for them when they grow up. We own a strawberry farm. And I have 99% Spanish-only workers but I don’t speak a wink of Spanish. I always have a translator on hand to tell them which field needs picking. Once my kids grow up hopefully they will take interest and take over.