A Mommy Story

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.