Learning in Context

Last night (and many nights prior to), I have been reading Los Huevos Verdes con Jamon with Dimaya before bedtime. It seems to be her favorite book now! I love how she wants to read it to me. This consists of flipping through the pages and telling me in a mix of Spanish and English what is happening on each page. The most recognizable words and phrases are huevos y jamon, ¡dejame ya! (lol), Juan Ramon, muchos gracias, alli and alla, un tren, el coche, la cabra, el raton, el arbol, and un zorro. I'm excited that she loves reading in general, but I really love that she is trying to read and explain the Spanish books in Spanish. 


She is really moving along in the linguistic world and I often times find myself struggling to stay ahead of her. When my husband works with her on new concepts in English such as introducing new numbers, colors and shapes, I try to work with her on those same concepts in Spanish. I'm currently trying to incorporate visual, auditory, and physical learning styles into our language learning. 


For example, Dimaya wanted to build a tower of multi-colored blocks so we worked on colors. I would ask her in Spanish to give me a [color] block and she would give it to me. Then I would have her ask me for a [color] block by its Spanish name. Later we sang a color song we learned from a toddler CD. I've also written the Spanish color name in its color with the English name beside it on construction paper. We made up silly stories to go along with the words.


Crazily, this type of "learning in context" really helps me to build and remember the vocabulary. It's amazing how rapidly she is learning! I had to add about 10 new verbs and plenty new vocabulary today to keep up with our everyday conversations! I must say it is an awesome adventure!