My decision to speak to my child only in Spanish

An interesting story, she also talks about the future of Spanish in the U.S.   - - Donna Poisl

by Diana Limongi

Ever since Enzo was born, I speak to him in Spanish. My decision was carefully thought out; I prepared for it all during my pregnancy.  I say that I “prepared” for it because, like many second-generation immigrants, my everyday language is English.  After a few years in France – where I mainly spoke English and French – I would find myself calling home and forgetting vocabulary when I spoke to my parents on the phone (in Spanish.)

I honestly didn’t know how I was going to manage speaking to my child in Spanish 24/7, but I was committed. Luckily for me, my husband was also committed to transmitting our language heritage to our son. So, we agreed we’d speak to our child in Spanish and French at home. I started doing research online about raising multilingual children. I started watching TV in Spanish (yes, a telenovela, every night!) When Enzo was born, I remember feeling awkward speaking in Spanish, but my mom was with me every day during maternity leave, which certainly helped, as my brain automatically switches to Spanish around my parents.
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