Felices Pascuas

Mixing traditions have become part of our lives in our global world, especially when you are living in a foreign country or trying to teach your children about other cultures. As a Hispanic mom, living in the USA, I wanted my daughters to share the traditions I grew with but also learn and embrace the traditions of their country. Learning the meaning and history of why we do things, have helped me in the process of teaching them about differences and similarities in cultures and be able to mix traditions without changing the real meaning of them.

Easter time is not an exception. As Hispanics, we typically grow up practicing the Roman Catholic faith we inherited from the Spaniards. Holy Week is one of the top Hispanic celebrations engraved in our traditions. It is the yearly commemoration in the Christian calendar of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Our Easter traditions are mostly religion related. Pretty much throughout Latin America, no stores or businesses are open at least from Jueves Santo or Holy Thursday on. Schools close the entire week, and for many, Semana Santa is a mixture of relaxation and religious celebration.

As we welcome spring in the USA, we start seeing the presence of the Eastern bunny. Kids are all excited about Brightly decorated eggs, Easter egg rolling and Easter egg hunts. In Hispanic countries, we normally do not have any tradition with eggs on Easter week. Now that one of my daughters is three and she is extremely excited about egg hunts and egg decoration, I wondered the real meaning of this tradition so we can embrade it with the same passion we embrace ours.

I was actually surprised about what I learned. The tradition of painting hard-boiled eggs during springtime pre-dates Christianity. In many cultures around the world, the egg is a symbol of new life, fertility and rebirth. For Christians, the Easter egg is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Painting Easter eggs is an especially beloved tradition in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches where the eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal vigil and distributed to the congregants. The hard shell of the egg represents the sealed Tomb of Christ, and cracking the shell represents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. An egg hunt involves hiding eggs outside for children to run around and find on Easter morning. Eggs are rolled as a symbolic re-enactment of the rolling away of the stone from Christ’s tomb.

It is curious how sometimes we see cultural traditions as totally different one from another until we get curious and learn about them. I love going egg-hunting with my daughter and I love watching her face when finding little surprises inside the eggs, but I am also happy to be able to teach her that besides of having fun there is a whole story-history behind it.

Happy Easter – Felices Pascuas.

P.S. There is a TraditionalHhispanic song call “Los Pollitos”, just perfect for this time of the year. Download its lyrics together with our Easter Chick here.

Hispanic traditions for christmas

Hispanic traditions for christmas

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go and we are happy to celebrate it together. We think it will be nice to learn/ remember some of the traditions of Latin Christmas.

To get started with our Christmas traditions lets begin by learning “FELIZ NAVIDAD” which means Merry Christmas and FELIZ AÑO that means Happy new year. Holiday traditions vary by country and region but three things are always present during the holiday, regardless of where you’re from: mouth-watering food, festive music, and good times with family and friends.

Latinos celebrate on Christmas Eve or Nochebuena. Before Navidad, many Catholics from Central America and Mexico, celebrate the nine days leading up to Christmas with posadas, which means “inns”. Posadas are meant to simulate Mary and Joseph’s pilgrimage looking for shelter. People will go from house to house singing carols and inviting those inside to join the procession. The night ends at a host’s home where everyone enjoys a warm drink, food and games. For southern Americans, they called them Novenas, Today, the novena is often a social event where families and friends pray, eat, and sing villancicos (Christmas carols) together.

Christmas Eve is celebrated by staying up until midnight when gifts and presents are opened. Even if The Western idea of Santa Claus (Papa Noel) has gained popularity among Latin America there are some countries where “El Niño Jesus” (baby Jesus) is the one sending the gifts to the well behaved children and in some other countries, gifts are exchanged on Día de Reyes, not Christmas. Dia de Reyes on January 6th tradition, is based on the biblical story of the three kings visiting Jesus after birth and bearing gifts. Instead of leaving milk and cookies for old Saint Nick, kids will leave hay or dry grass for the Wise Men’s camels to eat.

Food plays a crucial roll in every part of the celebration but it is totally different according to each country and/or specific region of the country itself. Latino families hold an array of traditions for this specific period of the year and here are some of them:

  • La misa de gallo (Midnight Mass) – This special mass is celebrated at the stroke of midnight and it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ.
  • La quema de polvora y luces de navidad (fireworks and sparklers) – Fireworks of every kind are very popular during this time of year.
  • Los farolitos y luminarias (festive lanterns) – Many communities celebrate the Day of the Immaculate Conceptionby lighting candles and lanterns. In some countries this special celebration takes place on December 7th. It is also known as El Dia de las Luces (Day of the Lights).
  • Los villancicos de navidad (Christmas carols) – Different countries have special folk songs to celebrate Christmas.
  • La carta al niño Dios (Christmas letter to Baby Jesus) – Latino children write letters to el niño instead of Santa Claus, even though Santa Claus is growing more and more popular with each generation.
  • El nacimiento (The Nativity Scene) – The nativity scene plays a prominent role during Christmas. It is usually placed below the Christmas tree and it can get quite elaborate.
  • Decorar con pascuas (decorate with poinsettia flowers) – Natural and artificial poinsettias add the Christmas touch (toque navideño) to homes and offices.

If you are from LatinoAmerica or have Hispanic traditions at home leave us a comment sharing  your favorite  tradition. Thanks

Raising bilingual kids

Raising bilingual kids

Raising bilingual kids

Who said raising bilingual kids was an easy task. Learning another language requires perseverance, attention, labor, time and interest, from both, parents and kids. When my daughter was born I was determined to teach her our native language first and let her learn English (her second language) once she entered school. We registered her for a couple of hours at school  but it was until then that we noticed that couple of hours was not enough for her to feel comfortable with the language and be able to communicate.

Do not  underestimate how important commitment and consistency are in successfully raising a bilingual child. Continuity is vital when learning a foreign language. The greater, the richer in experiences and the more continuous and intense children’s contact with a second language is, the better the outcome, ideally resulting in them becoming bilingual.

We decided she needed consistency and continuity if we wanted her to become a fluent bilingual child. We expose her to the language in ways that are fun, playful and immersive. Find playgroups of kids who are being raised in the same languages, and started the search of fun activities that involved both languages.

And let me tell you, Don’t underestimate how capable a child is of using the language when he needs to, even if with you they just refuse to speak it. They are still absorbing the sounds of the language and developing retention. And they might just surprise you one day as my daughter did. Being bilingual brings lots of benefits but definitely the most important one is the need and pleasure it brings to be able to communicate with someone else that speaks that same language. Once my daughter saw the need to speak that second language to communicate with kids their age, she started talking, without hesitation, and it became notable her interest and eagerness to learn more and more.

As with everything in life, plans change and things need to adapt, but as long as you remain convinced that bilingualism is an important gift you want to give your child, you’ll always find a way to remain consistent and stick to it.

 

Remember raising bilingual kids takes time and dedication. But the benefits, make it all worthwhile. What are you doing to help your child bilingualism? Let us know.

Raising a Bilingual children

Raising a Bilingual children

Raising a Bilingual children should not be another task of your to do list, one that you can check once you expose him once to their second language. Bilingualism is a lifetime ability that will provide your children with infinite posibilities and open doors all around the world. Getting involved in your children’s second language education will boost their ability and confidence. Here are 5 basic tips you could use to make the process more fun for both of you.

  1. Sing songs together.
    Find some children songs you can sing together. If your children have some favorite music, try finding it on their second language, that will help them understand that their second language is not far from what they like, however, is one more way to enjoy and share what they love.
  2. Read aloud to your child.
    If you know the language (even if its not your native one), read some books together, specially books full of pictures where you can point images and name things around. This will increase their vocabulary and willingness of learning.
  3. Role Play together in the target language.
    Role play gives us the unique chance to meet our children in an imaginary world and boost their creativity. For the child, this technique is used in their day to day playing activities. Encorage them to do it in their second language and they will find this language fun as their native one.
  4. Name things around the house.
    help them relate a word with a visual image of it. We are visual beings and retaining images is easier than words. Naming things around the house will help with the process of association.
  5. Be social.
    One way children learn language is by being social with people who also know the language. This way, it helps promote good conversation skills and show them one of the most important benefits of bilingualism, communicating with others.

El Bilinguismo

El Bilinguismo

Hace décadas, los investigadores indagan en los efectos que tiene en el cerebro humano el conocimiento de dos lenguas distintas. En la reunión de la Sociedad Americana para el Avance de la Ciencia del 2011 (AAAS según sus siglas en inglés), realizada en Washington D.C., el bilingüismo fue uno de los temas principales. Varias investigaciones presentadas en Washington, en el contexto de una jornada sobre ‘¿Qué nos dice el bilingüismo sobre nuestro cerebro?’, echan por tierra décadas en las que se temía que aprender dos lenguas podía crear confusión en el cerebro, sobre todo en el caso de los niños.

Uno de los estudios procede de los laboratorios de la Universidad de Granada, donde los profesores María Teresa Bajo y Pedro Macizo han trabajado con varios voluntarios que hablaban perfectamente tanto español como inglés (aunque no habían crecido necesariamente entre ambas lenguas). Tras medir su tiempo de respuesta y actividad cerebral ante una pregunta, los investigadores observaron que las personas bilingües son capaces de activar dos idiomas al mismo tiempo, incluso en situaciones en las que sólo necesitan uno. Como explica su universidad en una nota de prensa, el blingüismo no sólo mejora la atención sino que también se entrena la memoria de estas personas, Aunque como ha reconocido en el mismo foro Judith Kroll, de la Universidad de Pensilvania (EEUU), todas estas ventajas no significan que las personas bilingües sean más inteligentes, ni que aprendan mejor. En su caso, sus hallazgos muestran que son, eso sí, personas ‘multitarea’, capaces de procesar varias tareas al mismo tiempo y despreciar rápidamente la información irrelevante que percibe su cerebro.

Recientemente, un estudio sobre el mismo tema publicado en la revista ‘Neurology’ por Elen Byalistok (de Toronto) mostró que usar dos lenguas cada día conseguía retrasar una media de cuatro años la aparición de Alzheimer. Y aunque las mayores ventajas se observaron en las personas que usaban ambas lenguas a diario, la investigadora canadiense destaca que incluso practicar en verano esa segunda lengua aprendida en el colegio puede ser beneficioso contra la demencia.

Cambiar de un idioma a otro, explicaba Byalistok, parece ser un estímulo para el cerebro, de manera que éste se fabrica una especie de ‘reserva cognitiva’. Su siguiente paso va a ser comprobar si, además de una mejora cognitiva, el bilingüismo también provoca cambios físicos en la estructura del cerebro.

EL BILINGUISMO