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.

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