I've wanted to be bilingual since I first learned of foreign languages. I took a few German summer school classes in elementary school. I worked hard through four years of German in high school, three years of German in college, and even took German classes at night after I started teaching.
When I could finally afford a trip to Germany in my mid-20's, I could read the signs but I understood very little that was said. I could usually get my point across adequately, but the Germans, perhaps disgusted by my awful German, usually spoke back to me in English.
It's disappointing to me that I will most likely never be fluent in a second language. Since I've always heard how it's so much easier for kids to pick up a foreign language when they're young, I made it a goal of mine to expose my kids to a second language while their young. Kate had Spanish lessons as a two and three-year-old. I often put on Spanish DVD's (either those meant to teach Spanish or a regular children's DVD on the Spanish language setting) for the kids to watch. When we went to Mexico, I encouraged the kids to ask for what they wanted in Spanish.
Last week I started the kids in Spanish lessons out of a woman's home in the area. I asked her to make it complete immersion, which Kate found frustrating but Anna and the twins took in stride. When the lesson started, the teacher asked the kids, in Spanish, their ages, Kate answered, "Tengo seis anos." After some prompting, Anna finally answered "Quatro," and I said, "Tengo dos anos," meaning "I am two," for each of the babies, since I had no idea how to say "has" as in "He has two years" or "She has two years."
Later in the lesson, the teacher asked Kate and Anna their ages, again, and then she asked Ally, "Quantos anos tienes?" I was formulating in my head how to say "She has..." when Ally popped two fingers up and answered, "Dos."
I was thrilled.
