My soon-to-be 8-year-old wants to learn Spanish; what are the best tools to provide her?
The density of Spanish-speakers depends on geography, so if you live where a native teacher/tutor is available, lessons or even better, private lessons would be the best.Then, I have seen 3-year olds learning other languages by watching TV kids’ shows on Youtube.I am a native speaker so I have never needed online resources for Spanish, so I cannot point any but here in Quora other fellow readers have replied that there are plenty and some even claim to have learned Spanish online, with no in-person lessons at all. I do recommend a good web search to find the right material for your girl. If she is so excited about the language, she will learn a lot online… And most likely for free if you look hard enough.
Why should Americans learn Spanish ?
There's nothing wrong with learning a language. But, in the USA, you shouldn't have to know Spanish to get a job. And yet, employers want bilingual employees especially in Texas. Many classified ads say "bilingual preferred" which means they only hire bilingual, which isn't right. We shouldn't be pandering to people who can't speak English. It's the responsibility of everyone living in the USA to learn English. Americans can't be expected to learn the language of every immigrant (German, Italian, Chinese, Thai, etc.) who moves here.
I don't want my kids to learn Spanish. Is this wrong of me?
My husband is Puerto Rican and so is his mother (whom we live with at the moment). I get stressed out when they speak in Spanish around me because I have no idea what they're saying. My mother in law is teaching my 2 year old how to say some Spanish words and it's irritating to me. I have tried to learn, but with nobody teaching me but Rosetta Stone, it's hard!! Maybe irritate was the wrong word. I feel left out for sure. Is it wrong of me to not want my kids to learn Spanish?
Why should we be forced to learn Spanish?
After all they came HERE we didn't go there. Management at my fathers company recently informed there Bosses that if they wanted to advance within the company they would be required to learn Spanish. One man stood up and asked Why can't THEY learn English?. WHY should US Citizens be forced to learn Spanish? Last time I checked we didn't go to Mexico to steal Jobs and I'm sure if we did they wouldn't be learning English to accomidate us.
Grandma wants to teach my daughter spanish?
Honestly, I would jump on the opportunity for my child to learn a second language early on. Children who learn more than one language in early childhood are at an advantage when it comes to learning other languages later in life. And being multilingual is a big asset in today's world. Of course, I have absolutely no concerns that my child's grandparents (any of them) would teach him something inappropriate. I also have no concerns that any of my husband's relatives would talk trash about me, so to speak, to my child behind my back. I really do think you're over reacting, but then again I do not know your daughter's grandmother and I have met some people that would be despicable enough to do something like that.