Cultural Identity: Helping One Family Connect With Their Roots Through Language Lessons

Camille, mom of two, shares how she used Homeschool Languages to inspire a love of Colombian culture in her children, who have dual citizenship but have grown up in the United States. 

Hi, Camille! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your family, and what your homeschool days look like?

Hi! I'm a work-from-home, homeschooling mom of two. I absolutely love my life and love what I do (getting to be with my kids every day, having a career that I love, and teaching my children), but that means I stay incredibly busy! I live off my physical planners and to-do lists, without which I'd be lost on any given day. Routines and checklists are my lifesavers, and I try to leverage my obsession with organization to actually have a more flexible approach when it comes to chasing our family's interests (playing outside when the weather is nice, getting carried away with art projects when the kids are really honed in on them, going down the rabbit hole of a new topic because it caught a child's interest, etc.). I take an eclectic approach to homeschooling, so I use elements from many different schools of thought, but I guess I'd say I most closely align with Waldorf education. I do start academics earlier than traditional Waldorf pedagogy calls for, however, but preserving my children's play and noticing wonder alongside them are my top priorities.

What originally inspired you to teach your children a second language, and what language(s) have you studied or are you studying?

I have degrees in English and French, and I have lived abroad in various locations in Europe and South America. I met my now-husband overseas in Paris, France, where he was born and where he went to university. He is Colombian, however, and grew up in Colombia. We ended up living in Colombia eventually, and my oldest daughter was even born there, though we moved to the U.S. when she was just a few months old. My husband and both of our children have dual citizenship (they are American and Colombian), and so half of the extended family speaks Spanish (and many of us speak French). So, it was twofold for my husband and me: We are passionate about language and learn language for the fun of it and to connect with others, and we also need our children to speak Spanish so they can connect with their culture and communicate with their extended family. Besides Spanish, we are teaching them French, and we've just started learning ASL as well. My husband is also learning Japanese.

What challenges or frustrations have you run into when trying to teach a language?

When our first child was born, we tried to have me only speaking to her in English and my husband only speaking to her in Spanish. With my husband's crazy work hours, and the fact that he and I frequently communicate in English, it just didn't work. Living in an English-speaking country and being around the English-speaking parent the most, our daughter started to get irritated by my husband's Spanish. She would request that he speak in English and would not listen or respond to him if he used Spanish. This made my husband especially sad because we'd left behind his entire extended family, culture, and country for mine, and our daughter would have nothing to do with his first language. I knew we needed an alternative plan, and I realized this was going to fall to me, the parent who barely knew any Spanish. 

What has your experience been while using Homeschool Languages?

Amazing! I heard about Homeschool Languages through another homeschooling mom in my city's Facebook group, and I'm so glad I tried it. It was huge in shifting my daughter's perspective when it came to learning Spanish. It went from something her mom and dad were insisting she do to something extremely fun that her mom and she played. She instantly loved the puppet, the games, the songs and videos, and the fact that I was having special fun time with her and learning alongside her. Over time, it became something she was proud of. She literally tells everyone she meets that Colombia is her favorite place and that she speaks a lot of Spanish. The transformation has been incredible! And it has meant so much to her dad and me, and to her abuelos as well. My own Spanish has improved drastically because of Homeschool Languages. I don't pretend to be fluent, but I can get by. 

I recently started French and ASL with my two children as well, and they are loving it. French is easier for me to teach because I already know it, but it is also the lower stakes language in our house (we need our kids to speak Spanish; we want them to speak French). ASL made it into our house because I am personally passionate about learning ASL, and my oldest daughter is too. We started signing along with the videos and songs when we are doing French or Spanish lessons... honestly, it has helped us link all of the languages together because we can do the physical signs while learning verbal language in other languages. 

I will say that I have been intimidated going into Spanish level 2, so I've been repeating level 1. I reminded myself that it's okay to go slowly and review until we feel comfortable moving on, but I know at some point, I'm just going to have to take the leap!

How does Homeschool Languages fit into your weekly rhythm?

At various times, I've done great, and at others, I've done terribly when it comes to being consistent. My current schedule is doing language lessons three to four times a week, alternating between Spanish and French each time. Then, we sprinkle in verbal practice, reading, or songs whenever we can (this varies greatly, like if they happen to request a Spanish book versus an English book at bedtime). I used to have language as its own "extra" subject apart from the core subjects (math/ELA), but I have had the most luck doing it at the end of our morning circle time right before the core subjects. That helps me prioritize it! 

What would you say to another mom who feels intimidated about teaching a foreign language at home?

Just do it! My own experience with learning languages has been that the less afraid I was to make mistakes, the better I learned, spoke, pronounced, etc. People don't need to be perfect to communicate and get by in a language. I'm so tired of this old-school push to speak a language "perfectly" or not at all. In my own experience as a former ELL teacher, this was an issue as well. My students often begged me to get rid of their accents, and I would always stress that English is rich in diverse accents and that communication (not sounding like a native speaker) was the goal. I detest native speakerism on such a deep level, and I believe that everyone who tries to learn or speak another language is doing it right just by doing it. If we model a willingness to appear foolish or make mistakes when learning, then our kids will see that and will want to join in. We are our worst critics (and I am guilty of this in other areas of my life!), but when it comes to language learning, let's give ourselves grace and try to simply bring some language joy into our homes. Our kids will thank us one day!

Want to see what's included in a Homeschool Languages box? Check it out here!