¡Hola, soy Lorena!
Content creator and writer here at Lorena & Lennox, Bilingual Beginnings.
My “Bilingual Beginnings” began in 2007 when I left my high school Spanish classroom to travel throughout Nicaragua.
Studying Spanish is a classroom setting gave me the fundamentals to be able to form sentences and have basic conversations.
However, traveling took my language learning to the next level. It took me outside of my comfort zone, and fueled my curiosity to know more about languages, cultures and traditions. I yearned deeply to be able to understand the stories and conversations I was hearing.
As a result of my travels, I took my second language acquisition a lot more serious, and most importantly, I took it outside of the classroom.
I began to embrace Spanish into my everyday life, through meeting native Spanish-speaking friends, listening to music, trying new foods, traveling, and starting a bilingual family with my Salvadoran partner, Carlos.
In 2017 I became a first-time-mom and even though I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I knew one thing for sure, I would raise bilingual children.
At the time, I had no approach to how I would raise a bilingual child. We simply only spoke to him in Spanish at home to him, so he could get the most exposure possible. Now, I know that this approach is called Minority Language at Home (MLAH).
This did not come easy to me as a nonnative Spanish speaker.
Little did I know that raising a child in my nonnative language would teach me more about the language and culture of Spanish. Now I know Spanish nursery rhymes and onomatopoeias, for example, los pollito dicen pío pío (the chicks says chirp chirp). I became familiar with a plethora of Spanish picture books, and I learned and am still learning new vocabulary everyday!
Another part of raising Lennox in Spanish has been the criticism and pushback that I have received from family members and peers. I have often been told that Lennox is going to be confused between the two languages, or that he won’t be able to speak English properly. I have researched and learned overtime that comments like these are simply misconceptions. I have watch Lennox grow from being a babbling bundle of joy, to a multilingual boy who can weave in and out of Spanish and English so very naturally.
Needless to say, my bilingual parenting journey has not been easy, but it has been so very worth every second. As Kevin Wong beautifully states: “though raising children is often a thankless job, bilingualism is a gift that they will undoubtedly thank you for one day.”
In 2018 I decided to create this blog. It originally an outlet to share my struggles with postpartum depression and a sleepless, colicky infant with reflux. However, after three years of ongoing research on bilingual parenting and witnessing my own little bilingual blossom, I decided to narrow down my niche.
While you can still find my best mom tips and advice, most of my new content aims to help the bilingual aspirer and language lover. And since a lot of my focus is geared towards young kids, I also offer lots of play-based activities for kids. Through play, we learn most, especially when it comes to language learning.
Right now these activities are geared for toddlers and preschoolers, but they will grow, as my son Lennox grows. I make content for him, and share them with you all if it seems to work!
With all of that said, thank you for staying this far. I hope you can find your bilingual beginning and a special place here on my blog. I look forward to providing you with current and creative content! Don’t forget to subscribe below for our blog post updates and access to our free Spanish printables!
Don’t forget to find me on social media too!
¡Abrazos!
Check out some of my most popular posts:
- Raising Bilingual Children? Here are 13 Facts You Need to Know!
- 40 Printable Positive Affirmations in Spanish To Boost Your Child’s Self-Esteem
- 24 Bilingual Spanish/English Emotions Flashcards