I'm not very bi-lingual even though I live in a bilingual town on the South Texas border of Mexico and have had a Mexican last name for several years. �If I try to talk to someone with very little English I'm told I sound like I'm talking to a two year old. �Well, it's the best I can do. �But I can read Spanish beautifully. �I'm told I sound like a native speaker when I read out loud. �I hear the language, I just don't even try to use spanish very often. �I'll never get good at it that way. �It's hard for me to listen to a conversation in Spanish for too long in one sitting. �For some reason it clicks better when I see familiar phrases in writing. �That's when I hear how it sounds with my memory but with comprehension. �For example I've known one guy for years I thought everyone was calling "waido" for his light skin. �I just saw his name in writing and it's "Guerro" (whey-roe). Because the d's and r's�aren't always harsh the two sounds were too similar to discern to my American ears in this case. �(the rolled R's aren't always held long, just sometimes.). �But now that I know that I can easily say it the same way everyone else does. �It's the same with common phrases. �I really don't get it until I see it. � But.., if I just saw it and had never heard it I don't think it would click the same way. �
I recommend watching cartoons in Spanish (if you the Spanish channel in your cable package you could watch Ice Age or whatever). �You could ask at the library or Blockbuster video store for kindergarten books written in Spanish and kids videos in Spanish. �Then it's not like you're reading word for word what you're hearing, but you'll hear and see many of the same phrases over time. �That's do-able if he's reading at a second grade level. �This way you're not committing to invest in a program but you can reward his curiosity and explore the Spanish language slowly over time. �I also recommend using your own Spanish by taking him to a Mexican restaurant where they have mexican waiters and making polite conversation with the waiter and placing your order in Spanglish. �Encourage him to order his drink using a Spanish word - leche, lemonada, jugo de manzanna. �It's been my experience if you use Spanglish they answer in Spanglish not pure Spanish so you can talk to them and it seems to make them happy that you're trying to learn their language.
It seems to be easier to make Spanish sound right in kind of a sing-song voice which he can hear the sound of using Spanish cartoons or movies without subtitles. �
