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Cuéntamelo: Maleta Books

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Alicia Sevillano Barja

Welcome to the first episode of Cuéntamelo: Your Bilingual Story, a series by Entre Dos in which we speak to parents, small business owners, authors, and others about their bilingual life. These episodes may be shorter than our regular episodes and a bit more personal. Today’s inaugural episode is different than what you’re accustomed to because it’s entirely in Spanish.

Our first guest is Alicia Sevillano Barja, founder of Maleta Books, a bookshop in Ontario, Canada specialized in Spanish language books. We spoke with Alicia about her bilingual family, the origins of Maleta Books, and her current top three favorite children’s books.

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Generation Zero

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In our first episode of 2021, we had a conversation with author Sabreet Kang Rajeev about her book, Generation Zero: Reclaiming My Parents’ American Dream, which tackles her family’s immigration story in America.

Identity and place can sometimes be abstract notions. They define who we are while also remaining elusive. In the process of integrating two or more cultures we are coming to terms with the things we’re ok with, the things we’re not ok with, and the things that are inevitable. In Generation Zero, Sabreet takes us through her struggles while also keeping her own parent’s experience in perspective. It’s a fascinating dance that many of us can relate to. 

Sabreet is a first-generation Indian American of Sikh descent. She’s a full-time social-science researcher and holds an MA in sociology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and BA in sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is currently completing her doctorate at the University of Baltimore.

To continue the conversation, join us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @entredospodcast. 

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Parenting with an accent: A conversation with writer Masha Rumer

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Raising children with two languages and cultures may sometimes feel like a constant negotiation between the two. In this episode, writer Masha Rumer talked to her about her experience raising English-Russian bilingual children in the U.S.

Masha Rumer

Masha lives in the Bay Area, where she writes about parenting and the immigrant experience. She is currently writing a book called Parenting with an Accent, which will be published by Beacon Press in 2021.

Mentioned in this episode

My Kids Can’t Sing Along to Sesame Street, But They Know Our Family’s Culture by Masha Rumer, Parents

Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability by Adam Beck

Bilingual: Life and Reality by Francois Grosjean

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Language learning, family-style

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Moving to another country where you don’t know the language can be challenging. Today’s guest, Elizabeth Quintal, did just that. Two-and-a-half years ago, she moved from Houston, Texas to Madrid, Spain with her husband and son, Grayson. We spoke to her about the transition and how they’re managing the strict lockdown due to COVID-19.

Elizabeth and her family in Paris.

You can find Elizabeth in several places on Instagram. She’s worth a follow for her poetry writing (@elizabethmquintal) and her family adventures and tips on advocacy and raising kind, empathetic kids (@cheekydays). She and her husband, Aaron, run a visual creative agency called The New Antiquarians.

Elizabeth’s poetry will also be featured in Alegria Magazine’s upcoming The Latinx Poetry Project, an anthology of poems by Latinx authors. The book is now available for pre-order through this link.

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Your Holiday Traditions

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We’re in the midst of the holiday season and with that, all of the traditions that make them special. In this episode, we wanted to showcase traditions from our listeners, specifically the ones that help keep the heritage language and culture alive.

This will be our final episode of 2019. In the meantime, find us in our Facebook group and on Instagram. We’re excited to return next year. Thank you for your support!

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¡Descarga!

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In one of our earliest episodes, Spanish is like a warm croqueta, we spoke about what we had done in our homes up to that point to foster our daughter’s burgeoning Spanish. Recently, we listened to it again and it struck us how different things feel now, so we decide to record an update on where we think we are on this bilingual path.

This is the kind of episode we wish we could record with all of you in the room! In lieu of this, please join our Facebook Group to share your own descarga with us.

In this episode we talk about:

Read to Kids in Spanish; it’ll help their English

On Heritage, Language and Identity

When Your Kid Doesn’t Get Into the Dual Language Program

When Your Kid Doesn’t Get Into the Dual Language Program | Two Months In

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What Kind of Spanish Do You Speak? The U.S. as a Spanish-Speaking Country

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Have you ever thought of the U.S. as a Spanish-speaking country? Our guest, Emily Hunsberger, a bilingual communications professional, mom of bilingual kids, and host of Tertulia Podcast, does. In today’s episode, she spoke to us about embracing and changing the perception of Spanish spoken in the U.S. – the Spanish that our children are growing up with.

Emily Hunsberger

Our conversation with Emily is a follow-up to our previous episode What Kind of Spanish Do You Speak? Language and Social Perceptions with guest Salvatore Callesano.

We also spoke to Emily – en español – for her podcast. Make sure you listen to the episode, Los Guardianes Invisibles del Idioma, over at Tertulia Podcast.

Mentioned in this episode

Join the Entre Dos Facebook community to share your experiences, questions, and discoveries with us and other parents raising bilingual kids.

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A Conversation with Parenting Expert Maritere Bellas

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As mothers of relatively young children, a lot of the conversations we have are about what will become of our bilingual, bicultural children’s future. For this episode, we called on Maritere Bellas, an award-winning author and parenting expert, who raised bilingual and bicultural children in Los Angeles, to share with us her wisdom and experience.

Maritere R. Bellas

Maritere has written extensively about parenting for newspapers and online outlets, and is the author of the books “Raising Bilingual Children: A Practical Guide,” “Arroz con Pollo and Apple Pie,” and “Luisito’s Island.” After we recorded this episode, she also launched a multicultural parenting podcast in Spanish called Mamás 411.

Additional resources

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Bilingualism and Speech Delays: Dispelling Myths

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A common misconception or myth about bilingualism is that it causes speech language delays. In this episode, Claudia Serrano Johnson, a speech language pathologist (SLP) and founder of Laleo Therapy in Virginia breaks down these misconceptions and shares red flags parents should look out for in their child’s speech language development. You’ll also hear the experience of Zayra Marrero Burgos, an SLP who has a son with developmental delays.

Claudia Johnson (left); Zayra Marrero Burgos (right)

Mentioned in this episode

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) – this professional, scientific and credentialing association has a directory of certified professionals.

Additional Reading

Learning Two Languages, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

How do you know when it’s a language delay versus a disorder?, Leader Live, April 14, 2015

Does Bilingualism Cause a Language Delay?, Multilingual Living, May 31, 2010

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On Heritage, Language and Identity

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Are your motivations for raising bilingual children emotional or pragmatic? Maybe a little bit of both? We had an interesting conversation with Sabine Little, Lecturer in Languages Education and Researcher at the University of Sheffield, where her research explores the ties between heritage languages and identity.

Continue reading “On Heritage, Language and Identity”
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A Matter of Exposure

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If you’re raising bilingual children, you’ve likely heard the word exposure over and over again. We need to give our kids exposure to the target language, right? But what is exposure? How is it defined in the context of bilingualism? And more importantly, how much is enough? Does quality matter more than quantity?

Continue reading “A Matter of Exposure”
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Happy Holidays! Our last episode of 2018.

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Welcome to our final show of the year!

In this episode, we talk about our holiday traditions and look back at the most important lessons we’ve learned so far while making the show.

We are so lucky to have you as our listeners and are working hard on our  2019 episode lineup. You can stay connected with us during the holiday break on social media. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @entredospodcast. And don’t forget to join our Facebook Group to tell us about your bilingual experience, suggest episode ideas, ask burning questions and more!

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Family Dynamics and Bilingualism

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What does your bilingual family look like? Do you speak only the minority language at home? Do you speak both English and the target language? Do you speak English-only? In this episode, we explore how these family dynamics influence outcomes in bilingualism.

Joining us to discuss this is Dr. Anny Castilla-Earls from the University of Houston, and a group of parents raising bilingual children.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Annick De Houwer

ADDITIONAL READING

The Languages You Speak To Your Bilingual Child, Psychology Today, Oct. 24, 2014

One-Person, One-Language and Your Bilingual Child, Psychology Today, April 1, 2015

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Growing Up Between Two Cultures

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Paula’s cousin, Juliana, talks about her experience growing up between two cultures. Juli, as she’s affectionately known in her family, was born in the U.S. to a Colombian family. She grew up in Katy, Texas, her first language was Spanish and she attended a dual-language elementary school program, but as she grew older, she began to notice many things that come with growing up between two different cultures and the feeling of not completely fitting into one or the other.

Juliana and her familia.

Now, as she readies to head to college, Juli has come to terms with her identity and feels proud of her two cultures. She offered some words of advice for other kids and gave us some insight into what our daughters and other bilingual kids may experience as they grow up.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Spanglish

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El Mundial

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The excitement of the World Cup goes beyond futbol. It’s a time every four years when for 90 minutes a stranger may become your best friend, when families and people from all walks of life gather around the television to watch their country’s team play its heart out, when a goal, a win or a nice play fills you with hope. For people living outside their countries, la Copa is also a way to connect to their homeland, and for their kids, a way to learn about their identity.

In this episode, we briefly talked with Paula and her brother about what the World Cup means to them and how it creates opportunities to connect with other countries and our cultural identity.

Continue reading “El Mundial”