A while back I expressed some rather frustrated and pessimistic thoughts on how my choice to raise O bilingual was being received by our community here... Today, all the seniors arrived back to campus (I live on the campus of the boarding school that my husband and I both teach at). They are so psyched to 'learn Spanish from O', and I have already, in the few short hours since they have been back, witnessed several non-Spanish speaking students gamely engage O with the few words they do know, and excitedly follow him around as he toddles and narrates the world around him.
¡Qué ilusión!
One of O's favorite words is Luz. He loves watching lights go on and off, and of course he loves trying to flick any switch he encounters in hopes it brightens (and then dims, and then brightens, and then dims...) the room. Today I heard a colleague (one of O's many 'aunties' on campus) explain to a group of students how she was learning so much from O, and that he had spent a good 10 minutes earlier in the afternoon gesturing and exclaiming 'luz!' until she finally connected that he wanted the lamps on.
All just to say, I'm back to feeling enthusiastic and optimistic about this whole project. And enthusiastic about the truly open, uninhibited community of students that make up this place.
Adelante, pues.
Great to hear that the students are excited by O being bilingual! I cannot wait until Elena starts speaking, I think being bilingual is such a gift I wish I had been given from birth...
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