Pupi anyone?

Pupi ( yes, pronounced poopie) is the star mascot in all the books at Mozart's school in Spain! It is a giggle at first from an American perspective, but then you adjust.

7 year old Mozart grabbed a school book she had not read in a while, to read aloud to us at bedtime, so I grabbed the video camera. This is a cold reading and she pauses sometimes because she reads ahead silently so that she might know which of her "voices" to use, as it is not always clear which character is talking.

Going to the local public school in our little village in Spain has been the best possible immersion in her second language and culture with unsurpassed bi-literate opportunities. Even a bilingual school at home could not compete with a local school where the language taught is the dominant one. The friendships, play dates and sleep overs are also an important social aspect.

We have done extensive reading about raising a bilingual child & the timing has worked out best for us. Mozart was a very early reader who was reading Harry Potter at 4 & it is important that a child reads in their first language first as it is dominant. She has long been a voracious reader, so this was perfect timing for her to learn reading and writing in Spain which would have been hard for us to teach at this level.

Going to local schools during extended travel has been a fantastic experience for us and we highly recommend it. If you are planning world travel or extended family travel, I suggest you do research in this area of bilingualism & I have listed sources on our website and will continue to do that:

http://www.soultravelers3.com

We all like to read with lots of expression and using different voices, so I got a kick out of Mozart reading Spanish like that, even though my Spanish level does not allow me to know what she is reading.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Soultravelers3
• Bilingual
• Bedtime
• story
• Spain
• Mozart
• reading

[sam71489]

wow this was posted back in june 2008 and shes just amazing in her speaking! so fluent and clear....although i have no idea what she was saying hehe! if this is how she was 2 and half years ago she must be even better now! i cant help but smile at your videos xxx

[soultravelers3]

@sam71489 Aww,thanks! She does speak, read and write Spanish like a native now. She did speak Spanish from birth, but the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade in a Spanish school ( 5 months in the winter) certainly was a huge help since neither of her parents are fluent. Her dad is pretty good at Spanish, but she is the best by far in the family. I love it when she translates for us or even better between English speaking and Spanish speaking friends.

[Limon3Lime]

hahah my question as a child had always been the same...como van a vivir en un sitio sin ventana?i read pupi as a child as well.mozart is so smart for her age!

i speak english,spanish,greek and german and i'm now learning mandarin!

learning new languages is my thing and i enjoy it very much!So i see a bit of me in Mozart!Your way of educating her is magnificent!

Way to go Soultravelers3!

[soultravelers3]

@Limon3Lime Thanks so much! ;) How cool! I guess I always wanted to be fluent in many languages, so am happy to expose mine to so many.

[soultravelers3]

Now she is in Mandarin school in Asia getting fluent in Chinese if you want to see our latest soultravelers video : California girl - Chinese school

[chloe133133]

Aww, shes so cute, even tho i dont speak this language.

[soultravelers3]

Thanks!

[soultravelers3]

Americans learn languages in school as well, but few use them much as English is such a dominant language now in the world.

[soultravelers3]

She is fluent in 3 languages ( Spanish & Mandarin Chinese besides her mother tongue English, but she did start all 3 languages as a baby). She also speaks many words in many other languages as we learn some where ever we go & have been traveling non-stop since 2006. See our website for more details.

[IsThisTourettes]

how many languages does she speak!!??!!

and how do you guys travel, you stay a year at each place?? and she goes to school there??

[1993melymely]

muy vien les niña!yo read fear well!