This is a half-Spanish- half-English-speaking household. Just as we cook Latin sometimes and American (whatever that is) sometimes, we bounce back and forth between languages. The linguistic term is “code-switching” and Puerto Ricans in particular are the acrobats of the code-switching word – leaping off the English sentence into a whirl of Spanish and flipping backwards to finish in English. Or not. We understand each other, but other people think it’s gibberish. And while some derisively call it “Spanglish”, we know they’re just jealous of our daredevil dual language skills!
An equal opportunity eater!
So of course I have done my best to help my son become bilingual.
Miss Susana introduces the recipe and its ingredients
This is not easy. These days most of my life is conducted in English – both my writing and my teaching, my social life, his school, the T.V. news. My parents have gradually abandoned speaking to him in Spanish altogether. Some days I forget to switch back to Spanish at home. I am that tired.
¡Susa!
So I am lucky to have the support of Spanish All Year, the cultural language school that he attends a couple of hours a week. Which brings me to the reason why I am telling you – who are expecting to read about food and are instead hearing about language acquisition woes – about this.
Ingredientes…
At Spanish All Year, Leandro is learning his Spanish through cooking!
Ale gets control of the dough!
Susa “Miss Susana” Quintanilla, originally from El Salvador, is the cooking instructor at Spanish All Year, a language development school that is part of the Westbury Language Center on Post Avenue. Designed to develop Spanish language skills through cultural experiences in art, literature, dance, and – of course – cooking, the school has about 180 students from infants to tweens. About 100 of them participate in the cooking classes in the fully operational, friendly kitchen, decorated with pictures of exotic fruits and dishes.
Nora and Sydney roll their own…yuca fritters!
“Hoy vamos a hacer una receta de Bolivia (Today we are going to do a recipe from Bolivia),” Quintanilla told a recent group of five-year-olds (and me, since I was visiting) as they gathered on the floor in a circle to begin the class. First students found Bolivia on the floor to ceiling world map in the classroom. Then they reviewed the words and letters associated with the dish – arepas (fried dough). Finally, they gathered around the big table and got hands-on, helping Quintanilla prepare the dough and shaping the round patties themselves.
All hands on deck!
Finally, Quintanilla fried the dough and the kids tried (or decided not to try) their creations. Sessions last from ½ hour to 1 hour and are conducted entirely in Spanish. Recipes come from all the Spanish-speaking countries and there is a new recipe every week. Today there are no knives, but they do come out for other dishes. Rest assured, they are plastic.
The finished product -arepas de yuca
“These are the kinds of experiences the children will never forget,” says Quintanilla. “It is moving. Some of them have sensitivities and they don’t want to get their hands dirty. You learn to help them with that. They don’t just have a language experience; it is connected with something they like to eat. They say ‘I made this with my own hands.’”
Two thumbs up from Pulgarcita and Pulgarcito….
School director María Isabel Martínez, from Colombia, asserts that including cooking is essential to the success of the program, which began in 2000. “They have to try everything and do everything, including chopping and touching and tasting,” she says. “It has to be real. Soup, rice, just like one’s grandmother might make. Life can be so artificial, so we strive to give them a real experience.”
The best thing? Well next to the fact that we parents get to try whatever they’ve made at the end of each session and get the recipes…Leandro understands most everything in Spanish and can order bolitas de yuca, chicharrones de pollo y arroz con habichuelas in faultless Spansh whenever we hit a Dominican restaurant!
Spanish All Year
154 Post Avenue
Westbury, NY 11590
516-333-0272
www.spanishallyear.com (The website is currently being redesigned…try this link for more info http://www.spanishallyearwestbury.com/)
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gracias por todos los comentarios….claro que ouedas usa imágenes,,,siempre y cuando los conectes y credítes debidamente….
Perfect approach indeed. Nearly all of my tiny vocabulary in various non-English languages derives from poring over food magazines and cookbooks and menus! 😀
Oh that’s funny!!!!
Congratulations. Excellent article. Felicidades.
¡Gracias!
It works for me – living in Spain had a huge impact on my cooking and improved my language skills 😉
It’s so true…Leandro just discovered guayaba (guava) at school and he’s HOOKED!
This is great!
Bolitas de yuca – me parece increible!
They are so good…I have the ingredients in the freezer, but haven’t gotten around to trying it yet!
What a great way to teach children !
Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are the best!!!