MAN: Viva los trenes.
Go train go!
Choo! Choo!
MAN:
Talking, right?
It sounds so simple.
(baby makes happy noises)
WOMAN: We're talking,
communicating all the time.
Hey there...
Who's your buddy?
It does feel like we're having
a bit of a conversation.
(talking)
Something I've done from the
very beginning
even before my children were
conversational.
Using the things that we see,
describing them.
WOMAN:
We want to engage him.
What's this?
- A taxi.
- A taxi!
Yeah!
WOMAN: Children are sponges
and they can learn so quickly.
Once you see it in action,
you realize how true it is.
Let's have an adventure.
From my point of view,
as a single parent,
he's my constant companion.
This, my friend, is a tricycle.
You do not have one yet.
(baby responds)
Most things he's never seen
before,
which just kind of blows my mind
sometimes.
(child singing)
(singing in French)
WOMAN: We're having
conversations about what we see,
we're describing our
surroundings.
(speaking French)
Let's go see the buses.
Buses!
MAN: We say, "Let's do this,
let's go see the bus."
Let's go see our friend,
let's go to the park and play
football.
Then I think he gets excited.
Thinks of it as a trip really,
it's a journey.
A jeep, it's a jeep!
Every single thing, we expound
on it, is a little story,
just narrate whatever is
happening.
It's important to speak to them,
start using full sentences
and words and describe things
from the very beginning.
(whispers)
Check it out.
That's very exciting.
(gurgles)
It sounds like he's actually
saying words,
so then I will pick out whatever
sound it was
that he sounded like he made
a word,
and then I will use it
in a different way.
(babbling)
You love the butterfly?
Without using words, the child
can be very engaging
through vocalizations
that aren't words yet,
but you realize that there
eventually will be words.
Ooh, baby.
When you start hearing those
sounds...
Nice.
...you realize that this is all
early language development.
MAN: We have a lot of books
and every single picture
or object in a book that we
read, we point them out.
(reading)
We try to make a little story
out of that, like "What is that?
What is it doing there?"
BOY:
Niña.
The niña.
¿Qué más?
- Doggie.
- Doggie.
MAN:
Perrito.
Splash, splosh, splosh.
WOMAN: I sing a lot with my
children.
I'm a terrible singer.
(singing in French)
Make it a little more fun by
singing about
the things that you're seeing,
and the child will respond
to that as well.
♪ Back to my home ♪
MAN: That's been very, very
useful lately to learn words.
He knows a few songs almost
entirely.
♪ Head, shoulders, knees
and toes ♪
♪ Knees and toes ♪
Pom, pom, pom, pom, pom.
(laughs)
WOMAN: So like, yes, you kick
the ball into the goal.
But there's also the other way
if you're kicking the ball in
the goal,
you kick the ball on the wall.
Now the ball hit the door.
MAN: Puente.
BOY: Un puente.
WOMAN: Puente.
(gasp)
A pasando por el puente!
- Choo! Choo!
- (frustrated cries)
WOMAN: Sometimes it can be a
little frustrating for him.
I like to use those
opportunities for him
to ask for help.
Do you need some help?
- No.
WOMAN: And to then figure out
to go past it.
Help please?
MARCELO: Help please?
Oh sure!
I'll help you.
That's a volcano.
WOMAN: Un volcan?
(in French):
The letter E for Elsie?
When it comes to second language
acquisition,
there's lots of different
theories
and lots of different ways
you can do it.
MAN: We decided that the best
methodology
or close to it is the one parent
one language methodology.
Este caro, grande?
Grande!
MAN: I speak Spanish to him 100%
of the time.
(speaking Spanish)
Right now, the only way he gets
English is through me.
Where are your ears?
Where's your mouth?
Can you put a grape
in your mouth?
(speaking)
The trains?
You can play with the trains
afterwards,
but first let's eat some grapes,
okay?
- All done.
- All done?
The way that it worked best for
me from the very beginning
is using French
through storytime.
(singing in French)
Each child is different, each
child learns differently.
WOMAN: I really think that it
increases
their ability to learn.
At such a young age,
their brains are sponges,
and so the more things
they're being exposed to
just helps with their
development.
Ready? Let's go.
WOMAN: I just kind of spend my
whole day
communicating with him.
Look at that... a rose.
Just in the same way that
I would with a person
who could also talk.
(talking)
(laughs)
I know.