New Year, New Focus Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe that another year has passed already! 2017 was a great year for our contributors at Esperanza Education – a year of personal and professional growth for all of us. It has been a year of change too, and 2018 brings a
My go-to online resources for writing in my second language Whether it’s a lengthy essay or a simple text message, writing in another language can be quite overwhelming. And while Google Translate is getting better every day, it will never be able to get it all right for you. When stu
Can’t get enough of that sweet, sweet education? I’ve known for a long time that I’m a language nerd, but this week, as the northern hemisphere begins the new school year, I realize I might “suffer” from another condition – school addiction! Here ar
What my two-month-old has taught me in and about the Spanish language In my last post I wrote about my desire to raise my baby in my second language, Spanish. She was born two months ago and so far, so good: I have been speaking to her almost exclusively in Spanish, no matter who else
Is it Possible to Raise Children in Your Non-Dominant Language? I am expecting my first baby in early May and, of course, its linguistic future is on my mind. I’ve always planned to raise my children at least bilingually with English and Spanish but, given that I am curre
Starting Out Right for Sustained Language Learning Recently I watched my friend, clinical counsellor Elana Sures, talk about values-driven goal setting during a Breakfast Television spot about New Year’s resolutions. She spoke about the importance of focussing on our values and
How language sparked a revolution Last month I visited South Africa where my parents and grandparents were born, and many family members still live. My parents left South Africa in the early 1970s because they didn’t want to raise children in an apartheid state. In 1948, the Sou
A Revitalization Success Story Shana Tova! Happy Jewish New Year! As I prepare to sing prayers and songs with my family in Hebrew tonight, I am reminded of the impressive revitalization story of the Hebrew language. Today Hebrew (called עברית or “Ivrit” in Hebrew) is spoke
Keeping Up-to-Date with the Linguistic Times At Esperanza Education, we often share news and articles about language from other sources on our social media pages. These include the latest studies and trends in language acquisition, language learning ideas, and interesting stories abou
How Materials Development is Different for Endangered Languages Over the last few weeks, I participated in a course at the University of British Columbia called “Materials Development for Indigenous Language Learning and Teaching” taught by Dr. Candace Kaleimamoowahinekapu
