You Can Help Others
One of the things I love best about knowing the Spanish language is that it allows me to help other people. I used to work as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking families at a local Early Childhood Center. Sometimes the Spanish-speaking children would get hurt or sick and did not know how to talk about it in English, and I was able to help them. Other times teachers needed to make phone calls about important things but could not speak Spanish, so it was my job to make phone calls and help the teachers and parents communicate. Every once-in-a-while a new family would come into the office hoping to enroll their children in our school so that they could learn English. It gave me the best feeling when I came up to the front desk, introduced myself in Spanish and asked how I could help, and then a smile would come over there face followed by a sigh of relief and then lots of questions and conversation. I remember that feeling when I traveled abroad when I found someone who spoke English in my times of need or crisis. Being in a foreign place, in an unfamiliar situation, if you find someone who speaks your native language, it is like being home. I love knowing Spanish and being able to use it to make other people feel at home–even if they are far from it.
Books About Butterflies in Spanish
The yearly Monarch migration to México is just around the corner. Knowing this, when I spied a picture-book bundle at our library the other day with the theme of Butterflies, I snatched it up faster than you can say ¡Hola, hola, Mariposa! I could also see that the...