Bilingual Books For Children
Bilingual books for children are great for so many reasons!
For my family:
- It saves us money. We only need to buy 1 book and we can have story time with mommy or daddy.
- I can practice my Spanish when reading to my children
- I can review vocabulary words in English and Spanish!
For work:
- I can bridge new vocabulary word lessons into Spanish easily.
- I can make take-home lessons easily with vocabulary words already in front of me.
What are bilingual books?
Bilingual books are books that have the same text translated into 2 different languages.
For my family, we have children's books in both English and Spanish.
Where do I find bilingual books for children?
I have had a DIFFICULT time finding a good selection of Spanish-English bilingual books in stores. Actually...impossible! So, as usual, I turned to the internet and found a pretty decent selection from babies up to about 1st grade.
Check out my favorites so far!
How To Read Bilingual Books
There are a few different ways to read bilingual books.
- You can read the book in one language from start to finish. You can read in your first a.d/or second language. I like reading in Spanish to practice my own Spanish and learn new vocabulary words along the way!
- You can read in one language and bridge to the other language during vocabulary learning opportunities. I highly suggest this choice!
For general tips on how to read to your child, check out how to read bilingual books for children.
How & Why To Do Vocabulary Bridging
How: When you introduce a new vocabulary word to your child in one language, explain the same vocabulary word in the other language. Make sure to talk about all parts of a vocabulary word (category, function, description, location)!
Why: When a child learns a second language, he or she doesn't have to invent the wheel every time! There is language transfer between the first and second language.
For example, if a child learns about a zebra in English, he or she already knows about the concept of a zebra in Spanish. He or she may know that a zebra is from Africa, has stripes, and can be seen at the zoo. When that child learns about a zebra in English, he or she can connect all that vocabulary information from Spanish to English.