In today’s world our children come in contact with the Spanish language on almost a daily basis. In a US where Spanish is becoming such a prominent language it’s important to start to teach our children Spanish early. The book “You say Hola, I say Hello” is a good book for younger kids to learn some basic Spanish, and can open up a discussion between you and your youngster on tolerance of different languages and cultures. Although we may have different words to describe something, they mean the same thing.
The book “You Say Hola, I say Hello” is written by Elizabeth Zapata, and illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson. Each page has a different saying with both the English and the Spanish translations. The word described is then illustrated on the page beside it. For instance one page says, “ You say maestro. I say teacher.” and has a picture of a Hispanic girl and a Caucasian girl laughing together during class. Another page says, “You say Luna. I say moon.” and has an illustration of the same two girls laying outside and looking up at the moon.
By the end of this twenty-two-page book your child will know the Spanish for eleven words.
Books, Brother, Dog, Good-Bye, Hello, Home, Mommy, Moon, School, Sun, Teacher.
If you plan on reading the book to your child it may be good to talk to a Spanish speaker you know and learn the correct pronunciations of each word so you can properly pass then on to your child. While most of these are pretty basic Spanish words, a few may cause some difficulty.
The book could also be good for native Spanish speakers who are just starting to learn English. While you can’t hold a conversation with these eleven words, you can have a good basis for starting to understand the Spanish language.
You can purchase this book at Amazon.com.