Saturday, September 27, 2008

Bilingual Fun in the Community



Bilingual Fun had a fantastic experience at a local International Festival! More than 20 different countries were represented with booths filled with cultural items, food, performances, and of course music and dancing. Our Spanish for children program represented Latin America as well as did an interactive performance on stage.

The Bilingual Fun instructors, along with their own bilingual children led the crowd in response chants, colors songs, freeze dancing, and Merengue dance lessons! A great time was had by everyone! At the Bilingual Fun booth, we shared with the community artesania, books, posters, Spanish for children DVDs and books, and music that represented Latin America. This was an excellent time to be sharing the culture as the country is also recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month right now.

The community members were very interested in our language program and our curriculum that teaches parent/child Spanish classes. The Bilingual Fun team enjoyed promoting our passion for language education as well as our love for the Spanish speaking culture!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Hispanic Heritage Month


Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15- October 15


Our Bilingual Fun language program which focuses on teaching Spanish to children, celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with cultural activities in our Spanish classes. Our students have a great time as we celebrate with fiestas, musica, comida, and more!

Test your trivia knowledge with us!

Did you know?

1.Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

2. 45.5 million is the estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2007, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority.

3. 132.8 million is the projected Hispanic population of the United States on July 1, 2050. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 30% of the nation’s population by that date.

4.Many adopted Spanish words are food terms, such as tamale, taco, salsa, cilantro, guacamole, enchilada, oregano, and burrito. They are usually used in their original Spanish forms. Others, such as tuna, which comes from the Spanish atĂșn, are variations of the original.

5.The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore what is now the United States, and the first to found a permanent settlement here (St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565). From Alaska's Madre de Dios Island to Mexico, Maine, the United States is dotted with Spanish place names. Others include: Las Cruces ( New Mexico)- the crosses, Boca Raton( FL)- mouth of the mouse, Los Angeles ( CA)- the angels, and Nevada- snow covered.

6. El cinco de mayo is commonly misinterpreted as Mexican Independance, but it is actually the victory of a battle in Puebla.

7.The first female Hispanic astronaut was Ellen Ochoa, whose first of four shuttle missions was in 1991.

8.Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner was Oscar Hijuelos, 1990, for his novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.

9.Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee: Carlos Santana, 1998.

10. Geraldo Rivera was Broadcaster of the Year in 1971.

Test your cultural Spanish knowledge. Try this quiz.

Looking for more activities to do with your family or children? Try these Hispanic Heritage Resources.