It seems like more and more people are learning a second language, but many Latino parents are not teaching their children Spanish anymore. Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling are making sure that doesn’t happen with their two children, Esmeralda and Amada and they are making sure their first language is Spanish.
“Esmeralda mostly speaks Spanglish right now. It’s really cute. She’s definitely bilingual, and it’s really important for us to make sure that she’s not only just familiar with the language, but also with the culture,” she says to People.
Mendes and her family live only 15 minutes from her mother, so grandma and grandpa get to spend a lot of time with the girls. Mendes says that grandma speaks to them in Spanish and cooks lots of Cuban food when she has them over, not to mention the Cuban music which is very fun and lively. “It really is a big part of our way of life. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Grandpa speaks to them in Spanish too, despite him living in the U.S., his English is not that great, so he speaks to his granddaughters completely in Spanish. “My dad, who has been here for 45 years and still doesn’t speak English, is a real asset. It’s so cool because now that I’m trying to make sure that my girls speak Spanish, it’s like, ‘Ok, Dad, take them,’ because I know that all they’re going to speak with him is Spanish.”
Being bilingual definitely has its benefits and we’re so happy that Ryan Gosling is on board, perhaps he’s picked up Spanish too!