Ploutus Lab in English and Spanish: How the Bilingual Classes Work

Ploutus Lab classes are in Spanish. At the end of each one, a bilingual moment reviews five to eight key words in both languages, with an image for each. If your child hears English at school and Spanish at the table, that moment joins the two.

How to do it

The moment works like this: the characters say the word in Spanish, then in English, and the child can repeat it. "Ingreso" and income, "ahorro" and saving. Each word is tied to an image and not to a loose translation, so the child links the idea and not just the sound. The Heath brothers, in Made to Stick, show that concrete ideas are remembered better than abstract ones, and a word with an image becomes concrete.

What it's for

For your child, each money word has two forms and an image, and that gives them a tool to talk about money in either language. For you, the bilingual moment lets you talk about money in your own language without depending on knowing English.

What the research says

To make the most of it, use one word for three days: today, tomorrow and the day after. Brown, Roediger and McDaniel, in Make It Stick, describe that recalling a word with time between uses fixes it better than repeating it back to back. Have them use it in a sentence of their own, in the language they prefer. You don't need perfect English: it's enough that the child sees money can be talked about in both languages.

What you'll see over time

In the first weeks the child repeats the word without using it. Between one and six months they use it in sentences at home and translate on their own. In the long run they understand the idea in both languages, even if one of the two words is the one they use most.

Signs it's working

It's working when they use a class word in a sentence of their own, when they remember it three days later and when they ask how to say it in the other language.