Como se dice?

Question

Hi. We just took two Hispanic kids into foster care (3 and 4) and I need to know some basic "comforting phrases" for when they're crying. The 3 year old doesn't know the differece between Spanish and English...he has a Spanglish thing going on. The four year old knows the difference and realizes that we don't speak Spanish, speaks to us in English and her brother in Spanish. I know a good native language literacy program to put them in should we keep them, so we are planning to nurture their culture. I just need a few comfort phrases and their meanings. Thanks!

(example: I was putting my shoes on this morning for work and the little boy wanted his zapatos and stated crying when I told him he wasn't coming with. I think Hasta Luego would've been better than Bye Bye.)

Answer 1

First of all, thank you for doing this for their future.

Do not use "hasta luego",
use "vengo ya mismo" I'll be right back
"todo va a estar bien" - everything is going to be fine
"no te voy a dejar" - I will not leave you
"estas bien" - are you all right?
"somos una familia" - We are a familly
"Gracias por ayudar" - Thank you for helping
"eres especial" - You are special

Answer 2

Congratulations!

Well "bye" is very common in Spanish language so the "bye bye" would have been ok.

When I was younger and my mother would try to comfort me when I was crying she would just say "Ya, ya todo esta bien" or shhh me even though the sound she would make for that was more like chhhh but I'm sure that isn't a big issue. It wasn't to shut me up but more of a comforting noise.

Other than that, she would make everything in diminutive form with "-ito" and "-ita"

I hope that helps.

Answer 3

l. a. clase de espanol con don jaen yo no hablo español como una lengua materna pero yo lo hablan para hacer bastante bien todos piensan que hago. soy de húngaro pero apuesto l. a. mitad de las personas que contestó que su pregunta puesta sabe realmente español de todos modos puesto leyó el debajo del comentario

Answer 4

Thanks for helping these little ones. You can buy phrase books in Spanish, and children's books in English as a second language. Latins often call their kids mi amor, mi hijo or hija ..

Answer 5

try body language. hug him and murmur in a soft voice. he might be afraid that you won't come back. your tone of voice will mean a lot to him, both of them.