The Eclectic Female: Lifestyle Blog For Women

There are many children today that are learning two languages as they grow up.  This can be the result of living in a home that is bilingual, or there could be relatives that don’t live with the child, but are teaching the child their language.  However, more often than not, parents are taking it upon themselves to teach their young children another language either from coaching at home or by enrolling their children in a preschool that teaches an additional language.  Although all of these methods are effective, which teaching avenue is the best for teaching a young child a second language?

The truth of the matter is that they all are.  No matter which way a young child learns a second language, the point is that they learn, and they learn more easily than they will as adults.  There are some things you can do, however, to help your child learn faster and more thoroughly.

If your child is already immersed in a bilingual culture, all the better.  Immersion is one of the best ways for anyone – whether a child or an adult – to learn a second language.  Not only will they get the benefit of learning another culture and some of its traditions, they’ll pick up on the conversational speech within the home.  This will help in both languages and they’ll be able to instinctively understand things like grammar and pronunciation techniques without long lessons.  This will normally happen without specific teachings, as children often mimic what they hear.  As long as proper grammar and pronunciation is used frequently within the household, there should be very little problem with the basic words and phrases.  Of course, as the child gets older, there will be a need for more structured grammar, spelling, and pronunciation lessons.

However, if your household is not bilingual, you’ll have to find other ways to expose your children to another language.  There are some great software suites available nowadays that are geared towards young children learning a second language.  Many of these have different learning programs and levels of difficulty, so your child can continue to use them as they get older.  These programs typically combine fun games with learning tools to maximize the time spent in front of the computer. 

There are also great shows on television that help promote a second language.  Most are geared towards children who are learning both Spanish and English.  Shows like Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer and Blues Clues teach Spanish words and phrases, and while these aren’t complete lessons of course, ever little bit of learning will help.  If your children enjoy these programs, they may be interested in pursuing more formal language education as they grow older.

Teaching a young child a second language may not be as hard as you think.  Children are naturally eager to learn and eventually they’ll realize that another language is a good thing to know.  It takes time to become fluent, but it’s much easier to learn as a child than as an adult.  Take the time now to teach your child while they’re still small – they’ll appreciate it later on.

It may be a recession, but prom is bigger than ever. With more and more proms happening earlier in the year, prom season is now just starting to kick into high gear. You can check out my friend’s blog, Prom Blogger, for more info.

With over 400 million people speaking Spanish as their native tongue (and counting!); it’s easy to see how you’ll benefit from learning Spanish as a second language.  Not only will you be able to communicate with a wider range of people, you may also find that adding language skills makes you eligible for promotions and advancement at work.  While some people feel a little scared about even attempting to learn Spanish, there are three ways you can start to learn the language.  These are some of the easiest language instruction methods available today, just be sure to pick the one that best suits your style of learning.

Spanish Teaching Software Programs and CD/DVD Systems

There seems to be a new Spanish software program popping up every day, so it can be very difficult to determine which system is the best of you.  One of the most popular is Rocket Spanish. Nevertheless, you need to understand how these programs work and whether or not you can benefit from them.

Spanish speaking software programs work through repetitive learning methods.  Whether you use an internet-based program, learn through a DVD or CD, or via an actual software program on your computer, you’ll find yourself repeating words and phrases, studying visual images and practicing your conversational skills.  In addition, most of these programs come with workbooks, flash cards, and even audio tapes that your can use in your car.  Other benefits include service and support for the times you have difficulties. 

When you use a software program, you’ll typically find progress tests you can take to determine how you’re doing.  These types of programs generally have a very high success rate, and can be purchased for under two hundred dollars.  They are especially helpful if you need to learn Spanish quickly, such as for an upcoming trip, since they tend to focus on commonly used phrases and expressions.

Of course, one of the disadvantages to these systems is that you won’t have anyone to actually hold a conversation with in Spanish.  To really get better at the language, you’ll want to find a conversation partner to practice your pronunciation on.  You may also find it easy to blow off the lessons if you’re very busy, so these programs typically work best for people who are self-motivated.

Attend Spanish Classes

If you avoided learning Spanish in high school because it seemed too hard, you can still learn Spanish by going back to college and taking Spanish classes.  There are several benefits to learning Spanish through this type of teaching. 

When you’re in a classroom with other people who are learning Spanish, you’ll be able to hear firsthand the sounds of the language.  This can be a very important part of learning Spanish quickly and correctly.  If your teacher is very good, you’ll learn quickly, and benefit from other students’ learning as well. 

One of the problems with this type of Spanish instruction is that you may feel lost in the crowd, if the number of students enrolled is too high for you to be comfortable with.  If you feel awkward or nervous speaking a new language in front of strangers, or if the cost of attending in-person classes is too high, you may want to consider alternative methods.

Immersion into the Spanish Language

One of the best ways to learn the Spanish language is to immerse yourself in the culture.  While not everyone can take off for a month to go live in Mexico or Spain, there are probably large populations of people speaking Spanish right in your own city.  If you know someone who speaks Spanish, ask if you can practice using it with them when they see you.  Also, try shopping at one of the authentic stores in the area, ordering food in Spanish, and performing your other regular, everyday tasks using your new language skills.

Immersion is a great way to learn – and best of all, it’s free – but you may need to supplement it with a Spanish to English dictionary or a home study guide to help you understand the grammatical structure in more detail.

Many women experience headaches during the first and last trimesters of pregnancy.  During the first trimester, you may experience headaches due to an increase in the amount of hormones and blood your body produces to cope with the demands of pregnancy.  However, in the final trimester, it’s believed that the headaches are caused by the changes in your posture that result from pregnancy.  The extra weight of the baby can lead to imbalances in your body, causing many parts of your body to be pulled into uncomfortable positions.  As a result, many women experience an increase in back and neck pain, which can lead to more headaches.

For many women who have migraines, pregnancy can actually be a blessing.  The chemicals that your body produces too much of will be used up, leading to a decrease in number and severity of headaches.  However, there are a small number of women who don’t experience this benefit and may, in fact, have worse headaches.  If you have a history of migraines, make sure you discuss this fact with your doctor before you get pregnant – he or she may be able to recommend behaviors or natural remedies that decrease your chance of getting pregnancy-related headaches.  If you normally take medications to prevent migraines, you should also check with your doctor before becoming pregnant to determine if any of the medications you’re taking have chemicals that aren’t safe for your baby.

The best defense against pregnancy headaches is to avoid your known triggers.  Foods that include MSG, caffeine, and chocolate are known to be triggers for headaches.  Some spicy foods and cheeses can also contribute to the onset of a headache.  Of course, most of these foods aren’t really healthy in the first place, so when you’re pregnant, it’s best to avoid them even if you don’t experience headaches.  Stress is also a major cause of headaches, so try to remain calm as much as possible, and ignore the little things that can trigger a headache.

In addition, there are many ways to treat a headache naturally.  If you’ve developed a headache from stress and tension, try applying a cold compress to the back of your neck.  Many women experience relief after lying down in a dark, cool room as well.  You can also try using relaxation techniques, including aromatherapy or soft music.  Some women prefer to use a heating pack as well, and if your headaches are due to pulled muscles in your neck, you might try an over-the-counter heating cream.  If none of these techniques or tips provide any relief, contact your physician as soon as possible to see if your headache is caused by something more severe that fatigue or stress.

Most headaches will go away with time. However, if your headaches aren’t improving or if you have swelling in your feet or hands, you should contact your doctor immediately.  In these cases, your headaches may be caused by something else altogether.  There are medications you doctor can prescribe if the pain becomes unbearable, but it’s important to speak with your doctor about treatment options before you get pregnant if you already suffer from severe headaches.  It may take a long time to get a prescription, and you may have to go in for an appointment if you wait to share this information until you have a headache.

Many times during pregnancy, a prenatal doctor orders bed rest.  There are many benefits to bed rest and there are several reasons bed rest may be recommended.  While many doctors disagree on which conditions require bed rest, each case should be treated on its own merits.

The following are four of the most common reasons doctors order bed rest for pregnant woman:

Prevention of Preterm Labor

Preterm labor is a serious condition that affects many women.  While the cause of preterm labor cannot always be determined, it is defined as labor that begins before 37 weeks of gestation.  Babies born before this time are not normally capable of surviving outside of the womb on their own, as much of a baby’s organ development happens within the last month of pregnancy.  Consequently, babies born prematurely are at risk for respiratory problems and respiratory infections.

The signs of preterm labor include:

Six or more contractions within a hour, spaced regularly apart
Dull backache for more than one hour
Increased pelvic pressure
An increase or change in vaginal discharge
Ruptured membrane
A feeling as though your baby is trying to push downward

If you have any of these signs and symptoms, call your doctor immediately.  Many times bed rest will help relieve these symptoms and can actually slow down or prevent preterm labor.

Incompetent Cervix

An incompetent cervix occurs when the cervix is not strong enough to hold the weight of the baby as it grows.  If left untreated, there is a chance the baby may be lost during the second trimester.

With an incompetent cervix, the cervix begins to thin and widen prematurely.  The condition is an anatomical abnormality.  The cervix normally remains closed during pregnancy until labor starts.  However, in the case of incompetent cervix, the cervix begins to open from the pressure of the growing baby.  The cervix will thin and start to open without any labor contractions, and the membranes that surround the fetus begin to bulge down through the opening in the cervix.  These membranes eventually break and the baby is born early.

There are a few treatment options for an incompetent cervix.  Bed rest is recommended     most often; however, if there is a past history of a loss, your physician may recommend a  cerclage.  This is a minor procedure in which a stitch is placed in the cervix to keep it from opening.  Bed rest is usually recommended after this procedure as well.

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure during pregnancy can cause many different problems.  Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are two of the most common complications from high blood pressure during pregnancy.  These two conditions can affect the amount of blood that reaches the unborn baby.  This means your baby receives less food and oxygen, which can result in lower birth weights.  Bed rest can help to lower your blood pressure by reducing the amount of physical stress your body is under.

Multiple Babies

If a woman is expecting more than one baby, there’s generally a consensus that bed rest should be required past the fifth or six month, since the weight of the babies can cause pressure on the cervix and it’s very easy for an expectant mother of multiple babies to go into premature labor.  Since multiple births usually produced smaller babies, it is essential that the pregnancy last as long as possible to give the babies the best chance of survival.

While bed rest is often out of the question for some women, such as single mothers or caregivers, the choice to not follow your doctor’s orders can sometimes have disastrous results.  Speak with your doctor about any concerns you have and try your best to abide by your doctor’s advice if you’re ordered to bed rest during your pregnancy.

We’re just a few days away from Thanksgiving. Personally, I don’t like the holiday. I know it may sound un-American, but there is just something about pilgrims and turkeys that freak me out. I also just don’t like daytime holidays in general…they day just keeps dragging on. I’m not into Black Friday shopping since it is way too crowded, and I just don’t think sales are really that good.

There are other reasons I don’t like Thanksgiving; I guess I just associate it with some more annoying periods of my life. So maybe I am just taking out personal issues on a perfectly decent holiday; who knows :).

My favorite holiday is definitely halloween. The party atmosphere, the candy, and the costumes! As grownups, its really the only day of the year we get to wear adult costumes, unlike the kiddos that seem to have more excuses to play dressup.  Halloween is the one time of the year ladies are allowed to dress scantily and no one can give us grief about it. I’m not sure how that tradition started, but I like it!

If you think about it, halloween is one of the few holidays that has something for everyone. For kids, they have the candy. For us adults, we have the parties. For senior citizens…well, I guess halloween isn’t as great for them, unless they are a partying granny :).

Sadness…the one thing I look forward to on a Sunday night got pre-empted for a Music Awards show. <Sigh>. Have to wait one more week to see the all-new episode :-/.

Waiting to get pregnant can be extremely nerve-wracking – especially when it seems that all the women around you are nursing their own bundles of joy.  Conception can take time, but if you and your partner have been trying for more than six months with no results, you may want to consider fertility tests.  These tests come in all shapes and sizes – from male to female tests, and from do-it-yourself drugstore tests to hospital procedures.  Consider the following information when choosing a fertility test:

Ladies

If you’re having trouble conceiving, you may want to try home-based fertility tests first, to avoid the expenses and invasiveness of hospital procedures.  The first thing you can do is to keep track of your basal temperature – meaning your body’s temperature immediately upon waking and before any physical activity.  Typically, your body temperature will be around 97o – 97.5o before ovulation, and much lower – around 93o – after ovulation has occurred.  By tracking the changes in your body temperature over time, you should be able to predict your ovulation and better schedule intercourse to increase your chances of conception.

You can also purchase an ovulation test kit – such as Ovukit or Q-Test – at any local pharmacy or through your doctor.  With most of these test kits, you’ll collect a daily sample of urine, then mix the sample with various chemicals designed to measure the amount of luteinizing hormone in the urine.  The level of this hormone increases significantly about 24 hours before ovulation occurs.  Although the results of these tests can be difficult to decipher, using them over a period of a few months will help you to better understand your body’s monthly cycle and time your sexual activities.

However, if these at-home solutions aren’t working for you, you may need to consider a more thorough fertility evaluation conducted by your doctor.  Most often, this consists of an endometrial biopsy to determine conclusively whether or not ovulation has occurred.  Getting a biopsy is similar to a pelvic exam – you’ll be placed in stirrups in your doctor’s office and a speculum will be inserted into your vagina.  Next, a small, thin instrument will be inserted into your uterus, where it takes a small sample of tissue that will be analyzed microscopically.  Most women experience a small amount of cramping pain during this procedure, but it’s rarely significant and usually requires no anesthesia to complete.

Gentlemen

If at-home or hospital tests indicate that you’re ovulating normally, your husband or partner may also need to undergo fertility tests to analyze the function and quality of the sperm.  Men’s sperm viability can be affected by any number of things, from smoking to excessive consumption of Mountain Dew to an affinity for tight jeans or boxer shorts.  If you’re trying to become pregnant, your partner may need to address these issues – especially if tests reveal no problems on your end.  Fortunately, men’s fertility tests are generally much less invasive than tests for women.

Men’s fertility tests are usually always conducted in the doctor’s office – there are very few at-home test kits for men, and those that do exist aren’t considered accurate.  Your doctor or urologist will ask you to give a sample on-site, since it’s important that the analysis be underway as quickly as possible.  Yes – most men find this embarrassing, but remember that getting accurate test results can save you months or years of stress and worry over whether or not you’ll be able to get pregnant.  Once the sample is given, lab technicians at your doctor’s office will test the number of sperm in your sample and their general condition.  If any problems are identified, your doctor will work with you to determine if there are any underlying medical conditions that could be affecting your ability to conceive.