Whistle ... what?

At our house, the love of language is important. So much so that I worry we will miss the boat on teaching math and science enough.

But, words. Words!

We love them. I love to shout them. My husband loves to pull out the long, complicated ones.

He is an editor. We met in a newsroom. We meet somewhere at the intersection of writing and reading.

And, yet, neither of us speak a foreign language. This does not mean we didn't try. We both did. He learned basic French. I learned basic Spanish. I've actually used some of mine for work, but have always known I am far insecure to use it efficiently. To learn a language, I've known, you really have to be living among it day in and day out.

Since neither of us know a language well enough to teach one, I've worried Jadyn and Liana will end up saying this statement as much as I have: "Yo hablo Espanol un poco."

We really want them to be fluent in at least one other language.

Enter: Whistlefritz, a Spanish-immersion DVD set for young children that I'm reviewing for The Parent Bloggers Network. This is my first official review with Parent Bloggers.

It's a company based in Maryland and was created by Mom Heidi Stock, who also wanted to teach her children to speak Spanish. Studies show that introducing a foreign language to children between the ages of 2 and 5 increases a child's ability to speak without an accent later on in life. The videos, geared to that age group, are in all Spanish. In fact, translation is forbidden, according to the list of tips that came along with my packet. I had no idea!

(And, it's really hard not to translate, by the way).

And, you know what? After watching these videos REPEATEDLY for the last month, I can attest that these videos will work.

Here's my review in a nutshell: These videos have taken TV-watching to a whole new level in our house.

Out of the two DVDs, we've watched Los Animales the most. It was the first one we popped in and it was so popular among Jadyn and Liana that Baby Einstein quickly became just dusty jackets.

Los Animales continues to be the most popular object in our house and so, while the other one is good, too, I will rave about Los Animales. Maria, the host is endearing and not at all annoying. The show offers everything from cute puppets to funny skits. I have learned more Spanish watching these than I did in my college course. They are just plain fun.

In fact, Jadyn tells me she wants to watch it by coming into the kitchen where she roars like a lion, quacks like a duck, and sprays raspberries like an elephant. And, the second the show begins, Liana runs to the playroom to grab two maracas to play music along with Maria and the children.

The best thing is that they clearly know what is happening even though not one word of the entire movie is in English. It's all Spanish. And they get it. They laugh and talk along and even repeat the Spanish words that they like most.

As for Vamos a Jugar (Let's Play): It's very good, too, but the title is a little off because it's really about teaching body parts. The overall tone is a little slower paced than Los Animales and I don't think we've watched this one to the end, yet. Jadyn and Liana do like to talk about body parts, though, so I can see this being more popular as they grow older.

If you believe in the power of language and raising a bilingual speaker, definitely buy one of these videos and check them out. So, yeah, BUY IT and then donate it to someone else you know or a local preschool near your home.

Well, if yours lasts that long. Ours is skipping already.