It's never easy to get a my resistant child to practice speaking in a foreign language, so one thing I like to do is move Spanish-language speaking into our familiar, daily use with getting in the habit of using certain words and phrases. Learning to pray in Spanish is one way we can put that practice into our daily lives.
Every day, we pray together three times (or more). We pray before every meal. What could be better than blending a little bit of Spanish practice in to such a familiar activity?! Learning to pray in Spanish has been a fun way to keep Spanish vocabulary in our daily routines.
The best example of prayer in scriptures is obviously the Lord's Prayer. We start with that!
I created a copy of the Lord's Prayer, and I also make a "How to Pray in Spanish" vocabulary page to help us know the common phrases that help form a prayer. This has helped us incorporate Spanish into our prayers. If we don't know a word that we want to say, we substitute English and then look it up after the prayer! Check out this freebie in the VIP Resource Library.
Our prayer format focuses first on addressing God, our Heavenly Father. Then, we practice giving thanks for things that we have. I provided some cue cards with images of things we might give thanks for: our house, our family, etc. Obviously, this section could grow as we learn more and more vocabulary. We have an infinite number of things to pray thanks for!
Then, there is a section for giving thanks. This is difficult in Spanish as there is a completely different tense for requests: the subjunctive. The cheat sheet I've created show how to form the first part of the sentence: after my kids have said one of those phrases, they can pray for what they request help with: homework, safety, health, happiness.
My cheat sheet provides a few different ways to finish the prayer as well, ending in the name of Jesus Christ.
Obviously, there are an infinite number of ways to pray to God in Spanish as well as English. This is just one way to begin putting Spanish prayer into our daily routine. It also answers the big question of how to pray in Spanish.
How do you practice praying in Spanish? What models do you use for praying in a foreign language?
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