It is important for me to clarify here that I do everything in my power to speak as little English to my children as feasibly possible, thus my excitement for English lessons that would not be directly taught by me, keeping me from being forced to increase my English language use with my children.
When given minimal lessons about English vowel sounds, she was able to immediately read English consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words and short sentences based on her knowledge of Portuguese consonants.
She was also able to demonstrate phonological awareness skills in English based on her ability, in Portuguese, to recognize and generate rhyming words, to understand syllabication (dividing words into syllables), to identify beginning and ending sounds in words, and so on.
Within 3 months of introducing English, as a kindergartener, my daughter tested at a beginning-of-second-grade level in reading (the test was only in English and included print awareness, phonological awareness, reading, and reading/listening comprehension).
