Is this an issue?

Our sons, now ten and eight, both came home from Guatemala at age four (two years apart). Our oldest son was speaking only English after two months. Our second son was busy showing off his large motor skills and making little boy motor noises, so it took him six months, but he went from a few words to using complete sentences once he decided to speak as much as he moved! By the time the second son came, the first didn't remember any Spanish, so they couldn't speak to each other in their first language. Sad to say they lost it all, since we are not bilingual. We can't even remember what we might have done to encourage their language learning, except immersion in our family and culture. We also have four daughters, so the boys had plenty of one- on-one attention and opportunites for conversation. We are hoping to soon travel for our new ten yr old daughter in Guatemala. This time around may be more difficult, because of her age, but we don't anticipate any huge difficulties. We know many families w/ older Guatemalan adoptees and have seen how well they have adjusted. I've purchased a small, inexpensive Spanish/English translator from Radio Shack, as a friend recommended it, after using one with their daughter who came at age nine from Guatemala. I've purchased some Spanish and bilingual children's books and CDs...stories and songs I'm familiar with, so I'll know what she's being exposed to. We know just enough Spanish to be "dangerous". And though we would love to be fluent in Spanish, unfortunately more of the burden will be upon her to learn English, to be able to function effectively in our culture. I anticipate much pointing and pulling each other by the hand and laughing at our ineptness in languages. We have resources such as Spanish speakers in our church and community, the promise of an ESL teacher or aid in our elementary school, etc. We can't wait to get her home to start the exciting process of becoming her family and learning new ways to communicate our love to her. Our agency has always told families not to worry about the language difference, that the kids will learn English quickly. That has proven true with all the children we have met who are now in their new families. Best wishes with your adoption process. "Love in any language", as the song goes..."fluently spoken here."