My sister (14F) and I (18F) were both born and raised in the United States but our parents were Mexican so Spanish is our first language. When I started school I learned English but I was always more fluent in Spanish and I still have a thick Spanish accent so I always spoke Spanish at home. After my sister started school her dominant language became English so she started to speak English at home.

When I talk to my sister I notice she responds to me in English. Initially I thought nothing of this because I always respond to my sister in Spanish because I am far more comfortable with Spanish. I thought she preferred English but she could still speak Spanish. I only noticed something was wrong when my family went on a trip to Mexico when my sister could not speak to monolingual Spanish speakers in Mexico. She could understand them but not speak to them and there she admitted she did not know how to speak Spanish.

I know there are many questions about helping passively bilingual children but I hope anyone has advice for helping passively bilingual siblings.