Spanglish is a comedic drama film about a young girl, Cristina, writing an essay for admission into Princeton University. Her essay is about the most influential person in her life, her mother Flor. We watch the story unfold as she writes.

As part of her college entrance essay, Cristina Moreno (Shelbie Bruce) describes herself mother Flor (Paz Vega) and one summer they spent together. Flor moved her and Cristina from Mexico to Los Angeles in hopes for a better life. Flor, who speaks very little English, takes a job as a housekeeper for a wealthy family. The father John Clasky (Adam Sandler) is a highly regarded chef, while mother Deborah (Tea Leoni) is a stay at home mom. Flor and Cristina move in with the family at their beach home, along with the couple's children, Bernie (Sarah Steele) and Georgie (Ian Hyland) and Deborah's mother Evelyn (Cloris Leachman). Flor becomes frustrated as the language barrier restricts her communication with the family. To make matters worse, Deborah takes an interest in Cristina, which Flor takes personally, as a criticism of her parenting skills. The film continues as Flor learns English, and the family deals with a variety of struggles.