Spanish Lessons with Sonia

Teach Your Child A Second Language

Extract from www.parents.com

When to start. Two- and 3-year-olds are not only increasing their vocabularies, they're starting to recognize the speech patterns they've been hearing since birth. The earlier you introduce a second language, the easier it will be for your child to pick up its unique sounds. The ability to hear different phonetic pronunciations is sharpest before age 3, and we lose the capacity to hear and produce certain sounds if we aren't exposed to them early on, according to Fran?ois Thibaut, director of the Language Workshop for Children, in New York City. So just hearing a television show, listening to music, or learning a few words in a second language will give your child essential tools for appreciating it now and learning to speak it later.

How would be the best learning environment. The best way for a child to learn to understand a new language is for him to hear people speaking it fluently, says Thibaut. If he's exposed to conversations, he'll begin to pick up the sounds and the natural accent. Choose a language that is spoken in your neighborhood, on a television show your child can watch regularly, or one that is offered in classes or playgroups in your area. "If you have a bilingual babysitter, encourage her to speak her native language to your child exclusively," says Rhodes. Two- and 3-year-olds love to mimic what they hear, and soon they'll begin to understand the meanings of short words and phrases.

Step by step. If you don't want to do formal lessons, you can introduce bilingual basics by pointing out to your child that objects can have two names one in each language. "When my 2-year-old son, Constantinos, sees a spider, he'll say 'spider' to me in English and then say it in Greek to my husband," says Cassandra Attard, of Nottingham, New Hampshire. "He knows they mean the same thing." As your child learns new words, tell him what they're called in a second language too.

The learning curve.  It´s necessary to have reasonable expectations. Of course, a child won't learn to speak another language fluently from hearing words, watching videos, or singing songs. But simply being exposed to a language will help her understand phrases when she hears them. So even though you probably won't be having a French conversation with your child very soon, if you say "bonne nuit" every night at bedtime, she'll figure out what you mean.

Learn a foreign language as a Family

Extract from familyshare.com

Make it a family effort. Language is one thing that simply can’t be learned alone. Make an effort as a family to study, learn and use the language you are interested in. My toddler has learned a fair amount of ASL. I try to be there by his side learning it as well, otherwise I don’t understand when he tries to sign to me. Learn and use phrases that you can repeatedly use each day.

Bilingual schools. In a number of school districts across the nation there are bilingual programs. Finding a program near you may take some scouting and include an admissions process. Spending several hours every day at school using the language to study regular curriculum is a great opportunity for your child and is certainly worth looking into. If a bilingual school is not an option, check your school for language classes or clubs. In elementary school my sister and I attended an early morning Spanish class that really helped to set a foundation of the Spanish language for me.

Encourage friendships with families who speak a different language. It’s likely that your kids have friends who speak another language at home. Take advantage of that resource. Invite the family over and encourage your child to listen and try to communicate as best they can in real, everyday conversations with them.

Read books. Check out books from your local library or order books online. Some will have both the English and the foreign translation listed. If not, keep a dictionary handy and pause when you or your child don’t know the meaning of a word. I like to write the translation in the margin of books we own so that I see it each time we read that book.

Watch movies or TV in a foreign language. Many movies come with the option to watch with sound or subtitles in a foreign language. I prefer to change the audio to the foreign language with English subtitles. Kids' shows are especially easy as they are repetitive and use simple vocabulary. If your kids are going to watch TV, have it double as a foreign language lesson.

Learn songs or nursery rhymes in another language. The Internet (especially YouTube) is a great resource for finding songs or nursery rhymes that you can learn and memorize together.

Notice languages in the world around you. It’s easy to only see the English when it’s most common. Take a moment to pause and listen to other sounds and words of other languages. Both written and spoken, foreign words can be found everywhere including public signs, food packaging and instruction manuals, just to name a few. See just how many places you can find it!

Learning a language is a great experience. Keep it fun and applicable and study the culture behind the language. Buena Suerte!