I want to teach my kids a language as part of homeschool. Even going over numbers, I've already introduced them to 1-10 in Spanish and French, and we go over simple things like saying hello and good-bye, and we listen to Spanish, Italian, and French music in addition to American/English music. All of the initial (simple) stuff my hubby and I can teach for Spanish and French b/c he took 5 years of Spanish in school and I took 5 years of French, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of programs other than Muzzy that are good for young children to use to learn new languages. I would like to at least introduce the kids (and myself) to several languages-Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Latin. Of course I can't teach what I don't know, and Muzzy is $200 per language. Especially for those where we just want an introduction, I don't want to spend that much. Then, if the kids want to focus more on a particular one later (middle and high school) we'll buy curriculum for it as one of their subjects, but I also recognize that they may end up just speaking one -which we will require as a subject- and I don't want to buy all of the whole sets for just the basics, especially not at that price! Right now I just want a basic intro and something that is age appropriate (pre-k and first grade) . I've read a lot of developmental stuff that says introducing it at a very young age can make learning it later so much easier and they're young enough that they could probably grow up speaking without an accent. It can also help academically in other areas, and plus I think they'd love being able to travel and speak foreign languages.
What friends did was co-op with other families. One parent was a native French speaker, so she taught all their kids French and another parent was really good at math, so he taught all the kids math.
I can only help with an actual curriculum for Latin http://www.minimus-etc.co.uk/ FANTASTIC program. Grand total of about $70 (for however many kids... the teacher book has pages you just scan, and ditto the workbook... just photocopy and hole punch). There's also tons of free things on the website. We ordered our books from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_13?url=search-al...
Aside from latin.. here's some supplementary advice: CARTOONS. There are several websites that stream cartoons/ radio broadcasts/ etc from other countries (and you can buy DVDs of foreign language cartoons, as well). We played several in the background from the time our son was very little. That way the audiocortex picks up both the sounds and the rhythms of other languages (eliminates accents later on, because the neural pathways don't die out that can hear those sounds)
Try your local library. Ours has language instruction tapes, CDs, and DVDs for various languages.
:)
My kids are bi-lingual... and ever since they were born, we talked to them in both languages.
My kids are now 4 and 8 years old, and are completely fluent in both languages. At school, my daughter also learns Japanese, Hawaiian, and Mandarin.
She picks it up fast and the accent, because, she has grown up being bi-lingual already. Since birth.
Kids who learn foreign languages, develop more brain synapses, for example.
Yes, kids learn very fast. If it is consistent.
They do not get confused nor does it affect or derail their learning for their primary language.
Now, what I would do is, join a Culture Club. For French or Francophiles or Spanish etc. If they have any in your community. In these clubs are native speakers and those who just love the culture and language. Thus, you & your kids, will learn the language, first hand this way.
We did this with our kids as well.
For example: here is the link for the "Alliance Francaise USA", and you can search if there is one in your State.
http://www.alliance-us.org/en/directory.aspx
You can also search in your City for other culture clubs.
I don't know about Muzzy. But it seems to have good reviews.
A child will learn a foreign language, if their parents speak it too... or they interact with other kids who speak it or are native speakers.
If they are exposed to it daily, then this is best.
There are also, on TV... many channels from other countries and languages.
DISH network for example, has many tv channels, per French, Spanish, German etc.
We have DISH network.
The younger the child is, the better for learning foreign languages.
As I said, we were talking to our kids in both languages, since birth.
BUT... do not, speak to them in a way, where a sentence is comprised of that language and English, for example. Otherwise, they will learn the wrong grammatical structure, of the language. And it will be, incorrect.
In order to speak without an accent and to have the proper accent of the given language... it has to be learned from a native speaker. In my opinion. Unless, the teacher speaks with a correct accent.
AND, if you the parents also speak the language, the children will learn, better. It is more reinforced, that way.
But if 'you' speak with an incorrect accent, your kids will learn that too.
all the best,
Susan
We used Rosetta Stone but my boys were older.
I studied Spanish and French and could have taught either language but with an American accent. Instead, I looked for resources that allowed my kids to listen to native speakers because children can imitate a native accent until their teens. After that, we can only approximate many of the foreign sounds and try to be understandable.
So I'd recommend finding cd's at the library with easy lessons or stories read by a native speaker in the languages you want to expose your kids to. Another good resource is foreign language TV, but stick to the kids programming or the news because some of the foreign soap operas have adult themes.
A fun way to practice listening to other languages is to watch a favorite movie-DVD and change the language setting. Since you already know the plot, you can listen to the charactes speaking in French or Spanish and get the gist of what they are saying. You can also turn on the English subtitles to read while you listen to the other language.
Okay, I don't know much about foreign language programs, but I do know a little about foreign language acquisition. First, the optimum time for kids to learn languages is between 6 and 8 months, then the graph begins to slowly dip -- at puberty, it becomes harder for kids to learn foreign languages and they learn them like adults. In other words, they learn them as SECOND languages instead of a second first language. Second, kids don't really learn language easily from either TV or computer -- it can help -- but kids are wired to learn languages from people and face-to-face interaction. A linguicist did studies on babies and found that they learn a second language really quickly if someone speaks to them in that language, but they filter out any sounds that are not made by a person -- that is why their first words aren't barking like the family dog. And when they watched TV with a foreign language, they didn't learn it at all.
So...the only real way that kids learn a second language is by immersion. Your kids will learn Spanish, French, etc. perfectly if you hire a babysitter that speaks these languages to them. Another way to do it is to get in touch with other homeschool families in your area and have language clubs.
I second the "library visit" as our library has a ton. If you have a small library, perhaps Netflix has DVDs. Amazon.com will have old textbooks and workbooks. As for names, sorry - I don't know what products are the best out there.
you really can't beat rosetta stone, but it's pricey and may not be the best for younger children. i'd go with whatever the library has for now, and save up for rosetta stone when your kids settle on a language they most love.
i love riley's cartoon idea!
i got my sons a cheap-O spanish program and it was a waste. they didn't enjoy it so didn't work much on it, and had to start from scratch in college. it's the one area in homeschooling that i think we neglected and with which i wish we had done better.
khairete
S.
We use the Latin Road to English Grammar, It is $149, for everything.
I have issues with programs that just teach a word with no regard for the whole declension or conjugation or teach a verb without teaching the stem. But that's me and my kids are older, 4th and 7th grade.
I love the program we use, By doing LR I, II and III they can receive up to 2 high school credit hours. It is more thorough than some of the others. By 7th grade my son will be in Henle Latin III, Wheelocks III or Ecce Romani III. We haven't decided yet.
I haven't done any other languages yet. I hope to add German next year. I ahve been looking at Rosetta Stone.
This looked interesting:
We are homeschoolers, too and have been loosely teaching French (I studied it for many years) and Arabic (my dh and I are Lebanese, though neither of us speak it fluently. My dh can read and write in Arabic, though).
We have found that consistency is best. Use what you know often. Make it a part of your regular everyday language. If it is just a few nouns/things that you know, use them. I agree that you shouldn't mess up sentence structure but throwing out nouns, where nouns should go won't ruin the structure.
I know some people put the French word for different objects on post-it notes all around their homes.
Hope that helps.
