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How to teach a 4 & 2 year old


Guest Hslagle
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Guest Hslagle

Since they say younger children can pick up a foreign language easier, I want to start my children now. I just feel at a loss at what to do...I am paying $20 for a 30 minute once a week session with a tutor, but I don't feel like it is fruitful (maybe I am impatient). I also read to them in Spanish (the language we chose). My husband and I only have a HS understanding of spanish (aka not great). How do you teach your child a foreign language? Are we doing what we are supposed to to help them learn? Any recommendations? Also, at what age would your recommend Rosetta stone?

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I'm curious too. I have a 4yo and nearly 2yo twins. There is some chance that we may get the opportunity to go to China for awhile and I'd really like them to learn some Chinese anyway...but I have no idea what to do with that. I let the 4yo watch some cartoons in Chinese, but she gets mad because she can't understand it.

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For children who can not read and follow a systematic language program, I find anything that is not actual immersion a waste of time. One session per week is money out the window, IMO.

My 4 y/o became fluent in English (not our native language) comparable to 4 year old native speakers within three months of spending her mornings in a British preschool (so, adventuremom, if you end up in China, chances are your kids will speak much quicker than you)

Other young children learn the language of a foreign au pair easily if she is speaking to them daily for several hours. Children also pick up a parental language easily when spoken consistently at home.

I would recommend finding an immersion type environment for the kids where they have more constant exposure. TV can certainly help, but I would not want to plop young children in front of a TV for hours daily.

 

I would not recommend Rosetta stone at any age. It does not teach grammar, teaches limited vocabulary, and does not have a very good track record for results to justify the high price. they just have a huge advertising budget, so everybody has heard of Rosetta stone.

 

Here are three threads from this board that discuss the shortcomings of the program:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/search.php?searchid=12925252

 

Schools in countries with much better foreign language teaching than the US typically start the first foreign language when the kids have learned to read their native language fluently, for example in 3rd grade.

Edited by regentrude
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I'm not fluent in Spanish but I've been working with my daughter since she was about 1.5. If I slack off I notice the difference pretty quickly. I haven't been able to find an immersion group yet. So, my other options all come from me and my motivation. Dust off your spanish, study it yourself, and practice practice with them. You can easily work on vocabulary with your kids by just asking 'Donde esta un libro' types of questions while reading a book or just hanging out. With that age, being informal is best I think. And I can't stress 'Make it fun' enough! Being goofy with Spanish is the best way to make them enjoy it and want to use and listen to it themselves.

 

Since your spanish isn't great, get lots of dual-language books. Read the story in both languages at the same time (sometimes I do a phrase if it's harder, typically a sentence at a time). I mix it up, which language I read first. Once they're familiar with the story, use less and less English. Reading English books, substitute spanish words that you know occassionally. The more you practice and get comfortable with your level, whatever that level is, the more they'll be willing to listen. Also, if your child starts getting squirmy that you're taking too long reading a Clifford book in both languages, casually stick more to English at the end of the book. Don't be in the adult mindset that it's all or nothing....remember you don't want to turn them off.

 

Get books that are familiar to them, so they already know the storyline and aren't getting lost in the more difficult phrases. We must have close to 100 little books in Spanish by now, maybe 1/2 of which I bought used. Dr. Seuss books in spanish are great. My daughter (just turned 3) particularly loves Curious George (Jorge el curioso), Clifford, Dr. Seuss.

 

When she was much younger, books she really loved (and still does) were 'Eres tu mi mama' (Are you my Mother? Dr. Seuss), Pintura de raton (Mouse Paint), the little bilingual Cheerios books, Opuestos (Sandra Boynton's Opposites), all of the Eric Carle books are GREAT in Spanish, and the English-Spanish Foundations series by Gladys Rosa-Mendosa (look up her name on Amazon) are all just wonderful and my daughter still loves them. These are more straight-forward and the vocabulary is more palatable for little ones not exposed to much Spanish before.

 

As for immersion videos, the Little Pim series is simple and straightforward and makes my daughter giggle (we only have the French ones though). Her favorite videos by far though are the Whistlefritz ones and I can't praise them enough. The only downside is that they're taking their sweet time making more! Her favorites are called 'Spanish for Kids: Adentro y afuera', and 'Spanish for Kids: Las Estacions'. She laughs through the whole video and they're highly understandable to a beginner and very engaging.

 

Our favorite CDs to listen to in the car are by Jose-Luis Orozco, and Diez Deditos (Ten little fingers) is the biggest pleaser. You can buy a very nice book of the lyrics for each of the CDs. The lyrics books are a very worthwhile investment if you're not fluent.

 

I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but I'm thrilled you're interested in doing Spanish with your little ones. Any exposure you can give them will help in the end. Try for at least 10-15 min a day and work up from there.

 

As for Rosetta Stone, I use it with my daughter occasionally, maybe 2-4 times a month. It's fun in short bouts, but NOT designed for little ones. If you already have a copy, great, use it as a resource. If you want to work on your own spanish, I think it's a wonderful resource. But if it's mostly for your little kids, spend that money on TONS of spanish kid stuff instead. You'll be glad you did.

 

Becky

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:iagree: with regentrude and bakpak's suggestions. At that age, you will want to aim for an immersion environment rather than a formal system. For example, you could designate some days of the week as Spanish days and encourage all speech to be in Spanish. If they respond in English, smile and translate that to Spanish so they know how it's said the next time. This lays the ground for vocabulary and commonly used phrases like please, thank you and excuse me.

 

FWIW, I haven't always found that young children are faster in learning languages. They may have a slight leg up on memory, but I rather think it's their persistence (they don't mind asking for what they want dozens of times, or making mistakes) that helps. So our part is to be patient and encouraging - just something to keep in mind, in case you feel discouraged for not being a native speaker. You already can do a lot to help them get started. :001_smile:

 

ETA - there is a sticky note of resources on this subforum. If you haven't, that would be a good place to start combing for resources, e.g. libraries may carry alternative language programs or CDs. The online International Children's Library also has some foreign language books.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd like to start off by saying, you're off to a great start! :hurray: The fact that you have the willingness for your children to learn another language, and you are seeking materials/advice are steps in the right direction. Hopefully your enthusiasm will transfer to your children because excitement about foreign language/culture is, IMO, one of the biggest factors for learning that language. I know it can get overwhelming thinking that you have to offer a full immersion experience or spend lots of money on materials, but keep in mind that any amount of foreign language exposure is better than none!!

 

I grew up in a tiny town in Missouri where the only exposure I had to foreign language was counting to ten in Spanish on Sesame Street. I didn't start learning Spanish until high school, but ended up becoming fluent through a study-abroad during college. Think of how much farther ahead your children will be!! That's what I remind myself when I get frustrated that we don't spend as much time as I'd like on Spanish. We try to spend several hours per week, but then life happens. Some weeks are great and some are not.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to offer you some encouragement!!

 

Here is a link to Salsa TV. It is one of our favorite free resources!

 

Here is a link to my blog where I'm documenting our attempt at an immersion homeschool. I chose not to buy a curriculum, but to make my own for this year. I'm trying to add the lesson plans as we complete them.

 

Good luck!! Buena suerte!!

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Great question. My boys are four and two, and I want them to learn German. The irony is, it's my native language, so I could totally teach them, I just want them to get started somehow. We are currently in Germany for a month, so that's a start. I'm doing some iPad apps and then taking them for walks and talking to them, but so often it's just easier to switch to English, like when I have to yell "Stop, there's a car coming!" The Little Pim German digital download will allegedly be available this week, so they can start watching the videos.

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  • 1 month later...

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