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Game plan?


C_l_e_0..Q_c
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I feel silly having to ask this, since I have already gotten two kids to pretty much bilingual status, but I just can't come up with a plan of action to do the same with Spanish.

See, English was sorta easy. I'm fluent in the language, and we live in a bilingual part of town. I can easily find activities in English for the kids, so they're more or less in immersion.

But now, they're starting Spanish. There's NO Spanish around us. Even the language schools don't have classes for kids! Yet, it's the main language that kids learn in high school, after English. Most private high schools will have kids trilingual at the end, like I used to be. Now I have to achieve something like this at home.

My own Spanish isn't good enough to lead them to bilingualism. So what's my long term plan???

 

How does one get a child to fluency when there's no one around to provide immersion?

Edited by CleoQc
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But they are pretty inconvenient...

 

A tutor

An au pair paire?

DVDs, preferably favourite ones so the children understand the Spanish

Cable TV

Youtube videos

Penpals

Camp in Spain

AFS

Online classes

Exchange student for a semester or year of college

You try speaking it at home and ask lots of questions about how to say things here... GRIN

You give up and start again lots of times

You pick a few days a week or times a week and speak Spanish during them

Yellow stickies all over the house with labels

Peacewalking or some other sort of volunteering

 

Personally, I plan to have my youngest do community college Spanish at the end of high school and then leave him to achieve fluency on his own after that. I'm rather hoping at that point that I will have the time to do it with him and then we can speak it at home and have that help. We won't be fluent, but I've sort of given up on fluent and am hoping for able to understand and communicate. Sigh.

-Nan

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something else that there might be, is using an email program in the language...

 

I use gmail in French... so all my directions are in French, and there is spell check in French...I know there is German...don't know about Spanish but probably it exists....

 

We're trying for trilingual with German, though it is still on the back burner so to speak. I know that not everyone likes Rosetta Stone, but it is getting my daughter speaking it....my son who is older...less so. It does form a good base imho...

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I plan to send mine to Russia for some time (exchange student,...), once they have the foundations (RS and tutor). However, once they get to a point where they can enjoy the language (use it), I will give them some choice in how much further they want to take it and not force them to go.

My English used to be terrible, until I spent half a year at a Californian High School. It also helped me to like the language (up to then I thought French was way more beautiful!).

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I know that not everyone likes Rosetta Stone, but it is getting my daughter speaking it....my son who is older...less so. It does form a good base imho...

 

Do you think Rosetta Stone can lead to bilingualism? I don't know, I've never used it. It seems a lot of money for just a few words here and there, but I may be wrong.

 

But thanks for the idea about software. I'll switch my kids to Spanish Webkinz ;-) That should give them a push!

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Quote - Do you think Rosetta Stone can lead to bilingualism? I don't know, I've never used it. It seems a lot of money for just a few words here and there, but I may be wrong.

 

For us it is the base to get them used to hearing the words and being required to answer...that seems like the basis for children who are immerged....they hear the language...don't always know everything they hear...are required to answer...etc....

 

But then there is all the work of studying the grammar, etc, which comes more easily once they already have this language base.

 

so there is:

 

1. exposure to sounds...words....etc...(at this point, unless it is a parent, you will probably waste money with a tutor as there is too much lost time...)

 

----tapes of songs, stories (read aloud), etc Help Your Child with a Foreign Language by Opal Dunn has good ideas..

 

2. response to simple questions....

 

3. study of grammar, vocab, ortho, conj, reading, writing, etc. - formal program

 

4. then all the real life situations for vocabulary development to add on to the formal study ... and here are more ideas that I realize I did with mine...

 

--subscribe to a magazine in the language in a subject that interests them...for my son it is a nature magazine...for daughter...horse magazine (that we can actually get out of the library now)...

 

--try cooking...call up a recipe in Spanish and then cook with them....trying to speak Spanish the whole time

 

--focus on one real life area at a time and try to work on the vocab and phrases for that - like house cleaning! garden work...shopping....etc one area at a time for as long as you need or can hold their attention...

 

With all the Spanish speakers in the US, there is probably a wealth of materials hiding on some websites...

 

I would have liked to do the one parent one language approach but it was not possible for us...some things we have to learn together and my hubby hates to be left out of a conversation...

Edited by Joan in Geneva
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I *don't* think Rosetta Stone will lead to bilingualism. We use it here to give my son confidence in his vocabulary.

 

I have since found livemocha.com, which is a FREE website that teaches basically the same way as Rosetta Stone but is better because your speaking and writing are actually evaluated by native speakers of the language rather than a computer. They send you weekly progress reports, as well.

 

I would say try livemocha and see if you like it. Also, if your kids play games on the computer, try playing in Spanish. Turn on the Spanish language option on their favorite dvds. This way, they already know the story-line; it's not as frustrating as watching something they haven't seen before.

 

It would be worth your while to try to find some spanish-speaking kids; my son's spanish has improved IMMENSELY this way. If you can get an Au pair, do it!

 

Read easy-readers in spanish, too.

 

I'll let you know if I think of anything else!

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Maybe they have it in Spanish...

 

These CD-ROMS for native speaking children require answering by the child and give them a lot of vocabulary exposure. (but would not be good for older ones)...

 

Now in French other publishing houses have lots of CD-ROMs for learning French - conjugation, etc, etc. And learning German via French which gives practice in both languages - so probably Spanish and French as well...

 

We don't use these nearly as much as we used to but they were an important part of the early work for younger children...

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from the Canary Islands, where we just were....

 

They cook small boiling potatoes in almost half their weight of salt til their skin is all wrinkled and they get chewy...and serve them with a "mojo" sauce....Mojo sauces can be red or green and there are lots of different recipes and are sometimes called salsas but don't resemble the Mexican variety I know...(they probably have these in other Spanish speaking countries, but I don't have any experience)...

 

For the potatoes called "papas arrugas" with a spicy red sauce...

 

http://www.enfemenino.com/w/receta/r744/papas-arrugas-con-mojo-picon.html

 

Or a cilantro based green sauce...

 

http://www.guiatenerife.com/recetario/recetasview.asp?key=Mojo+de+Cilantro

 

These mojo sauces are great on grilled or fried fish, with bread, fried goat cheese, etc, etc. Every restaurant seemed to have their unique recipe and some have LOADS of garlic...

 

Have fun,

Joan

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But now, they're starting Spanish. There's NO Spanish around us. Even the language schools don't have classes for kids! Yet, it's the main language that kids learn in high school, after English. Most private high schools will have kids trilingual at the end, like I used to be.

 

If there are high schools in your area that are teaching Spanish, could you find a tutor for them? Either a teacher or an advanced student? I just say that because after living here in NS for 12 years and having NEVER heard anyone speak Spanish, we still decided last year to make Spanish our modern language study for now. The DAY after we decided, we were at church and in the bulletin, a family was featured, and the husband was from Nicaragua!! They'd only been at church for a few weeks, so I didn't know them. I made a beeline for him and introduced myself. He was very happy to hear how much we wanted to start Spanish, and offered to help us. I also went to the area multicultural festival a few months later, and the brand new Hispanic Society was featured there!! A lady at the booth said there are lots of Spanish speakers in Halifax - I'd just never run into them. Now the society is hosting Spanish classes. I think they also have get togethers, which anyone is welcome to attend. And this guy at church lived in Montreal for 15 years, so maybe there's a community you could tap into there? We ended up recommending him to another family whose daughter was going to Paraguay for 2 weeks, to give her some basic Spanish skills for that trip.

 

All that to say, perhaps there are some untapped resources in your area?

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