Help with almost 4 year old.

[Guest punkiedog99]

I was hoping I could get some insight. Our oldest is almost four, and has been learning ASL since he was a baby. He absolutely loves being able to learn this new language, and we as a family, have enjoyed being able to communicate in a new way. We plan on continuing to learn together as he constantly asks for new signs.

 

Recently, though, DH and I realized that maybe we should be introducing our sons to another spoken language. The problem is that neither of us are fluent in anything. DH has studied four years of French and can carry on a basic conversation. I studied nine years of Spanish, and failed miserably in high school when I tried to start French, and quickly switched back to Spanish. I have lost most of my ability to converse in it, and really can just read these days beyond a few simple phrases.

 

So we are toren on which language to introduce as neither of us feels competent to teach let alone speak at this point, though we both do realize that we will be learning along side DS and hopefully picking it back up. Since we won't be speaking to him and will be relearning ourselves, I thought that we should start with a DVD. But I don't know where to start given his younge age.

 

I would love any thoughts/advice on which language and what products might be useful for someone his age. Thanks.

[Rosie_0801]

ASL is a perfectly legitimate language. There is more to it than lexical items, so find a way to include those elements or it's not ASL, just keyword signing. However, if you guys want to start something new and think he's of a mind to enjoy it, go for it!

 

Since you don't seem drawn to any language in particular, investigate your neighbourhood for bilingual playgroups that can develop into Saturday School type arrangements. That way you can get the native instruction from someone else, and work together at home with the various dvds and things that can be obtained. I recommend trying for one of the official UN languages if you have a choice.

 

Rosie

[Ariston]

DVD's have not been very useful for teaching my kids language. At most they've picked up a few words. In my opinion, they need to be spoken to to pick up language--especially at your son's age.

 

I'm in a different boat than you in that I grew up in a bilingual household and can converse with someone somewhat easily in Spanish. BUT I am far from fluent, make a TON of mistakes, and was very insecure about speaking to my kids because I thought I'd be teaching them all wrong.

 

Do you have the pronunciation down in Spanish (or French)? If so I can tell you what I've done that has worked really well so far. I started by teaching my kids a lot of vocabulary. This can be done while speaking in English, and just using the Spanish word for something. ("Would you like leche or agua to drink?") Also my son happens to love flash cards, so we use those. And I almost forgot, Usborne 100 and then 1000 Words in Spanish has been extremely helpful!!! All of this was very helpful in building up their vocab, but it would obviously never teach them the syntax or anything else. So I made a list of the PHRASES that I most commonly use in different parts of the house and put a list on the wall, where I could see it easily to remind myself a) to speak in Spanish, and b) the correct grammar of what I wanted to say.

 

Think about it...how many times a day do you say "Put on your boots" or "Have you made a pee pee?" Maybe I'm just a little too repetitive:tongue_smilie:, but I find that I am mostly saying the same things over and over (especially to children your son's age.) I mean you aren't discussing rocket science...its mostly "What would you like to eat?" and "time for bed." Isn't it? So now, I just say all of those phrases in Spanish, instead of English. It works wonderfully. The kids pick it up quickly, and I don't feel insecure because I know I'm using the correct grammar and not just making something up on the fly which might or might not be wrong.

 

Also, I find that this really approximates how a child would learn if the parent was fluent...they are learning by being spoken to, in a very natural way. I am not demanding that they speak back to me, and just am letting it develop in its own natural way. For instance, if I ask my son "Donde esta tu hermana?" he'll give me an appropriate answer me in English. But if I ask him "What does hermana mean", he probably couldn't tell me. That's fine with me--he's understanding the word in context, and some part of his brain obviously knows the word, even if he isn't able consciously translate it yet, which I think is a different skill. Another example: My daughter will say "Tienes hambre" instead of "Tengo hambre" because that's what she's used to hearing. I figure that's just the equivalent of a baby saying "Me hungry"....which we wouldn't correct. I figure it will iron itself out eventually. Also I never make them have forced conversations like "what is your name?" "My name is..." I did try, but it was like pulling teeth. I find that they are talking more and more on their own. I try to make it seem like something cool--some extra skill that they have--instead of something with a lot of pressure attached to it.

 

I guess my point with all of this is that I looked at more formal ways of teaching Spanish--DVDs, workbooks, etc., but from my experience none of them could ever hope to teach more than the colors, numbers, etc. Since I've been using the phrases in daily life, I've seen that my kids Spanish has really exploded. Every week I try to include more phrases. Its a constant struggle for me to try to remember to use them, but it has really paid off. And I really feel like they are learning 'real' Spanish instead of just numbers and colors.

 

To get the phrases, first I spent a few days listening to myself and jotting down the most common phrases. (Take off/put on your shoes/jacket...; what do you want to eat; stand up; sit down; its time for bed; put your clothes in the hamper; etc. etc.) Then I went about finding translations for them, either online or in books (or asking my parents.) I have since found an awesome book that has just about everything you'd ever say to your kids in it. It is even geared towards homeschoolers and has a section on 'school at home' where the first phrase is "The bus just went by." :) Its called Kid Stuff Spanish. http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Stuff-Spanish-Therese-Slevin/dp/0960614028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287831512&sr=8-1 There are so many phrases in it, and they are almost all really useful. It has really helped me to think of even more ways to speak Spanish with them. (Such as when playing a board game "Its your turn." "Roll the dice.") The book is available in French, too, by the way.

 

I find it ridiculously expensive for a little book ($20), but I own a LOT of kids Spanish books, and this (along with the Usborne 1000 Words) has been by far the most useful, so its worth it. There is another book that is cheaper and has the same idea: Ana Lomba's Play and Learn Spanish. But there are many fewer phrases in that book, and I can never seem to find exactly what I want to say or something that sounds natural to me.

 

So my advice would be to just start doing it and I think you'll be surprised at how easy it is to work a few phrases in throughout the day. I can't even remember the last time I said "put on your shoes" or "hold my hand" in English. I mean its definitely not the same as having a parent that is fluent and able to teach more subtleties, but in my opinion its a lot better than nothing...and its also the best I can offer. When they're older I plan on teaching grammar more formally, and I'm hoping that all this will lead to fluency. For right now, this is really helping their oral skills develop.

[Ariston]

Also I forgot to mention...the other indispensable thing for us has been music. My kid have picked up a lot of grammar from from listening to Spanish music. We listen to them every time we're in the car and the repetition has helped. Also sometimes we will play a game where my son has to try to hear 20 words that he recognizes. (We do this while watching Spanish cartoons, too.) This gets him actively listening to the words.

Hth,

Elena

[TinyTraveler]

Our DD (3 yrs) likes watching Dora the Explorer in English/Spanish, and I think it is a cute way to intro. the concept of different languages. She has picked up several words and likes to use them when she can with us. As this would be her 3rd language I am only feeding her some vocabulary at the moment. She already understands about different lanugages because she speaks Arabic and English equally. Since English is the minority language in our house I use flash cards, watch cartoons, Sesame street clips from Youtube.com (there are some in spanish), reading lot of books, picture books so that I can point to the picture of the nouns while I read. The action words I almost act out while reading the stories to her.

 

Here is a spanish program for small kids:

http://www.spanishtown.ca/spanishforkids/grade1/monthlyvocabulary/month3activities/audio-formas.htm

 

This one if for adults but you can make lists of words and get the native speakers to teach you how to say them (free).

http://www.byki.com/

 

 

Mighty Books Jr. has books that have audio so that he can hear things being said in spanish. Could still be free if you use the code "Learntoread"

http://www.mightybookjr.com/Sample_Books.php

 

If you have Disney DVDs look to see if they have where you can change the language in the set up section. Usually it is spanish or french. Depending on where you live you might be able to change the audio of your TV programs (this depends on your TV and wether the TV channel offers it).

 

I think the key is to let them see that there is a use for the language. Hope that I have been a help.