Reading around the forum I am very fasicinated by so many mums out there who are teaching so many languages to their babies and I am particularly interested in the experience of mums teaching their babies a language (or more) that they do not know themselves.
My son is currently exposed to 4 languages - English, Swedish, Mandarin and Cantonese and these are the languages me and my husband can speak fluently. However, I am wondering whether I should introduce him to other ones e.g. very useful and widely spoken languages like spanish.
So I want to know from your experience -
How do you manage to keep up the consistent exposure required for language acquisition if you don’t know the language yourself? For some languages there maybe play groups but it may not exists at a place near you.
How can you help to reinforce the language when you child starts to speak the language and you don’t understand yourself? For example they can be mispronounce or used the wrong grammar but I will have no way of knowing.
I really appreciate any advice on the topic. I think what you guys are doing are truly inspirational!
My wife speaks one language to them, I speak another.
We use Rosetta Stone for Latin. 10-15 minutes a day does wonders. Mine was able to start it before his fifth birthday.
Thinking of using SuperMemo, which we love, to get a “Pimsleur” sort of approach toward vocabulary learning. Wife is after me to get H. started on another language. I say ancient Greek but she she wants a modern language.
Only the parents speaking the language consistently will have a hope of inculcating fluency at this point, I think. H. is not fluent in her language, but he’s now reading kids’ books independently in it as well as English.
We started off with just music in Spanish when son was a baby, then when he was 2 he went to a home day care at the neighbors where they only speak Spanish, then at 3-4 Spanish immersion preschool. He is starting kindergarten next week so we will have a tutor come over twice a week to teach him and work with his spanish reading. We also have him watch movies in Spanish. native speakers say that he understands everything they are saying, but I think he is a little weak with speaking in Spanish. We do have Rosetta Stone that we will be more consistent with once I have an idea of what I want to do with after-schooling.
I know for me, it was important that he be in an immersion environment, and I believe he is close to fluent. He will also have an opportunity to do Spanish immersion in school once he gets to 1st grade, but we may switch to a school that does Mandarin.
Things Ive noticed with him: after watching a movie or listening to music in Spanish, he has a Spanish accent for the next hour or so (makes me smile to myself). If I try to read to him in Spanish from skills I learned In Spanish 1 class in highschool, he will laugh hysterically because I’m saying the words wrong. This makes me believe I made the right choice in having native speakers teach him. He and his friend argue over who knows the most languages. His friend is part Chinese and theyve been learning mandarin together - but my Son is much more comfortable in Spanish. He told his friend “I don’t need to learn Chinese because I’m not from China! I’m a Spanish guy.” his heritage is not from South America or Spain, but he clearly feels connected with that culture and loves it and is just one of the niños. I’ve noticed that people don’t really believe that he knows Spanish, even native speakers will greet him in Spanish and then switch to English. This drives me crazy because we look for any opportunity to have him practice. We have Spanish reading time at the library and are considering going to a Spanish speaking church one Sunday a month for the language exposure too. I think you just have to find creative ways to incorporate (particularly using immersion) whatever language you want to teach. It is strange knowing your 4 yr old knows a language that you can barely speak greetings in, but it is also fascinating to hear your child communicate with others and you have no idea what they are saying!
Hola! It’s true that research shows that children who are exposed to foreign languages at an early age benefit greatly in their language and reading development. Learning at home or through Rosetta Stone sets a precedent and can be a great start, but it is a full immersion experience in the country where the language is spoken by the locals what really propels the apprehension and feeling for a foreign language (and culture!). There are many Spanish language schools abroad hosting programs of different time frames, for different age groups and language levels. AMAUTA SPANISH SCHOOL is an expert in the field of teaching Spanish to kids and teenagers with custom designed fun classes in either Buenos Aires, Argentina or Cusco, Peru. Many families have opted to combine a holiday with the opportunity to learn Spanish and give their children that extra step ahead. On this page http://www.spanishschoolsblog.com/spanish-blog/2012/08/31/spanish-for-kids-an-unforgettable-family-experience-abroad/ you can read some testimonials of families and children that have followed a course at AMAUTA. More details about the program can be found here: http://www.amautaspanish.com/spanish-and-immersion/spanish-courses/spanish-for-families-53.html For those interested I sincerely hope that this information was useful. What better way to study Spanish than in combination with a fun program of cultural activities and travel in South America!
