How to keep languages going when LR curriculum finished?

HI
I have a question - when you finish a language program (and even when you are still going) - how do you keep going with the languages? Especially the ones that you, yourself don’t speak? Our local libraries don’t stock many books in other languages, and even if they did - there’s no way I can read Chinese and French, although I also watch all the lessons on LR together with my baby - I wouldn’t be able to string two words together, I even pick the slides wrong all the time in Chinese in the Games part, and my pronunciation is so wrong (no matter how I try) in both Chinese and French that I don’t even want to try in fear that my baby learns wrong.
Can anyone share their tricks please

Hi,

I have been doing some research on this topic. Here are some links to products supporting French and Chinese learning. I have also seen a video in Youtube of a non-native child reading Chinese book but can not seem to find it now.

Kristiina

CHINESE LINKS

Little Pim Chinese (Manadarin) https://www.littlepim.com/languages-for-kids/learn-chinese/

Chinese children program in Youtube: 巧虎
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=巧虎&oq=巧虎&aq=f&aqi=g7&aql=&gs_sm=12&gs_upl=63226l63226l0l65480l1l1l0l0l0l0l50l50l1l1l0

Twingle twingle little star in Chinese in Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6l-D0Txxg0&list=PL08891952B8C8C5CC

FRENCH LINKS

Little Pim French https://www.littlepim.com/languages-for-kids/learn-french/

Your Baby Can Learn! Read in French http://yourbabycanread.ca/products/your-baby-can-read-french-3-dvds

THanks a lot for these links Kristina. Are you teaching your kids languages you don’t speak and understand yourself? If yes - how do you go about when they actually start speaking those languages? Asking because when I teach languages I know - Spanish, Russian and English (of course :slight_smile: I correct her when she says something wrong (grammar) and this helps her learn them, and sometimes she says the words themselves incorrectly to the point that they are unrecognizable and it takes a while to understand which word she is trying to say and to correct it. But how do you go about these hurdles when you don’t know the language? How do you know she’s learning and using them correctly?
Thanks

This is an excellent question. I’d like to know as well.

Hi,

We are also learning Chinese and our situation is similar to yours because we don’t know the language by ourselfs. Our journey is just beginning, so we don’t have ready answers yet. We are now at the lesson 80 in LittleReader Chinese. After it is completed I’m planning to keep introducing Chinese language at least weekly in the form of DVDs or songs. I’m also thinking of having Skype meetings with someone who would be able to speak Chinese with us.

I can tell our little one is learning the language because he showed enthuasm when seeing a Chinese man talking to his son in a mall. My son also tried speaking to me in Chinese and he seems puzzled when I am unable to understand him. I’m thinking you can maybe teach the basic vocabulary and pronounication using software but would need a fluent speaker to really teach using the language and filling in the gaps. Hopefully someone who is further ahead could help us with this topic :slight_smile:

Kristiina

It is adorable that your child tries to speak to you in another language. That is a really good sign. Some suggestions below on how to move on. Organizing play dates with native speakers of the language. PPTV.com offers unlimited showing of programs in Mandarin eg Dora, Maisy Mouse, bob builder etc etc. You can find Little Einstein in French on utube. I researched and found that the Rosetta Stone language series are one of the best - this will be more suitable for older kids maybe?

Most of the people who had great language success and didn’t speak that language themselves found a regular opportunity for their child to interact with another native speaker in Hagar language. So you might hire a bilingual babysitter/nanny or find a kindergarten that is run in your language of choice or yes even a regular Skype chat. The children need a reason to use the language they have learnt. Sometimes languages can be improved through learning to read the language, then books can take the place of the tutor to some degree.
There are lots of language resources out there for children in the top languages (French, English, Chinese, German etc) but it gets harder if your chosen language happens to be Japanese or Croatian…
Hope that helps.

Kristina and Mandabplus3 - how many languages do you show in LR per day, do you do each one twice a day and if not - how do you do it? Sometimes my baby (8m) gets disinterested half way through the lesson, and if few attempts hasn’t brought her back I stop the lesson, but then I drop this half-daily lesson and next time (same day) I show it to her I start with the second half of the daily lesson. My older one 3,8 y.o only manages only 1 half-lesson a day for each of 2 languages that I show (English and Spanish - we do Russian with cards and books only), and I drop other half a lesson completely and next day I continue with the next lesson. She is so much into pretend play at the moment that I am happy to leave her play and let her develop imagination. She gets stroppy if I interrupt her play for lessons and I want them to be enjoyable and not a chore. She only plays in English though, and even when I bring Spanish or Russian Playdate for her - they keep speaking English and I have to keep reminding them to switch the language (almost every 15 minutes)
What are your experiences please?

How many lessons you can show a day varies by child. If you have iaccess and go out it is prettying easy to sneak in lesson while they are in their car seats. This is how we got through LR English and how we are now getting through Spanish. I only ever aimed for one lesson a day in a each of the curriculums. I felt my kids didn’t need the second one as they payed attention well.
I almost never interrupt my kids “play time” for lessons. I use transition times between activities to show them. So they. it have breakfast then immediately see a lesson before they go off to play. Or we will watch one in bed before lights out. I am a firm believer in letting kids play. :thumbsup:
Try not to worry about how much they see each day, it is more important to do something consistently than to get quantity in.
Definitely keep reminding the play date children to play in the other language. You might be able to trigger this naturally by playing kids music in the language you want them to play in in the background. If they continue to speak in English together it will be a hard habit to break so get onto that quick.