Category: Foreign Languages

iPhone/iPad/iPod ebook App: The Red Apple (in 9 languages! for ages 3-9)

The Red Apple ebook for iPhone, iPad and iPod by Winged Chariot.

This is a charming story that can be read or listened to in 9 languages!  That’s not a typo folks!  The ebook has language options for:  English, Turkish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Japanese.  I actually tried the app out in Spanish … you know, I have been studying for almost two years now.  Sadly, I have not studied hard enough because it was a little difficult for me to understand but it was helpful that the words are in Spanish and the female narrator has a beautiful accent worth emulating.  I will make my kids check it out in Spanish.

I reverted to the English version for the book review.  Interestingly, the narrator for the English version is male with a slight Brit accent which is lovely!  The illustrations are gorgeous and translate well even on my iPhone screen.  It’s such a lovely story about an elusive red apple high in a tree in winter in which rabbit has to enlist all his other animal friends to help him get the apple.  Even though the animals would eat each other in real life, they are friends in this book and get along happily.  They all even eat apples!  It’s a lovely and simple story.  Once you get the gist in one language, why not try it out in another that you are learning?!

It’s $1.99 at iTunes.  Perfect for ages 3-9.  Even older for those who want to test their foreign language skills!

Jul 19, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

Learn Alphabet in Spanish: Fun for Preschoolers! (and Free!)

Spanish Flashcards has a great post from the CleverLittlePeas.  It’s a uTube video of the alphabet in Spanish.  It’s fun for kids and best of all, it’s free.

The Clever Little Peas remind me of Veggie Tales except they teach foreign languages among other things.  The voices are very similar, as is the tone.  Fun stuff!  Especially for the preschool set.

Thanks Spanish Flashcards!  And also thank you to CleverLittlePeas!

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Jun 25, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

FREE and FUN Web Game: Spanish Vowels for Kids

From my friends at Spanish Playground, a great FUN and FREE web game to learn Spanish vowel sounds.  Thanks Spanish Playground!!!

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This is an online activity in which children listen for specific Spanish vowel sounds in words. It is intended for native speakers of Spanish, but is also excellent for Spanish language learners. In order to be able to pronounce the Spanish vowels correctly, a child has to be able to hear them, and this activity is good practice. It also uses common Spanish vocabulary and reinforces that vocabulary with pictures.

Click here to play. You will follow these simple steps.

  1. Click on the pencil. If you hover you will hear haz click aquí which means “click here.”
  2. You will hear Vamos a jugar con tus primeras letras.   Las vocales: a, e, i, o, u (Let’s play with your first letters. The vowels: a, e, i, o, u.)
  3. If you want to review the vowel sounds you can hover over the letters on the blackboard to hear them and repeat the sounds.
  4. Click on the radio on the bookshelf. You will hear escuchamos las vocales(we listen to the vowels.)
  5. You will hear haz click en sí o no si escuchas la letra de color en …(Click on yes or no if you hear the colored letter in …)
  6. Below the sí and no, the five vowels are listed.  One of them is a color other than gray.  You are listening for that vowel sound in the word. You can hear the word again by hovering over the speaker.  The picture on the right represents the word you hear.
  7. Say the sound of the vowel that you are listening for (the one in color) with your child.  Then hover over the speaker and listen and repeat the word.  If you hear the sound anywhere in the word, click sí.  If you don’t hear the sound, click  no.
  8. If you are right, the picture pops and disappears, and one of the toys goes into the toy box.  If you make a mistake, a buzzer will sound.

The vowels sounds are essential to Spanish pronunciation.  Hearing the Spanish vowels your child will learn how to pronounce them. This is an important step in learning to speak Spanish.

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Jun 14, 2010 | 2 comments View Post

Simon Says in Spanish – Fun Way to Learn Parts of Body!

I really like Spanish Playground which is a blog for learning Spanish that is geared for children.  It’s on my blog roll in the footer.

I wanted to share a recent post on Playing Simon Says in Spanish as a fun way to teach parts of the body.  The words including verbs are on the blog.

This is is from Spanish Playground but please check out the blog to see the accompanying video:

Simon Says, or Simón dice in Spanish, teaches children words for body parts and can also teach common Spanish verbs and other vocabulary. The person who is “Simon” should do the actions as she calls them out. If the children are not sure of the Spanish, they can see the action and it clarifies the language. Children quickly learn the Spanish commands and can take the role of “Simon” too.

There are several ways to give commands in Spanish. One common structure is to use the infinitive, or base form, of the verb.  This is a good choice when playing this game with Spanish language learners because it is grammatically correct when speaking to a group or to one other person (other command forms change).  Also, children hear and learn the Spanish infinitive, and it is easy for them to produce correctly when they take the part of “Simon.”

To say “touch” use the verb tocar. For example:

Simón dice tocar la cabeza.     Simon says touch your head.

Simón dice tocar la naríz.        Simon says touch your nose.

Simón dice tocar el pie.            Simon says touch your foot.

This is a great game for teaching verbs.  Here are some that you can act out playing this game:

Simón dice…

correr – run

comer – eat

dormir – sleep

beber – drink

leer – read

escribir – write

saltar – jump

cantar – sing

aplaudir – clap

Verbs can be combined with body parts to make other instructions.  Try these:

Simón dice:

cerrar los ojos – close your eyes

abrir la boca – open your mouth

lavarse las manos – wash your hands

lavarse los dientes – brush your teeth

poner las manos arriba – put your hands up

Jun 02, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

How To: Pronounce Mandarin Chinese Pinyin (cheat sheet)

From English Guide

“I want to learn Chinese but just give me the basics!”

That’s what this Chinese pronunciation guide is all about. It’s all that you need to know about the pinyin system of Chinese pronunciation to get by.

The 80% that’s important. (Spend 20% of time to learn the 80% that’s important.)

Continued from Part 1, learn Chinese pronunciation, the 4 tones…

1. Consonants

There are 24 consonants in pinyin which are pronounced a lot like in English.

b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s, y, w

Learn Chinese pronunciation of Consonants

b as in boy

p as in pine

m as in mother

f as in food

d as in dig

t as in talk

n as in none

l as in loud

g as in good

k as in kid

ng as in song

h as in hot

j as in jeep

q like “ch” in cheat

x like a sound between the “s” in see and the “sh” in she

zh like “dg” in sludge

ch as in children

sh as in shake

r as in raw

z like “ds” in words

c like “ts” in eats

s as in son

y as in Yao Ming

w as in we

2. Vowels

There are 6 simple vowels.

a, o, e, i, u, ü

Learn Chinese pronunciation of Vowels

- a as in mama

- o as in drop

- e as in

- I as in sit

- U as in look

- ü like the u in the French rue

3. Vowel Combinations

In Chinese pronunciation, basic vowels can form vowel combinations with each other or with a nasal consonant.

Learn Chinese pronunciation of Vowel Combinations

- ai like eye

- an sounds like “ah” with an emphatic “n” at the end (NOT like “an” in can)

- ang sounds like “ah” with a soft “ng” (NOT like “ang” in hang)

- ao is like “ao” in Tao

- ei is like “ay” in bay

- en is like “u” in sun

- eng is like “ung” in sung

- er like “ur” in purse

- ia is like ya

- iang is like young

- ie is like yeah

- iu is like the “ou” in you

- ian like yen

- iao is like “eow” in meow

- in as in “in” in gin

- ing as in “ing” in sing

- iong is like pinyin “yong”

- ong is like “ong” in kong

- ou is like “ow” in low

- ua is like “ua” in guava

- uan like one

- uang like “oo” + ang

- ui is like way

- un is like “wou” in would and ending in “n” sound (woon)

- uo sounds like “wo” as in wall

- uai is like why

- ua is like “wa”

- üan like yuan and written without two dots

- üe is like “yue” (”we” in “wet”)

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May 08, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

Preschoolers: Learn Chinese Through Nursery Rhyme Book & CD

I saw this on a blog somewhere in cyberspace and I wanted to try it out with my kids.  My Chinese tutor really likes this book because songs and nursery rhymes are a great way to expose kids to Chinese.  The nursery rhymes are familiar to English speakers which makes this a really appealing book to toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary school students.  The Chinese nursery rhymes have both phonetics, Chinese characters and English along with Chinese cultural information and full color illustrations.

If you don’t speak Chinese, a good way to use this book would be to play the CD and have your child follow along with the book until the songs are familiar.  Then just play the songs (even download the CD into your iPod) and play as often as possible.  If you sing songs as part of a bedtime routine, you can also play the CD or just sing the songs.  The authors did a great job on the CD.  The sound quality is great, and the singers have appealing voices with nice instrumental accompaniment.

I could see this book and CD being used in a classroom environment, especially if there is a unit on China or Chinese New Year at Preschool.  I also volunteer in the classroom and bring in Asian culture either through a (very) mini foreign language-through-song presentation.  This would be perfect because it’s visual and audio in one easy package!

This is a really well done book and I highly recommend it.  $11.53 currently at Amazon.

For other posts on learning Chinese, please see Introducing Kids to Foreign Languages and NY Times article on schools keeping Chinese in their curriculum but not other languages.  There is also a great memory/bingo game for Chinese called Kingka. For other resources to help your children learn Chinese, see the footer titled Foreign Langauges that has some great websites.

To buy this book, please click on the image of the book OR

buy at The PragmaticMom store under Foreign Language.  Thank you!

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Apr 28, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

Bingo & Memory Game to Learn Chinese (ages 3-99): Kingka

Do my children LOVE to learn Chinese? No. But they do tolerate it. Especially after I switched them from a class to private lessons. They also are learning Spanish which they started first. Do my children LOVE to learn Spanish? Well…they do like it better than Chinese because after 4 years, I managed to put together semi-private lessons with their friends adhering to very strict requirements:

– my oldest didn’t mind being paired with her friend a grade younger who has to be better at Spanish. Luckily, she is as she’s lived in Spain for 15 months and is fluent.

– my middle wants to be better than her friend. That was ok with her friend who actually LOVES to learn Spanish and has now completely caught up.

– my youngest just wants to play games but he must WIN all of them ALL THE TIME!

So, keeping my kids engaged in learning Chinese is a struggle. Games help!

The nice people at Kingka gave me their game to try out. I have a lovely Chinese tutor who my kids like a lot. She keeps them motivated by sticker charts that earn small prizes plus stickers for each lesson well done. She also gives them homework. I don’t speak Chinese (1 year Chinese school flunk out), so I had my tutor play Kingka with the kids. She really likes this game.

It’s Bingo at two levels. For those learning Chinese characters, you can use the bingo tiles with picture, phonetic chinese, plus the word in Spanish and French thrown in for good measure. Therefore the elephant card has: a color photo of an elephant AND xiang, elefante, elephant, and elephant written around the edges of the pictures. (please forgive me as I can’t do all the accents on those words correctly). When you flip the tile over, the Chinese character for elephant is on the back. Then you match this tile to the bingo card with… a photo of an elephant. There are 54 basic Chinese character to master in this game.

If you get good, you can use the tiles with just the Chinese Character on it. There is a second set of tiles just for that. (We’re not there yet!).

Now, you can also play this game as a memory match game if you tire of the Bingo format. Pretty nifty!

This game won every award on the planet: Dr. Toy Best Product Winner for 2007, 2008 National Parenting Publications Award, 2007 Creative Child Magazine Award, Mom’s Choice Award and iParenting 2007 Excellent Product Award. It really is a good product. It’s $24.29.

Will my kids play this on their own? I do not lie. No.

But they will once a week during their lesson and it makes for a fun lesson!

To purchase this game, please click on the image of the game OR

go to the PragmaticMom store and look under Product Reviews. Thank You!

If your kids are learning Chinese, please see my other post on Introducing Kids to Foreign Languages that has other products that we have tried out and liked. I also have a post from the NY Times on how schools are not teaching other languages but are keeping or adding Chinese to their curriculum.

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Apr 27, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

Preschoolers Learn Spanish through CDs

A reader had asked for Spanish CD suggestions for children.  I happened to be at Lakeshore Learning, a teachers’ supply store, where I bought a really good one a long time ago and it was still there!

I can’t find it on Amazon but it’s called:

Ole! Ole! Ole! by Dr. Jean in Espanol.  I like it because, while one of the singers has a slightly annoying voice, the music  is really vocabulary drills disguised as songs.  Hence titles include:  The Days of the Week, The Months of the Year, and my personal favorite, Opposites.  The CD is pricey at $19.99 but it is a great way to learn Spanish vocabulary.

The second CD I saw at Lakeshore that looks great, but I haven’t tested it out, is called:

Bilingual Barnyard:  Granjera Bilingue, Spanish and English Songs for Early Listeners.  The CD is discontinued and no longer sold at Amazon but you can buy MP3 Downloads from Amazon or iTunes or buy the CD from Lakeshore Learning (www.lakeshorelearning.com).  The songs are American nursery rhymes set to music in English and Spanish.

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Mar 10, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

How To: Teach Two or More Languages at Home

Here  are some tips for those able to introduce more than one foreign language to your kids at home.  It’s from Cantarima, makers of foreign languages DVDs.

Tips on Promoting Two or More Languages at Home from Cantarima

http://www.cantarima.com/LanguageatHomewithChildren.html

In today’s increasingly multicultural world, many children hear two or more languages being spoken on a daily basis.  Studies have shown that children that grow up with more than one language outperform their peers in verbal and non-verbal skills, and perform better on standardized tests.  Plus as they become adults, they will have competitive advantages in the workplace.  So how should parents encourage language development of two or more languages?

Here are tips for parents to promote multi-language learning in children:

  1. Make sure the children hear all languages as often as possible inside and outside the home.
  2. Parents should use the language they know best (usually their native language), and should find as many opportunities as possible to use the language with the children. Parents may have a different common language with each other.  If one parent chooses to speak more than one language to the children, the languages should be differentiated by specific and consistent usages (for example, one language in the house and the second in public).
  3. Consistency is important; if one parent is going to speak a second language at home, for example, that parent should speak that language in all situations. Switching to another language to reprimand, for instance, would cause negative associations.
  4. Mixing of languages by children is common as they acquire vocabulary; parents should not criticize, but help them learn the appropriate words to complete sentences in one language.
  5. Language development varies amongst children, and learning multiple languages may slow verbal development; however follow your intuition about your child’s progress and talk to your doctor if you feel your child is not progressing as he/she should, to eliminate hearing loss or other developmental issues.
  6. A supportive and varied language-learning environment, including books, music, videos, etc. will help children develop their language skills more fully.
  7. Developing a social environment outside of home that supports the language, such a playgroup with other children that speak the same languages, will provide additional language reinforcement as well as invaluable interpersonal communication skills.
  8. Caregivers and grandparents can successfully introduce language to children, when given ample time to develop their language relationship with them.
  9. Understanding the native language of one’s parents and caregivers is an important part of children’s cultural heritage and sense of community.   Parents should look for ways to reinforce the cultural aspects of their heritage, which will in turn enrich their language development, for example by going to an ethnic music and dance festival.

BabyAge.com

Mar 09, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

Save 25%: DVD of Spanish Children’s Songs for 6 mos+

So Smart!  Baby’s Beginnings:  Spanish.  For 6 Months plus.

I asked So Smart! if they would send me their Spanish DVDs to try out and they were nice enough to send me Baby’s Beginnings: Spanish.  It so happened that today is our Spanish lesson day and I pick my tutor up from the subway stop near my house, so I was able to play the DVD in my car (of course, the screen is behind us so we can’t see anything) to ask her about the accents.  (That is all I care about; just get my kids to pronounce the words with a decent accent.)  She said that the speakers in this DVD are from Latin America (which is great because Spain has a more pronounced accent that sounds  a little “lispy”) but that it’s a country-neutral accent that she likes.

So…this is what we both like about the DVD; I did watch it at my house:

  • Native speakers with country-neutral accent!  Very important and a great introduction for young ones!
  • 16 Latin American children’s songs that are catchy and fun to listen to.
  • Singing voices are both pleasant and well enunciated. I’ve been studying Spanish myself for just over a year and I’m conversational but just barely, and it was easy to understand the words in the songs and I can translate some of them, but not all.
  • The animation is very simplistic and shape oriented which makes this perfect for infants and toddlers…the DVD says 6 months plus but will not appeal to an older audience.  My 5-year-old was not interested in it.

In my blog entry about Introducing a Foreign Language to Your Kids, I also recommended International Baby’s Let’s Sing Together, English and Spanish.  This is another good DVD for infants and toddlers but all the songs are American nursery rhymes.
The images in this DVD is more similar to the Baby Einstein DVDs which uses toys as props.  These two DVDs, in combination, are a nice balance.  So Smart! gives your child a feel for Latin American songs, and your child will naturally translate the Spanish songs from International Baby to English because the songs are so familiar.  I personally would use them both.

The So Smart! folks were kind enough to include a coupon if you are interested in purchasing:

Enter promo code:  Blog5 at SoSmart.com to receive 25% off.

You can also purchase here by clicking on the image or

from the PragmaticMom store to the right.  You can use same promo code.

Mar 04, 2010 | 0 comments View Post
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