TIME is the #1 obstacle

for a mom entrepreneur’s success,

that is why it is critical not to waste it with

the wrong curriculum for your type of

setting.

 

So before you spend more precious time

wondering what curriculum to purchase or

writing your own, you may want to

understand the three major goals you

need to achieve with your curriculum. [Read more…]

During the years, I have become more and more suspicious of “natural approaches” to second language education. I once was a believer, but not any more…

In fact, my skepticism has grown so much in one particular area that I can hardly contain myself when I hear it introduced to new teachers (or parents) as an inevitable (and natural) stage in second language acquisition: the “Silent Period.” [Read more…]

 

“You mean, you recommend using dual language resources for preschool?” a middle school/high school teacher at Stuart Country Day School in Princeton asked me during a presentation at her school last week. “No, for all levels,” I said.

For those who don’t know what the term “dual-language” means, it was originally coined to describe a particular model of schools aimed at helping children develop two languages equally.

In the early grades, dual language schools typically focus more on developing the minority language (for example, Spanish or Arabic), but the idea is that by a certain grade the students will be using each language for 50% of the time (for example, half of the day in Spanish and half in English).

This is a very simple description and I invite you to learn more about the characteristics of dual language schools  (they operate using different models), but for the purposes of this blog, I will just say that the popularity of the dual language schools is increasing because their overall academic record is quite impressive and on top of that they are graduating students fluent in two languages.

Unfortunately, except for large metropolitan areas like New York City and Washington DC, dual language schools are hard to find. However, this doesn’t mean that we cannot learn from the dual language model and export some of the strategies to other situations.

What is the secret behind the success of dual language schools? There are several things to it:

• Your first language is your BEST asset when learning a second language. Unfortunately, many world language as well as ESL and regular teachers tend to forget or ignore this.
• Language skills transfer. So, for example, when you learn to read in one language, this helps with reading in the second language, even if the language uses a different alphabet or non-alphabetic scripture.
• When you probe a concept in two languages you are in effect using two different sets of eyes. It’s like if you had superhero goggles – you may have lost a detail in one language, but you have another chance to notice it in the other.
• Also, when you dig in to a concept in two languages you are in effect activating two different cultures, which will provide further insight into the variability of knowledge.
• Finally, when you learn in two languages, you start noticing how the two languages work, their similarities and differences. This “metalinguistic” awareness works magic in your language skills, and that is why many bilingual children have better command in English than their monolingual English classmates (as long as they are in the right kind of bilingual education).

What is it that I suggested to the teachers at Stuart? I suggested that they think differently. That they think in terms of a “dual-language” approach.

Instead of the typical world language program, language teachers could collaborate with the main classroom teacher (or teachers, in the higher grades) and select areas of the curriculum that could be developed in two languages.

Fortunately, in the case of Stuart, the regular preschool teachers attended the workshop, and they were very excited about collaborating with the world language teachers creating those dual language pockets. That’s a start! [BTW, school starts at age 2 in Stuart, which means that by age 5 they will have had 3 years of exposure to two languages already!]

The other thing that they can do is to use dual language materials more extensively (or create their own). As I explained to the middle school/ high school teacher, the problem when we are so picky about only using target language resources is that this restricts what we can do and as a result we end up using very simple tasks.

The drag of using only target language is particularly evident in the beginning levels of instruction, when the students know only a few words or expressions in the new language. We can spend months or even years working on basic tasks – OR we can throw our prejudices out the window and try a dual language approach that allows our children to operate at a higher linguistic level from what they could otherwise (think Vygotsky and his ideas about creating tools of the mind).

“Don’t take my word for it. Try it and decide yourself,” I said to the teacher. If we believed everything we are told, we would never discover new and more effective ways of doing things. If I had dropped my home language (Spanish) when talking with one of my daughters, who at age 2  ½ had some language delays, my daughter would not be highly bilingual and learning a third language in school.

Children learn better when all of their assets are on the table. Not when we decide in advance without trying.

During the last 12 years I have been trying and testing things, first in my own classes and later with the parents and teachers who use my curriculum and materials at home or in their schools. One thing I realized is that using a dual language approach really works because it facilitates or scaffolds the acquisition of higher levels of language that would otherwise be way beyond the reach of their children or students (and many of the parents using my materials do not even speak the language themselves, which comes to show how powerful this is!).

So I invite you to start thinking in terms of dual-language strategies that move your instruction UP (in the sense of being able to do more advanced tasks) and OUT (in the sense of taking the learning beyond your classroom into the school and home).

I think that you will soon agree with me that the future is dual-language – and of course, let me know what you think!

Best,

Ana Lomba

P.S. I invite you to learn about my new Three Little Pigs unit package in Spanish at spanishlessonplansnow.com. What can be more fun than learning Spanish through the different personalities of the pigs and pretending to be Actor, Player or Professor?

P.S.S. The instructions to the activities are in English and the examples in Spanish (with English translations), but you could also use the package the other way around, to teach English – or better yet, in tandem between two teachers to follow a dual language approach!

P.S.S. Again, you can read more about the unit at spanishlessonplans.now.

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Ana Lomba is changing the way people think about and interact with young children learning languages. Her Parents’ Choice award-winning books, lively songs, games, stories, and mobile applications are quickly becoming favorites with teachers and parents who want to nurture young children’ inborn language abilities. Key to the success of Ana’s break-through method is a focus on the family as the ideal environment for early language learning – even her signature curriculum for language programs is built with parents in mind. Ana has taught toddler, preschool, elementary school, and college-level Spanish courses, and held leadership positions with some of the most influential language organizations in the US, including ACTFL, NNELL and FLENJ. After graduating with a law degree from Spain, her native country, Ana pursued graduate studies at Binghamton University, Princeton University, and NYU.

 

In the previous posts, I told you about my number 1 practice for making HUGE strides in a new language, even in 15-minute sessions. Unfortunately, most parents and teachers of children learning languages are not aware of this treasure in the rough, so I decided to write a blog series just about this top-notch practice.

[Note: If you haven’t done it already, please go to post 1 and read until this point; there were lots of great information in the first 3 posts! BTW, the information is applicable to all languages, not only Spanish]

The practice, by the way is reading aloud and contributing today to the topic is my friend and colleague Karen Nemeth. She will talk about monolingual parents and how they have A LOT to gain by reading aloud in a new language to their children. Enjoy on this World Read Aloud Day 2012 (March 7)!

Only 15 Minutes for Spanish? Why Monolingual Parents Have a LOT to Win! By Karen Nemeth, Ed.M., www.languagecastle.com

Do you like to get even more for your time and effort?  What about winning the language “trifecta” (your child learns, you learn, and both spend a great time together)?

Well, then I have a language learning strategy for you!  Ana Lomba has already revealed her secret for spending fifteen minutes a day to help your child learn a new language.  Now, here is the secret within the secret:  when you read aloud to your child in a new language, you are more likely to learn that language yourself!

Many parents want their children to enjoy the benefits of learning a new language, but they feel intimidated about trying to learn and practice with their child.

That’s a shame because we know that a child who is ‘taught’ a new language must be given opportunities to actively use it or it will slip away.

To get the most out of the time and/or money you spend trying to help your child learn a new language, why not learn right along with them and get twice the results while doing something fun together!

You may be thinking back to the language courses you took in school – and perhaps those are not such happy memories.

Stop thinking about language learning in terms of boring textbooks or endless drills of sentences you may never use!

Certainly, much of what you learn in an adult language course would not be used with your child anyway…

After all, how many times do you have a reason to ask your child, “Where is the bank?” or “May I have two beers?” in Spanish or French or have a great discussion about the uses of the imperfect and the preterite?

Of all the sources you could find to build your own language skills as a parent and language learning role model, the language of storybooks may be the very best place to start! 

Just think about the way stories are written.   They are filled with illustrations that help you make sense of the new words on the page.  They have familiar themes that you can follow and build on.

Storybooks provide you with the words, sentences, characters and conversations that are EXACTLY what you need to interact with your child in the language you are learning together.

Since the stories are familiar, it will be easier for you to learn the words.   These are not just isolated vocabulary words.  You will learn the new words in the context of meaningful sentences that prepare you instantly to engage in conversations with your child.  Some of those conversations can be very interesting – maybe even dramatic or hilarious!

An important component to this successful strategy is that you must be willing to stick with one language at a time.  If you or your child keeps going back and looking up the English words, you will not be challenging yourself to really learn and remember the new language.

The brain needs a bit of a challenge – we call it ‘demand quality’ – in order to actively learn new information.  You know what that’s like now that we all have speed dial on our phones and we can’t remember anyone’s phone number any more.   We can all use a little brain exercise from time to time.

The beauty of storybooks – whether they are old or new, hardcover or paperback, paper or electronic – is that they provide a world of meaning and context that makes it so much easier to remember and use the new language.

Storybook reading in a new language is an activity that will bring benefits to you, benefits to your child, and benefits to your relationship with each other.  Now that’s a lot to gain from just fifteen minutes a day!

 

 

Karen Nemeth, Ed.M. is an author, speaker and consultant on teaching young children who are dual language learners.  You can find her books, Many Languages, One Classroom: Teaching Dual and English Language Learners and Many Languages, Building Connections: Supporting Infants and Toddlers who are Dual Language Learners at www.gryphonhouse.com

Visit her website at www.languagecastle.com for lots of resources about young children learning languages.

 

 

 

 

 

P. S. Talking about reading aloud, make sure to check my collection of bilingual e-storybooks in Spanish, French, and Chinese with English on this website (also available as iPad apps from the iPad App Store).

P. S. S. If you are on Facebook, make sure to “like” my Ana Lomba Early Languages page (and thanks!)

P. S. S. S. And while you wait for the next blog you may want to take a look at the “Language Challenge 180” hosted by Multilingual Living. Better to learn in company, don’t you think? At this point there are over 650 families that have joined the challenge. Why not join the fun!