Learn a Language

Help your child learn a language using resources online and in your own neighborhood.

For example, learn Spanish alongside your children.

1.     Hire a neighborhood Hispanic young person to teach you and your family one-hour per week.

2.     Make use of a Spanish-English, English-Spanish online dictionary. A google search helped me find one at http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/. You can put in an English word, ask for a translation and then click on the sound button to hear how to pronounce the word.

3.     Look at your local library online. My library has a link to BYKI or http://www.byki.com/, a free online language system that teaches 70 different languages. It has programs and materials to download for free online. But if you want to use the more deluxe version, you can go through a public library.

4.     My local library also has online CDs and books to borrow. There are several Spanish learning CDs and books. I downloaded one called, “Learn Spanish in Your Car.” Another is called Spanish Lyrics. It is a CD and e-book of songs with both English and Spanish Lyrics side-by-side assist your brain in making connections between word meanings. My children and I especially enjoy this CD. 

Reading Lyrics to Songs

Find your child’s favorite song lyrics, the one they don’t know all the words to.

My kids Love Hannah Montana songs.
Break the song into parts, make words larger if that helps.

Go over lyrics with child together
Give lyrics to child to go over alone and with friends.
Have child read it to you periodically
Offer a reward for learning the song
This helps with fluency and is motivated by your own child's interests.

Example: Hoedown-Throwdown by Miley Cyrus

I found this song to be too long for my first and second grader to try to learn. Additional idea - break the song down into segments. Cut the words out and paste them onto blank pages. Have students draw pictures to go with each song segment (or download pictures online). In so doing, they can make their own book - and remake as many times as they want.

Right now my girls are really annoying me with the song from Taylor Swift, "You Belong to Me." They sing "typical" like "ticable" and get many words wrong. So this little book-making exercise might help with reading and word correction. To be really cool, they have to sing it right.