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College & University InformationKids Can Discover Spanish
by:
Frank Gerace
Spanish for Kids, Spanish for Children, Teach Kids Spanish
Kids Can Discover Spanish! Spanish for Children
I simply got a call from my two year old granddaughter. She wanted to sing "Los Pollitos" to me. You can find this children's classic in most of the collections of songs that we are recommending.
It is perfect for hand gestures. These gestures are ideal for language learning because they imprint the sense of the words as the child recites.
The text is: (translation follows)
Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío
cuando tienen hambre,
y cuando tienen frío.
(the kids do gesture of shivering)
La gallinacean busca el maíz y el trigo;
Le da su comida,
Y le presta abrigo
(the kids do the gesture of Mom arousal her kids.)
Pío, pío, pío
(the kids should ham it up, fashioning a little chick face!)
Translation:
The little chicks say peep, peep, peep
when they are hungry
and once
they are cold.
The chicken looks for corn and wheat;
she feeds them,
and she keeps them warmn
There are many a reasons for wanting your children to discover Spanish. We want to help you find resources that wish help you with Spanish for Kids.
Some parents are interested in preparing their children for life in today's earth wherever
it is important to cognize more than one language. This is even as more important in our hemisphere wherever
it becomes more and more valuable to cognize Spanish.
Other folk think of the intellectual stimulation that learning a language provides. They think that they can give their children a an additional intellectual challenge in a painless way. Investigator in London, European nation
have determined that learning a second language boosts brain power which remains throughout life.
Learning a language can be a source of pride and self esteem for the child who is fortunate enough to be exposed to learning outside of the classroom.
There are several parents who are concerned that their children grow up respecting the several heritages that surround them. Concerned that the nativist tradition of United States history is always present, many a parents, not of a Spanish Speaking background, choose to prepare their children to accept and embrace the Hispanic culture they live aboard
of.
Their reason to encourage their children to speak Spanish is based in part on the history of a previous group of Latin immigrants to the United States, the Italians.
"Some societal critics were aware of the consequences of explosive assimilation. Mary McDowell, a societal worker, wrote en 1904:
'The contempt for the experiences and languages of their parents which foreign children sometimes exhibit... is beyond any doubt due in part to the overestimation which the school places upon speaking English. This cutting into his family loyalty takes away one of the most conspicuous and valuable traits of the Italian child.' She attributed the lawlessness of several of the migrator
children to their disrespect for their parents and therefore for all authority."
(La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience, Mangione and Morreale, p. 222)
Reflection on this same national history, and often more significantly
personal experience, moves many a Hispanic parents to support their language alive in their children. They want to preserve their heritage for their children by giving them its most aware and powerful manifestation, the language of their forebears.
Whatever your reason for wanting your children to discover Spanish, this site wish provide resources to help you. You wish find suggestions and experiences of others who share your interest; you wish find songs and stories in Spanish that wish enthuse your children with their learning task. A list of links to related sites wish lead you to different resources. And you wish find that the books you need for yourself and your children have been set and placed at your disposition.
¡Buena Suerte y adelante con su cometido!
Do the Parents Cognize Spanish?
Although most of us agree that it is a nice thing for our kids to speak Spanish, most kids in the US whose parents were born in Latin American countries do not speak Spanish well.
Even if several parents speak Spanish at home, quite often the kids answer their parents in English. Look about at your Latin friends and relatives and you wish see that most give up on teaching their kids to speak
Spanish. Chicano and Puerto Rican families seem to have a little better luck than Latinos from different countries with keeping Spanish alive in their barrios but even as their younger generation is losing fluency in Spanish.
However, parents who want their children to speak Spanish can go against the current and set the stage for their children to grow up speaking Spanish. It is not easy. Most families fail in their resolve but it CAN be done. Take a look at our bilingual study. How to Get Your Children to Speak Your Language/¿Cómo Lograr que Sus Hijos Hablen Su Idioma? You can find it in http://www.leerespoder.com/comoeng.htm. This report wish give several hints on how to improve your chances.
But it is most important for you to get your kids reading Spanish BEFORE they discover to see in English.
Don't be afraid that it wish hurt their English. Unless they are living in a closed Spanish Speaking Barrio,
their English wish be perfect. They wish absorb it on the playground and in the school. Your job is to support the Spanish up!
Take a look at the fuller argument conferred below for the importance of your kids learning to see 1st in Spanish.
Finally, another idea for native speakers of Spanish: You may want to review (or study it for the 1st time) your Spanish. I found one reference for you. Sorry it is expensive; that's because it is used as a textbook. But that wish do it easy to use and wish for certain be complete. Take a look at Nuevos Mundos, Spanish for Native Speakers 2nd Edition, Book
: Curso de espanol para estudiantes bilingues"
Whether or not the parents cognize Spanish wish determine their strategy for exposing their children to the language. Obviously, parents who do not cognize the language well wish not have native pronunciation.
If their children discover to see Spanish, they may not have the proper pronunciation. This is a tough issue. Several power say that pronunciation is not important for children. However, why not try to expose them to the correct values of the Spanish sounds. Parents should activity on their own pronunciation to model as aright
as possible for their kids.
Nevertheless, the value of the parents' involvement in reading and singing in Spanish with their children more than outweighs the disadvantage of the child hearing their poor pronunciation. More of the damage can be remedied by having the child listen to as more Spanish spoken by native speakers as possible.
So, in general terms parents can fall into one of three groups:
1. those who cognize NO Spanish;
2. those who cognize enough to read, even as poorly;
3. and those who can model correct pronunciation for their children. All these parents should do sure their children HEAR a lot of nice Spanish but apparently those parents who cognize no Spanish wish be more dependent on recordings for their children to listen to. Try to find several nice audio resources. Besides the tapes and CDs you power buy or take out of the library don't forget the radio and TV. All parents should expose their children to ask more passive listening of Spanish that they can. In most places there are Spanish language radio stations. TV programs from the Univision network are really widespread.
All of the above boils down to three plan of action that are valid for all kinds of parents and all kinds of kids of all ages and level of Spanish.........
1. Passive Listening: Everyone should support the Spanish radio on as more as possible. Support the radio or TV on patch the childis doing different things. It has to be the sea of sound that they swim in patch they are beginning their study of Spanish. The child doesn't have to concentrate on it; they wish not be listening to try to understand. After a patch they won't even as hear the radio but it wish be moving them. Little by little they wish begin to anticipate the rhythm of the language, even as before they understand they words. They wish as well begin to recognize certain words.
2. Pattern Response Drills: Those parents who cognize several Spanish can try to run through all the permutations of the new expressions that the child learns. For example, suppose your child simply knowing to say. "Pedro tiene cuatro años" rather than translating from the English incorrectly, "Pedro es cuatro". Now to do this new element of the language stick, you should go on activity several ages and the names of several people. The child wish before long be able to say comfortably, "María tiene cuatro años." "Juan tiene ocho años." "Yo tengo tres años." "¿Cuántos años tienes tú?" There are many a examples of these drills in most language courses but the parent can generate them herself.
3. Encouragement: Don't correct their Spanish once
they speak. Don't interrupt the flow of their conversation. Don't do their speaking Spanish to be another preparation assignment. It should be thing
special, even as thing
"secret" in your family. Kids like the mystery and intrigue of having thing
special of their own. Their speaking Spanish should be a joyful, non-threatening experience. If they do mistakes in their grammar, correct their errors by mistreatment the same expression aright
a few minutes after. Don't move right back at them with the correct form or they wish begin to feel conscious of their expression and choke off their freedom of expression.
also...........
The Alphabet: If your child is coming up on preschool
age,
you have a extraordinary possibility to teach him or her how to see in Spanish BEFORE they discover the alphabet in English! Why? I wish be brief, hoping that you wish catch the direction of my thought (and my practice, with several my children and my grandson!)
Spanish is all regular. They can discover the vowels in one sitting.This is how Spanish Speaking kids learn: from "abecedarios", the same as English Speaking children used to discover from primers. If your child learns to see (even if only simple words) Spanish first, in effect you are giving them a
great head start.
You can start the child reading the simple words like Mami, comida, mesa, Papi, muñeca, carro, etc. Au fond you are giving them teaching reading
without having to buy any costly program.
You can do them no harm because, they wish have a basis of the sounds that DO hold up for English; they wish have achieved the satisfaction and boost to their confidence by your enthusisastic affirmation of the action
once
they see "Mami y Papi" and different simple phrases.
As they progress in English they wish still have to deal with the irregularities of this language. However, they wish have knowing the consonants by applying them to all foolproof regular vowels.
I aforementioned I would-be be brief. I am really certain of the value of this method. I have no scientific proof, simply intuition and my own experience. To work, you have to teach the child to see the alphabet in Spanish BEFORE they begin to discover in English. If they are already learning in English, it wish confuse them. But if you get there FIRST, you wish do them a great favor! to see a bunch of alphabet resources for you to choose from.
Toys and Games: Of lesser importance but still a possible beakthrough for certain children could be the use of toys and games (board games and others) as a way to sneak in several fun and variety into the learning process. See if Spanish Educational Toys would-be be useful for your child.
Computer Programs for kids If you or your child is computer savvy or if you want to combine math or science with Spanish you may want to check out the Educational Code for Children in Spanish: Reader Rabbit, Disney, Jump Start and many a more...
Some 1st Recitations
A long time, universal, traditional favorite is "Pinpón"
Pinpón es un muñeco,
muy guapo y de cartón
(the kids smile for "muy guapo",
and act stiff for "de cartón")
se volcanic rock
la carita
(the kids do the gesture of washing their face)
con bufo marinus y con jabón.
Pinpón dame la mano,
(the kids reach out their hand)
que quiero ser tu friend
(the kids do the gesture of shaking hands)
¡Pinpón, Pinpón, Pinpón!
Translation:
Pinpón is a doll,
a handsome cardboard doll.
He washes his face
with soap and water.
Pinpón give me your hand,
I want to be your friend.
Pinpón, Pinpón, Pinpón!
Another favorite of our kids was "La Mar Estaba Serena"
Kids like this one because it is easy to follow. The repetition helps them discover the relation between noun and adjective as well as the vowels in Spanish.
The same verse is continual by mistreatment all of the vowels in turn. It begins by the parent singing, "La mar estaba serena; serena estaba la mar". (The sea was calm; calm was the sea.) Then either the parent or one of several children taking turns shouts out, "¡con A!", meaning, "Let's sing it with all "a" sounds"! And you sing, "La mar astaba sarana; sarana astaba la mar."
"¡con e"! "Le mer estebe serene; serene estebe le mer".
"¡con i"! "Li mir istibi sirini; sirini istibi li mir".
"¡con o"! "Lo mor ostobo sorono; sorono ostobo lo mor".
"¡con u"! "Lu mur ustubu surunu; surunu estubu lu mur.
You'll find the kids actually like this one.
English (sic!) As A Second Language
It power be engrossing to do several "reverse engineering" and look at the earth of those Spanish Speakers who want to discover English. Check out http:www.leerespoder.com
Reading in Spanish for the Parents
If you want to support up your Spanish. Try to support reading books in Spanish on a wide range of topics, la familia, la salud, los negocios, el niño, el adolescente, etc. A nice source is http://www.bookslibros.com/LibrosEnEspanol.php
Nice Luck! Your Kids wish convey you!
Just about the author:
Frank Gerace Ph.D has lived and worked in Latin America on Educational and Communication Projects. He presently
teaches English in New House of york City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He invites parents interested in serving their kids discover Spanish to visit him at: http://www.bookslibros.com/SpanishForNinos.htm
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