Archive for August, 2008
Boca Beth Spanish DVD Giveaway
Boca Beth offers fun Spanish DVDs, CDs, and other great learning materials for kids up to age 10. I can tell she’s a kindred teaching spirit by her motto to “Dance, Sing, and Play” your way to learning Spanish. I’ve peeked at her site a few times, and I’ve always come away impressed and curious [...]
Learn Basic Japanese with Big Bird: Ichi, Ni, San
At the library the other week, my 3 year-old and I checked out Big Bird in Japan, a Sesame Street special from 1989. We enjoyed it, especially all the sights and sounds of Japan.
In the story, a tour bus leaves Big Bird and his dog Barkley behind. They have trouble communicating because nobody speaks [...]
Say Hola to Halloween with Dora and Diego Costumes
No sooner do you get through the back to school rush, when it’s time to start planning for Halloween. I’ve always longed to be one of those moms who lovingly prepares homemade Halloween costumes for the kids. My own mom did. When I was pregnant with my first child, I bought a sewing machine.
I’ve [...]
Imagination Destination: Paris, France
Yesterday was my last day of preschool French. (sniff, sniff) It’s the beginning of the school year, so I’m taking a few weeks off to readjust to my regular high school teaching gig. I have been tickled “rose” by the progress the kids have made this summer. We definitely needed to celebrate. What better reward [...]
Licuados: A Smoothie Recipe for Learning Spanish
Though you’re probably getting ready to say ¡Hola! to a new school year, don’t say ¡Adios! to summer just yet. Send your kids off to school in the morning with a vitamin-packed summertime treat, served up with a side of Spanish.
My boys and I love to make smoothies. I learned from my friend Catherine [...]
Puppet Play for Language Learning
I’m just going to come out and admit it: I’m one of those weird puppet people. Even as a kid, I fancied myself the next Jim Henson. In fact, I’ve been gluing buttons and pompoms on old socks for as long as I can remember. My puppet collection numbers nearly 40 so far. My favorites [...]
Learning Languages with The Very Hungry Caterpillar
For years and years, Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been one of my favorite books for teaching languages to kids. This children’s book has got it all: life cycle of a butterfly, days of the week, a little weather, some counting, lots of foods, simple descriptions, active verbs, and colors. It’s the total [...]
Do You Know How to Say Beijing?
I apparently don’t, but at least I’m not alone. I was just reading a story on Yahoo Sports about “NBC’s pronunciation conundrum in Beijing“ (August 15, 2008.) AP Journalist David Bauder writes about the pronunciation faux-pas of several American sports commentators as they report on the Olympic host city. The correct pronunciation is “Bay-jing” not “Bay-zhing”, which [...]
A German Back-to-School Tradition: Schultüte
In Germany, there’s a lovely first-day-of-school tradition called a “Schultüte” or School Cone. Parents prepare a giant cardboard cone and fill it with back-to-school supplies, candies, and other small goodies. This gift, rather like an academic Christmas stocking, makes the first day of school extra special. The tradition dates back to the early 1800’s in [...]
Natural Foreign Language Acquisition and the Yellow Car Game
“Slug Bug Yellow! Slug Bug Red! Slug Bug Blue!” Remember the classic VW Bug excuse for socking your brother or sister in the arm during long car rides? Well, my boys have invented their own original way to argue in the car. They call it the Yellow Car Game.
Both of my boys’ favorite color is [...]
