Bonjour!  I’d like to introduce you to my teaching buddy Guillaume.  (He’s the big turtle on the left.)  Guillaume’s been working with me for quite awhile now.  Our first gig together was back in 1990, after I bought him at a toy store while on vacation in Seattle.  I was a brand new teacher and he was a brand new puppet.  Boy were we ever nervous that first day of teaching!  I still remember entering the preschool classroom, only to have Guillaume duck inside his shell.  What a chicken!  But ever since that little stunt of his, we’ve developed the perfect routine to help the littlest language learners feel at ease.

I bring Guillaume out to meet the children, but explain that I have a problem.  Guillaume is extremely shy and doesn’t like to meet new people.  What should we do to let him know that we’re friendly?  Of course!  We can say hello.  Let’s try!  Hello?  Hello?  Hmmm.  It’s not working.  Oh . . . I know!  He probably doesn’t understand our words.  He uses different French words because he comes from the far-away country of France.  Let’s try saying it in words he understands.  Let’s say Bonjour! Ready?  Un, deux, trois . . . bonjour!  Look!  It’s working!  I see him wiggling inside there.  A little louder!  Louder!  LOUDER!  Yay!  We got him to come out.

Guillaume, ever the charmer, greets every child.  At first, some may only want to pet his shell . . . or not.  To the brave children Guillaume gives “turtle kisses,” a very traditional greeting for those turtles in the Seine!

At this point, children’s fears of new teachers, new friends, new schools, and new languages are beginning to disappear as they are distracted by the shy French turtle.  I can now put on my magic beret and begin to speak Guillaume’s language.  Once the children become MUCH more relaxed, or perhaps even loud, Guillaume hides in his shell until all is calm and quiet again.

Every year I think it might be time to begin my first day lesson with a different puppet friend.  After all, I have over 30 of them!  But not on Day 1.  Only Guillaume can help me get over MY first day jitters by helping him get over his.  It’s the perfect partnership!

Click the image for ordering information from Amazon.com.  Guillaume is a Folkmanis Puppet.

September.  Most students are back in school, and it’s a safe guess that foreign language teachers are starting off the year with some basics: alphabet, names, greetings and introductions. I like to have my older students choose names from the target culture as their new identity for the year.  I personally don’t require it, and I don’t even offer the possibility to students younger than 12.  But it’s fun and helps to keep the language “flowing” during the lessons.

Today I’d like to share one of my first-week-of-school activities that’s a hit year after year–Name Bingo.  Once my students choose a French name, they practice spelling it out loud using the French alphabet.  They receive a bingo grid and write their own name in one of the squares.  Now the activity becomes interactive as the students walk around the classroom to ask their classmates, “What’s your name?” and “How do you spell that?” so that they can add it to their bingo grid.  (Spelling names is a practical life skill, by the way.  Just today, I had to spell my last name two times.)

Once the students have filled in their bingo card, the teacher spells names of various people in the class to be X’ed off.   4 X’s in a row is a Bingo.  Don’t forget the prizes!  

To purchase an inexpensive French Name Bingo printable with directions, click here.  And click here for the Spanish version.  Play this game completely in the target language.  Your newbies will feel successful and proud!

Photo Credit:  by Cecile Graat at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1132275

Dankie (Afrikaans)

Shukran (Arabic)

Dekuji (Czech)

Tak (Danish)

Dank u wel (Dutch)

Dankon (Esperanto)

Kiitos (Finnish)

Merci (French)

Danke (German)

Mahalo (Hawaiian)

Toda (Hebrew)

Shukriya (Hindi)

Takk (Icelandic)

Grazie (Italian)

Arigato (Japanese)

Grazzi (Maltese)

Xie xie (Mandarin Chinese)

Dziekuje (Polish)

Multumesc (Romanian)

Spasibo (Russian)

Gracias (Spanish)

Ahsante (Swahili)

Tack (Swedish)

Photo Credit: by cidinha28 at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/772189

In the story, a tour bus leaves Big Bird and his dog Barkley behind. They have trouble communicating because nobody speaks “American.”  Fortunately, they meet a Japanese mystery-girl who helps them out.

I was so excited when I heard the song “Ichi, Ni, San.”  I knew the song, but didn’t realize it was from Big Bird in Japan.  Several years ago, I listened to second graders perform it at a school program.  I credit that song with teaching me how to say one, two, three in Japanese.

I normally believe in the immersion approach, but sometimes I appreciate a catchy little translation song.  I just love it.  Enjoy:  

Before you know it, you and your kids will have mastered eight Japanese words through this little song:

ichi – one

ni – two

san – three

Ohayou – Good morning  (Big Bird thought this sounded like the US state of Ohio.)

Douzo – Please

Hai – yes

Sayonara – Goodbye

Arigato – Thank you

My new goal in life is to be as well traveled as Big Bird, who has been to both China and Japan.  Arigato, Big Bird!

I’d love for my boys to get an early start learning Mandarin. But I’ve got a confession to make—-Asian languages intimidate me. Learning Chinese definitely requires me to step out of my usual English-German-Romance Language comfort zone. Chinese, with all of those symbols and tones, freaks me out.

Of course, it’s a completely different story for my language-ready preschoolers. I’m confident that they will pick it up as easily and naturally as can be. Still, I’m starting off nice and slow with something I think I can handle: Hello and Goodbye. Ready? Here we go:

Ni hao – Hello
Zai jian – Goodbye

There, that wasn’t so scary, was it? Of course, you’ve got to hear the correct pronunciation and practice it a few times. You can listen here at ClearChinese.com

Let the Olympic language games begin!  

Warm-up:  Practice these phrases with your kids.  Don’t forget a customary bow with the greeting.  

Training: Toss balls or frisbees back and forth, saying Ni hao as you catch and Zai jian as you throw.

Event:  Gather a group of fun-loving kids to play what I like to call Mandarin Duck, Duck, Goose.  Instead of “duck, duck, duck . . .” say “Ni hao, Ni hao, Ni hao . . . “; instead of “goose” say “Zai jian” and get ready to run.

Medal Ceremony:  Everyone’s a winner when you can use Ni hao and Zai jian naturally throughout every day of the Olympics.

For more ideas, visit my article on Foreign Language Greetings Games.  

Do you want to learn Chinese along with your kids?  Check out ChinesePod.com to get started:

Learn Chinese with ChinesePod.com
Learn Chinese with free lessons, vibrant community, web review, vocab study & more.

Zai jian!

Photo Credit:  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:LogoBeijing2008-2.jpg

Bonjour = Hello
Bonsoir = Good Evening
Bonne Nuit = Good Night (before bed)
Salut = Hi
Je m’appelle = My name is . .  .
Comment ça va?= How are you?
Ça va très bien. = I’m doing very well.
Ça va bien. = I’m doing well.
Comme ci comme ça = So-so
Ça va mal = I’m doing badly.
Au revoir = Goodbye
Bon weekend = Have a good weekend

Check out this article for fun ways to introduce greetings to kids.  Enjoy a happy Bastille Day!

Photo Credit:  clarita at http://morguefile.com/archive/?display=142373&

I’m a foreign language teacher from the U.S., currently working as a part-time high school teacher.  I’ve shared my love of the French language with students as young as 2 and as old as 18.  I’ve piloted preschool foreign language programs, created home-based mom-tot classes, written a fifth grade French workbook, and developed an innovative story-based middle school curriculum.  I’m a frequent speaker at state, regional, and national foreign language teacher conferences.  When it comes to teaching French, I feel like I’ve done it all!

I received my BA in French and English Language and Literature in 1990, and I’ve done post-graduate work in Elementary Education. I studied in both France and Quebec and have traveled to these wonderful places frequently, leading student trips and exchange programs.

There, now that the resume is out of the way, we can get right to work.  Want to know how to teach kids foreign language greetings?  Every language class begins with a friendly “Hello”, right?  Check out this article to learn how to  Teach Foreign Language Greetings.  Start language study with games, interaction, and fun.