I was just looking through my son’s Highlights magazine (www.Highlights.com) and I came across a fantastic game that can be effectively adapted to help kids practice numbers in Spanish, French, Chinese . . . any foreign language.  In the March 2010 issue there’s an activity on pg. 38 by Jennifer Coleman called “Make 11.”  Two players count to three and extend any number of fingers.  Count the total number of fingers between the two players in the target language.  See how many tries it takes to equal 11.

11 ELEVEN

onze (French)

once (Spanish)

elf (German)

undici (Italian)

ju-ichi (Japanese)

shí y? (Mandarin)

I’m going to play with an entire classroom of children this afternoon, but I’ll make it a wee bit competitive by seeing which set of players can be the first to make eleven.

Have fun playing!  Thank you, Highlights, for another fantastic idea.

Photo Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/935146

My preschooler and I made the following video in English just for fun.  The 4 year old chose the characters and dictated the script.  Enjoy!

I’ve recently become a fan of the award-winning Little Pim language learning dvd’s for children.  They are cute, eye-catching, and age-appropriate for the littlest language learners.  The short segments are just right for holding my 4 year old’s attention. He repeated some words in Spanish with no prompting, and then he asked to watch the dvd again. Yay!

The web site contains some free little gems, too: coloring pages, other printables, and my favorite–the Talking Coloring Book.  Check out this video by Little Pim’s creator, Julia Pimsleur Levine:

Little Pim DVD’s are available in these languages:

Spanish

French

Japanese

Mandarin Chinese

Italian

Hebrew

English/ESL

Introduce your baby, toddler, or preschooler to another language with Little Pim!

This Mother’s Day, let Mom know she’s the best in the world!  Learn how to say Mother in these twelve world languages:

Moeder, Moer (Dutch)
Mère, Maman (French)
Mutter (German)
Màna (Greek)
Ma, Maji (Hindi)
Anya (Hungarian)
Madre, Mamma (Italian)
Okaasan, Haha (Japanese)
Matka, Mama (Polish)
Mat’ (Russian)
Madre, Mamá (Spanish)
Mati (Ukranian)

Please post to keep the list growing!  Consider using these phrases to create a unique “Best Mom in the World” craft, card, or keepsake.  Visit this article for ideas:

Read more: “International Mother’s Day Gifts: Crafts for the Best Mom in the World”

Want to make a French or Spanish Mother’s Day card?  Homemade is best!  Check out these downloads for vocabulary lists, French and Spanish quotes, and card templates:

French Mother’s Day Card

Spanish Mother’s Day Card

Happy Mother’s Day!

 
Image Credit:  by Adrian Yee at  http://www.sxc.hu/photo/698517

Amazing deal on an effective tool for language classes. Only $59.99: Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 30-Minutes (White)

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!

Do you know the classic preschool elephant song?  It goes like this:

One elephant went out to play,

Upon a spider’s web one day,

He had such enormous fun,

That he called for another elephant to come. 

The second verse has two elephants, the third verse has three elephants, and so on.  You can find foreign language versions of this fun song on the Teach Me CD’s, as well as other sources.  I love the Teach Me CD’s, but for this particular song I just use it as a teacher resource for learning the words.  The verses go back and forth between English and the target language, which throws me just a bit.  

So, here’s how you can turn a cute, catchy elephant song into a fun and effective game.  Gather the children into a close circle and have them hold on to the edges of a small parachute.  (I find a vinyl tablecloth to be a dandy, frugal parachute substitute.)  Ta-da . . . it’s a spider’s web!

Prepare small, laminated paper elephants and number them from 1-10.  Toss Elephant #1 onto the spider’s web and sing the song as the children gently move the parachute up and down.  Kids love to see the elephant jumping up and down and having such enormous fun!  When the verse is done, everyone shouts, “Come!” in the target language.  Add in Elephant #2 and count the elephants.  Sing again.  Call over another elephant.  Count.  Sing.  Get the drill?  Continue the routine until all ten elephants have a turn.  This game is so hands on and repetitive, staying immersed in the target language is a breeze.

I just played this game a few weeks ago with kids ages 2-7.  Then we played it again later in the week.  The kids keep asking me to bring the elephants back to play.  I’m telling you, this game’s a hit with the little ones!

The Teach Me CD’s are available in ten languages:  English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, and Russian.

For more counting ideas, check out my article on Foreign Language Number Games.

If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce your child to a foreign language, start with a little music.  There’s a great little product called Teach Me Tapes.  Well, they were tapes back in the ’80′s when they were first produced. My tapes have been replaced with CD’s for quite some time, of course, but I’m still using these gems years and years later.  

The Teach Me CD’s have cute bilingual songs performed by professional musicians.  Most tracks are introduced with a short narration by a native-speaking child.  The songs are classic, traditional songs from both English and the target culture.  My Teach Me French CD is invaluable as I teach French to 3-6 year olds this summer.  The kids really like bilingual versions of The More We Get Together, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Kids learn basic vocabulary and phrases with the Teach Me music.  Things like greetings, family, weather, alphabet, etc.  It’s not a language program in itself, but it’s perfect for introducing kids to language for the first time and for enriching a language program.  It’s such a staple of my teaching, it’s hard to imagine life without it.

The original Teach Me CD’s are available in ten languages:  English (ESL), French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Hebrew, Korean, Japanese, Italian, and Russian.

For additional reading, check out these articles:

How Music Helps Language Learning

Foreign Language Learning Materials for Kids

Want to order Teach Me CDs?  Visit the . . .

Foreign Language Fun Store