Swahili
Summertime Vocabulary in French and Spanish
The kids are out of school and the summertime fun can officially begin. Learn some useful French and Spanish words for outdoor play: the pool – la piscine (Fr.) – la piscina (Sp.) the beach – la plage (Fr.) -la playa (Sp.) the swings - les balançoires (Fr.) - los columpios (Sp.) the bicycle – la [...]
Say Thank You in Many Languages This Thanksgiving
When I think of Thanksgiving, my mind goes to turkey and pumpkin pie, parades and football. Of course, the real reason is to give thanks to God for all that He has given us. On this special holiday, I’d like to say Thank You in as many ways and as many languages as I can. I’m [...]
Jambo Means Hello: Learn Swahili
Learn Swahili with a tried-and-true picture book, Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book (Penguin Young Readers Group, 1992.) The author, Muriel Feelings, and illustrator, Tom Feelings, have both lived in East Africa. Their first-hand experience certainly comes through in this culturally rich, award-winning book. My boys and I have already picked up a few words [...]
Kids Are Sponges: Natural Foreign Language Acquisition in Children
While playing at the park this evening, my five year old surprised me by spontaneously counting the numbers 15-19 in French: quinze, seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf! He’s had the numbers 1-10 mastered for quite some time. Since I always seem to be teaching him along with other children who are French newbies, he hears those [...]
Counting in Swahili: We All Went on Safari
Jambo! Introduce your kids to Swahili with We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania (Barefoot Books, 2003). This little treasure of a picture book is written by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by Julia Cairns. If you have a 3 to 8 year old, this book belongs on your bookshelf. I must admit, [...]
National Holidays Around the World: July
Francophile that I am, it’s going to be an effort not be too France-centered in this blog. So, oui, July 14 is Bastille Day–France’s Independence Day. But there are other countries celebrating national holidays besides the American 4th and le quatorze juillet. I got this list of national holidays in July from the U.S. Department [...]
