Since my youngest daughter was in the womb, I knew I wanted a bilingual household. I had the idea that I would live in a Spanish-speaking country, because of some job offers I was considering. I am not fluent in Spanish, but I have been comfortable with Spanish since I was a child. I figured teaching the language to my daughter would help me to learn it correctly and completely. The first two years of her life, my daughter understood and probably spoke as much English as Spanish, but at the age of two her vocabulary expanded exponentially I just didn’t have the knowledge to teach her everything she wanted to say in both languages. Naturally the language I’m fluent in won-out.
Two and a half years later, we’re still hanging on to the idea of becoming fluent in Spanish. I’ve had lots of books, story books, text-books, guide books, tapes, DVDs, music, the list goes on and on. I think there are many reasons to teach a second-language in early childhood, but the earlier the better with any language, of course. With children it is much easier to teach them to speak the language and give them familiarity with it than the opposite approach taught in middle, high and post-secondary schools with the grammar approach.
Bring in Lightning-Fast Spanish for Kids & Families written by mom of four Carolyn Woods, for a fun way to actually speak the new language together. If you’re unfamiliar with the language, I would recommend listening to a guide on how to pronounce the sounds. I found the portion in the beginning of the book a little misleading in terms of pronunciation, but I would recommend reading the introduction to understand how this book can be of benefit to you. Even if you don’t understand how to pronounce everything dive in anyway. I’ve found that children are very accepting of a change in story or sound when you figure out the corrections.
This book guides you through several everyday situations and games that help make parents and children familiar using the language in question. There are games to correspond with meal time, nature walks, laundry and much more. I’ve actually only played a few of the games, because they were so effective I wanted to do them regularly before moving on. Spanish “I-Spy” is a favorite with my girls at bedtime.
The author has written books of several other languages as well. She gives guides on how to implement each game into your lifestyle and basically gives you all you need to get started. If you regularly attempt a game or two you will be pleasantly surprised when your children start responding to you in the targeted language. If you’re not fluent in the language you may also find surprise in your comfort and understanding of it in no time.
I really believe programming for children should make its way into any adults repertoire for language learning, but especially if you happen to be a parent. This is not just a great way to get comfortable speaking a new language, it is also a great way to spend time with your children and expand your own creativity. I found myself using these techniques even when I didn’t plan them and I found my daughter using her new words in her silly songs and asking to help with laundry! When I become fluent in Spanish I look forward to moving on to the next language that I can tackle with Lightning-Fast games.
If you’re interested in learning or teaching Spanish at a lightning-fast pace or another language check outhttp://www.amazon.com/Carolyn-Woods/e/B005JJGJS4
Other books in this series include:
• Lightning-fast Spanish For Kids and Families
• Lightning-fast French For Kids and Families
• Lightning-fast German For Kids and Families
• Lightning-fast Italian For Kids and Families
• Lightning-fast Chinese For Kids and Families
• Lightning-fast Spanish Vocabulary Building Crossword Puzzles
I was provided with a free copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed here are mine and are influenced only by my personal experience.
Related articles
- What is fluent? (want2speakspanish.wordpress.com)
- Lightning-fast Italian – an easy and fun way to learn a new language for the whole family! (Giveaway ends 4/7, US/CAN) (tetheredmommy.com)
