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How To Make Language Learning Come Alive

I love teaching Spanish to children and making the language come alive is an important part of their development. Through my experiences as an educator and a mom, I have found one of the most successful keys to language teaching and learning is to keep things relevant to the child’s life.

Play based immersion allows the parent to weave the language into everyday activities and tasks, thus enabling the child to make easy connections. For example, when my children were very little, we sang all of the time, did finger plays, and played with their baby toys in the target language. Now that they are ages 5 and 7, their interests have changed. My husband and I focus on keeping their language development alive with activities that are interesting and relevant to them. We play lots of board games, guessing games, Pictionary, and charades in Spanish. My daughter loves her American Girl dolls and accessories; therefore we often have fashion shows and make believe parties with her dolls where she has to describe them, their outfits, where they are going, etc. My son is a Superhero fanatic. We use lots of action words when we play with his ‘guys’. We have so many of them and their outfits are so colorful, that we easily practice color and number reinforcement with them. All the while we are playing, my children are hearing the language, as we ask questions, make up stories, etc. Their comprehension and fluency is enhanced through these simple activities that are fun and important to them.

Here are some fun, easy ideas that you can do at home to help your child learn Spanish:

*Write their English spelling words in Spanish and put them in sentences.

• Watch movies in Spanish.

• Listen to Spanish language music while in the car.

• Play online games together that allow the children to hear and read Spanish.

• Play I Spy while waiting at a restaurant, doctor’s office, etc.

• Read together in Spanish. Ask comprehension questions after the story.

• Play Caliente/Frio by hiding an item and have kids give you commands to find it.

• Look at family photos and talk about descriptions of relatives, what their names are, where they live.

• Read recipes or directions on the back of products.

• Cook a recipe and prepare a dish in Spanish. Have children help you find items in kitchen while giving commands in Spanish.

• Participate in imaginary play with your children. This is a great opportunity for vocabulary rich conversation practice. Play House, Doctor, Police, etc.

The ideas are endless, but as long as you keep things fun, simple, and relevant to your child's life, the language learning will come alive!

February is Discover Languages Month!

The American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages has a fantastic campaign going on this month... Discover Languages! Visit the ACFL site for more information about the campaign and about learning languages.

There are SO many reasons to learn a language! Here are a few of our reasons we think it is important. Please feel free to tell us your reasons too!

1. To enhance your cognitive skills.
2. To enrich your life and learn about other cultures.
3. To give yourself a leading edge in the academic world.
4. To give yourself a leading edge in the professional world.
5. To improve your problem solving skills and mental flexibility.
6. To make travelling easier.
7. To communicate with neighbors and members of your community.
8. To have fun and to open your world to new ways of communication.

Why do you think it is important to learn other languages?

Bilingual Fun's Spanish for Children Program

Bilingual Reader's Carnival!

Check out Bilingual Reader's Carnival post filled with tips and links to articles focusing on raising bilingual children!

Easy Spanish Learning Activities for You and Your Kids!

5 Tips for Teaching your Child Spanish at Home


We all know that young children need to learn in a realistic, fun, and interactive environment. Many parents from our Bilingual Fun™ language program ask me how they may continue their language development at home. Here are 5 basic tips on how to teach your child Spanish at home:


Teaching Spanish Through Movement

Active learning is a key factor of language learning success. Children love to interact and choosing activities that have physical movement often helps children retain the language. You can create fun, easy Spanish lessons for kids through dancing and movement. I suggest doing the ever popular ‘freeze dance’. You can change the rules as you go along. Play music and when it stops, kids have to ‘freeze’. Give various commands as to what they have to do…. Count 1-20, count backwards, salta- jump, marcha- march, aplaude- clap, etc. Another way to incorporate movement is to make up hand and arm motions for opposites. Make large gestures for arriba/abajo, largo/corto, etc. Keep the children moving and you will see how quickly they pick up the new Spanish words.


Teaching Your Child Through Music

Teaching kids Spanish through music is very important. Fluency, pronunciation, and comprehension are reinforced by singing. You can pick thematic songs that correspond with words you are learning. There is lots of great children’s Spanish music to choose from. We recommend
Ms. Lily’s Spanish Sing Alongs which are full of bilingual songs covering tons of different vocabulary. Also, using familiar tunes to teach new phrases is a fun, easy way to teach Spanish. I have many original songs that I have made up and are favorites of my children. We use the tune of Frere Jacques, Skip to My Lou, Farmer in the Dell, and many more to create easy to sing along songs in Spanish. We incorporate colors, numbers, animals, family, etc. Children are able to quickly learn the songs because they have prior knowledge of the tune.


Make Their Learning Realistic

Whenever I can give children something tangible to hold during a song or activity really makes their learning realistic. For example, we sing a song called " La Fruta- Fruit". Every child has a plastic piece of fruit in their hands, and as the vocabulary is named in the song, they hold it up. Choose toys and objects that are favorites of your children. Incorporate them in your easy Spanish lessons. If they love cars, sort them by color and number. Or when playing with dolls or stuffed animals, give them all names and ask ‘ cómo se llama?”. If you have blocks, make towers and count in Spanish. Each time your child is playing, try to make their Spanish lesson relevant and realistic to their lives.


Teaching Through Reading

Reading and listening to books on tape are fantastic ways to enhance comprehension skills. If you are comfortable reading aloud in Spanish, take time each night to do story time in Spanish. You children will pick up new words and phrases. Be sure to reinforce by asking questions at the end to ensure their comprehension. A great resource for quality Spanish books for children is the Latin Baby Book Club. They send monthly suggestions and reviews of fabulous multicultural Latin inspired Spanish and bilingual books. If you are not comfortable reading aloud, but still want your children to be exposed to literature in Spanish, seek out some books on tape at your local library. Most libraries will have a nice selection and this is a favorite activity with my own children.


Keeping Learning Fun

When teaching young children anything, whether it is language or math skills, keeping things fun is important to help foster their interest. Play based learning is a great way to making learning Spanish easy for kids. Singing, dancing, movement, reading, etc should all be done in fun, natural environment. Incorporate outside play in your Spanish lessons for kids. Practice kicking the soccer ball and counting the goals in Spanish. Jump rope and count in Spanish. Play hopscotch in Spanish. Draw with chalk on the driveway and reinforce colors and common vocabulary by playing Pictionary. Blow bubbles and reinforce ‘arriba/abajo’. Play versions of “ Mother May I” and incorporate the numbers and ‘rapido/lento’. These are easy ways to incorporate fun as you are teaching kids Spanish.


Even with limited language skills, there are many ways that families can continue their child's development and exposure to the language. We recommend to use materials that incorporate music, movement, and fun activities, such as the Spanish for Children DVD series. Children are able to remain engaged and sing, chant, and repeat along with the children in the DVDs. Active learning while keeping things relevant to their lives, is a key factor of language learning success!

Teach Your Children Spanish Through Reading Together

Literacy is an important aspect of your child’s development! By adding bilingual
titles to your home library is an excellent way to enrich your child’s development
with Spanish. Teaching your children Spanish through reading is a fun, easy way
to keep the language learning alive. Here are a few tips and resources for
teaching Spanish through reading together:

1.If your own Spanish is limited, choose titles that have small amounts of
text, so that you are able to read and reinforce the story without trying to
read too much. Board books by Rebecca Emberly are a great choice.
2. Whether you are a native speaker or learning alongside your child, audio
books offer a great option for reading together. Check out Lorito Books
and their great list of bilingual audio books. You and your children will love
listening to the stories aloud!
3. Barron Books have a great collection of bilingual titles, including cute
pictures, and easy to follow along story lines. Kids are able to easily make
connections with the text and illustrations.
4. If you haven’t bookmarked Latin Baby Book Club, now is your chance! They
have a wonderful list of Spanish and bilingual titles that they review and
recommend. I have found so many fabulous books to add to my collection
from this helpful site.
5. If you like to do computer activities with your children, visit Cody’s Cuentos
and enjoy the online audio stories together. You and your children will be
able to follow along with text and practice comprehension and fluency.
6. Take a trip to your local library together and visit the juvenile international section. You will probably be surprised to find lots of bilingual titles. Our library also has a great collection of audio books, big colorful picture dictionaries, and picture books in various languages. Check out some of that interest your child and enjoy reading together!

Buena Suerte!