Joaca de-a spaniola

Despre cum si de ce ne-am apucat noi sa invatam limba spaniola am scris pentru prima data in aceasta postare, in septembrie 2012. Ca sa reiau un pic, pe scurt, totul a fost la insistentele I-nei. Auzise cantece la radio in spaniola, nimerise ceva desene pe Youtube in spaniola si i-a placut cum suna lima, si m-a batut la cap ca ea vrea sa invete. Cu toate ca eu intelegeam spaniola (cine n-o intelege, nu-i asa?), nu o vorbeam. Si atunci i-am cautat materiale (pe care ulterior le-am adaugat pe pagina Spanish Learning a blogului) si le-am parcurs cu ea, cate un pic, in cate o zi pe saptamana, cel mult. I-a placut mult Little Pim, Speekee, Salsa TV, cantece in spaniola, etc - le gasiti pe toate pe pagina Spanish Learning.

A prins destul de mult (spaniola era deja a 4-a limba pentru I., dupa romana, engleza si franceza).
Dar pe latura conversationala, eu nu am putut sa o ajut mai mult, asa ca, atunci cand s-a ivit ocazia sa mearga la ore de spaniola, nu am mai stat pe ganduri. De fapt, orele sunt 'sedinte' de joaca si activitati numai in spaniola, impreuna cu copii vorbitori nativi de spaniola. I-au prins foarte bine, merge de cateva saptamani si deja se vede o explozie la spaniola ei vorbita. Vine de la ore turuind in spaniola, repetand fraze intregi invatate, mai ales de la copii. Ii place tare mult si suntem recunoscatori pentru ocazia aceasta care a avut-o, de a invata mai departe spaniola cu vorbitori nativi.

Am reusit sa o prind pe un video ieri, dupa ora de spaniola, in timp ce se juca cu avant cu 'acvariul de pesti':

Pe mine va rog sa ma iertati, incerc si eu sa spun 2-3 vorbe pe langa ea, sa o incurajez sa vorbeasca:)

(I. are 5 ani si 3 luni)

Am revenit :) cu o recomandare :)

Iata ca am reusit sa imi iau inima in dinti si sa deschid din nou blogul, sa incep sa scriu o postare noua, sa va salut cu drag si dor pe toti cititorii nostri!
Va rog sa ne iertati pauza, acum ca a venit vacanta avem din nou un pic de timp liber pentru a adauga cate un articol pe blog, pentru a mai povesti ce am mai facut si bineinteles pentru a relua legatura cu cititorii nostri! Am avut o perioada tare ocupata cand efectiv blogul nu a mai putut primi atentia si timpul cuvenit, ne cerem scuze :)

In primul rand vreau sa va multumesc tuturor celor care ati participat la Provocarea noastra de invatat limbi straine din luna aprilie. Nu ma asteptam la asa multi participanti, va multumesc mult si sper din tot sufletul ca v-au fost de folos ideile ce le-am prezentat, si ca veti continua cu invatarea limbilor straine asa, cate 10 minute pe zi!

Si noua ne-a folosit provocarea, m-am mobilizat un pic mai mult pe invatarea limbii spaniole si am comandat cateva carti de povesti cu CD in spaniola de la Editura Eli. Aceste carti sunt si in alte limbi si le veti vedea si la targurile de carte. Cartile sunt din aceasta serie, si sunt excelente pentru copiii care invata o limba straina (le puteti comanda in engl, fr, germana, spaniola).
Mai jos o puteti vedea pe I. povestind din Blancanieves si se vede cam ce contine cartea.

La noi au prins foarte bine aceste carti, am avut unele in engleza, altele in franceza, si acum in spaniola, si le-am gasit de mare folos.
In rest, pentru invatarea spaniolei, o mai las pe I. sa asculte muzica pentru copii si sa se uite (cu masura) la episoade cu Dora si Diego in spaniola pe youtube.
De asemenea, mi-ar face mare placere sa iau legatura cu alti parinti care isi invata copiii limba spaniola -- poate reusim sa facem schimb de idei, de resurse, etc. Daca sunt printre cititorii blogului noastru - va rog frumos lasati-mi un comentariu:)
Va doresc o vara insorita tuturor!

Spanish Learning - Salsa TV and a song

I've learned about Salsa TV while browsing through the BrillKids forum. If you have not yet read through this forum, I strongly advise you to have a look. You'll find lots of interesting and innovative information on early education, parents interested in giving their small children a strong educational start, and small kids capable of amazing things!
Going back to Salsa TV, we gave it a try this week, and we're really happy with it! This is a FREE program with a collection of videos (in a Sesame Street manner) that are meant to introduce Spanish language to children. They start with basic notions that are repeated a lot (colors, numbers, basic vocabulary). The immersion method is used, that is, only Spanish is spoken, but the child will understand for sure what's going on.
There are lots of episodes, with well-known stories, such as the first episode - Goldilocks and The Three Bears. Each episode has a pdf transcript with the words/sentences contained, so you can very well reinforce the vocabulary from each episode with your child.
Oh, and did I mention it is FREE?  And here's my 4 year old singing a little song she learned from Speekee - another online program that we reviewed and liked a lot - more details in this post.  

 

Despre Salsa TV am aflat de pe forumul BrillKids. Eu va sfatuiesc sa aruncati o privire pe acest forum, veti gasi lucruri f interesante, impartasite de alti parinti preocupati de educatia timpurie, lucruri pe care nu veti intalni in alte parti...Eu am fost mereu fascinata de fiecare data cand am inceput sa citesc pe forum ce anume lucreaza alti parinti cu copiii lor, si cate invata copiii mici astfel. 

Dar sa revin. Saptamana aceasta am incercat Salsa TV  si am fost foarte multumiti! E un program de invatare a spaniolei pentru copii, care contine multe episoade in stil teatru de papusi - de fapt in stil Sesame Street - intercalate cu video scurte cu copii sau alte personaje care repeta notiunile invatate. Se pune accent pe invatarea cuvintelor de baza, vocabularul e simplu si repetitiv. I.-nei i-a placut mult, repeta ce vedea acolo.
Episooadele sunt in ordine, primul este Goldilocks and The Three Bears iar urmatoarele episoade reiau notiunile invatate in primele. Se ofera si transcript-ul pdf cu tot ce contine fiecare episod in parte, ceea ce e de folos daca vreti sa repetati notiunile invatate impreuna cu copilul.
A, si am spus ca este Gratuit? 
In incheiere, va las cu un cantecel pe care I. l-a invatat de la Speekee, un al program in limba spaniola pe care noi l-am testat si despre care am mai povestit in aceasta postare.

Speekee Review

When my 4 yr old daughter asked me to teach her Spanish, I was at a loss. After all, Spanish would be her 4th language, after Romanian, English and French - would she be able to learn without confusing them? And then, I was by far NOT fluent in Spanish. I would understand most of it, but I'm not able to speak it (as I was with English and eventually French), to help her master Spanish, as well.
So, I began to look online for resources - language video lessons for kids, songs, stories, and any kind of information that would help me (the non-Spanish speaking mom), to introduce Spanish language to my child and learn along with her.
And so I came across Speekee.
It looked like just what we needed. And when I found out we would be able to review it, I was thrilled!

Here's a bit of information to get you started.
Speekee is an immersion-based program that teaches Spanish for children aged 2-11. You can get it on DVD, or view it online at Speekee TV, for a really affordable fee. You will have 10 episodes, each with a different theme, with lots of songs and animations.Children learn at their own pace, and they have fun while learning!
Speekee uses the immersion method - meaning that everything is being said in Spanish only, the words are carefully introduced and thoroughly repeated several times throughout the lessons.
Each week you get by email a lesson from the Fast Track program, with lots of ideas and lesson plans to complement and reinforce the lessons introduced by the Speekee videos. You also have access to download free activity sheets and flashcards.
Speekee works particularly well for homeschoolers - read this article on Speekee's blog, for more information on that .

What I liked best about Speekee? I liked the way the lessons are structured each on a theme, the way vocabulary was gently introduced and repeated though music and fun. We both learned a lot by watching it together and going over some practice as suggested in the weekly Fast Track emails.
Other that the content that was just perfect for my daughter's age and way of learning, I appreciated the fact that we could access Speekee TV anytime and from various devices. After we've been through all the videos, I set Speekee up on the iPad for my daughter so she would select the lesson and songs she liked best.

And my daughter? My daughter simply loved Speekee. She enjoyed the videos a lot, and liked the sock puppets in particular. Here's a video of her - playing with her 2 mittens :) that are supposed to be our puppets:)

Did she pick up some Spanish, after a month of Speekee? She did, a LOT! Not only she learned all the songs (she's singing them all day long), she also learned to speak in short sentences and she's very intent on conversing with me in Spanish, as well (besides English and French). She would say 'Mommy, we speak Spanish now' - so I have to play along and speak the little Spanish I know.
Here's another video, we're looking at an English book for babies and reviewing the words in Spanish.

So, yes, I'm very happy with what she learned from Speekee and I recommend it to all the parents who want to introduce Spanish in a fun and gentle way to their children. I am grateful for being offered the opportunity to review Speekee and learn so much from it! Thank you, Speekee and we're looking forward to the next lessons!

Petra Lingua - Online Language Lessons for Children

I've written about Petra Lingua before, sharing my experience with the program that I have used for a while, when I started teaching my daughter French, eight months ago. Since I have written that review only in Romanian, I've decided that PetraLingua deserves a post in English, too!
A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to win a giveaway on Multilingual Living, consisting of 3-months access to any of the PetraLingua online language courses for kids. Since my license had just expired, I chose French again.
I really like the way they easily introduce children to foreign languages - in a fun way, and yet not overwhelming. There are lots of exercises that you can choose from, to fit for children between 2 and 11 years old, to practice and reinforce the concepts in each lessons. There is interactivity, not just mere TV watching. You can read more about the method and you can also try one of the online language classes for free.
So, yes, we enjoyed it, learned a lot from it and would gladly recommend it especially to parents that don't have many resources to teach a foreign language (or they don't speak it very well themselves) - the online support is very helpful in these cases.

Invatarea limbilor straine - Cand incepem?

Mi-am dorit mult ca fetita mea sa invete limba engleza de mica, sa o invete usor, firesc, in paralel cu limba romana. Pentru aceasta am incercat sa ma informez in ce masura e posibil ca un copil mic sa deosebeasca cele doua limbi, sa nu le incurce, sa nu dezvolte intarzieri de limbaj etc, deoarece in anturajul meu, parerile erau impartite: unii sustineau ca un copil sa fie lasat sa invete limba materna pana la 3 ani si abia apoi sa adaugam alta limba, altii dimpotriva, sa mergem cu ambele limbi deodata, de la inceput.

Citind, mai mult pe internet, am aflat (inclusiv din filozofia Montessori) ca perioada optima de invatare a unei limbii straine este pana la 6 ani,  incepand de la nastere, de fapt din perioada intrauterina. De ce? Pentru ca pana la 6 ani, copilul se afla in perioada senzitiva pentru limbaj. De fapt, intre 0-3 ani are loc achizitia limbajului, urmand ca intre 3-6 ani, sa aiba loc sedimentarea limbajului. In aceasta perioada de pana la 6 ani, copiii invata usor, creierul lor este setat pentru achizitia limbajului in mod firesc (nu-i asa ca noi nu am facut eforturi constiente pentru a invata limba romana cand eram mici?), si astfel vor prelua si o a doua limba, din mediu, in special daca sunt expusi zilnic la acea a doua (sau a treia, etc) limba. Dupa 6 ani, copiii nu mai prind asa usor sunetele specifice unei anumite limbi, nu mai prind asa usor accentul, efortul depus pentru invatare va fi gradual mai mare, si interesul poate mai scazut.

Iata, de exemplu, acest articol despre dezvoltarea limbajului. Dupa observatiile Mariei Montessori, perioada senzitiva de achizitie a limbajului este incepand din luna a 7-a intrauterin si pana la varsta de 6 ani. De acceea, in aceasta perioada, copiii vor invata mult mai usor o limba straina, decat oricand in alta perioada din vasta.

De asemenea, acest articol - How young children learn English as another language - mi se pare foarte interesant.

Un alt articol pe acceasi tema, care l-am citit recent este acesta: How Children Learn Language: What Scientists Say. Aici se recomanda varsta de pana la 5 ani, pentru invatarea usoara si cu accent bun a limbilor straine de catre copii. Iar aici, un scurt video cu parerea specialistilor despre achizitia limbilor straine.

Noi am inceput cu engleza cand I. avea un 1 an. Din experienta noastra, putem spune ca I. a facut bine distinctie intre cele doua limbi, nu le-a incurcat. A vorbit foarte corect, de la inceput, pronuntand toate sunete bine, inclusiv pe 'r'. Cand a inceput sa lege propozitii nu a amestecat defel cuvinte din ambele limbi in acceeasi propozitie. Nu au fost probleme, de fapt, de pe la 2 ani si doua luni a inceput sa o ia inaintea copiilor de varsta ei, si in limba romana. Am avut impresia ca stiind o a doua limba a ajutat-o si la dezvoltarea limbajului in prima limba. Deci, experienta noastra cu introducerea devreme a unei limbi straine a fost pozitiva!

Voi, de la ce varsta ati inceput sa introduceti o limba straina copiilor vostri? Mi-ar place mult sa aflu care a fost experinta voastra cu invatarea limbilor straine!