Spanish for Kids, Spanish for Children, Teach Kids Spanish
Kids Can Learn Spanish! Spanish for Children
I just got a call from my two year old granddaughter. She wanted
to sing "Los Pollitos" to me. You can find this children's
classic in most of the collections of songs that we are
recommending.
It is perfect for hand gestures. These gestures are ideal for
language learning because they imprint the sense of the words as
the child recites.
The text is: (translation follows)
Los pollitos dicen p?o, p?o, p?o cuando tienen hambre, y cuando
tienen fr?o.
(the kids make gesture of shivering)
La gallina busca el ma?z y el trigo; Le da su comida, Y le
presta abrigo
(the kids make the gesture of Mom hugging her kids.)
P?o, p?o, p?o
(the kids should ham it up, making a little chick face!)
Translation:
The little chicks say peep, peep, peep when they are hungry and
when they are cold.
The chicken looks for corn and wheat; she feeds them, and she
keeps them warmn
There are many reasons for wanting your children to learn
Spanish. We want to help you find resources that will help you
with Spanish for Kids.
Some parents are interested in preparing their children for life
in today's world where it is important to know more than one
language. This is even more important in our hemisphere where it
becomes increasingly valuable to know Spanish.
Other people think of the intellectual stimulation that learning
a language provides. They think that they can give their
children a an additional intellectual challenge in a painless
way. Researcher in London, England have determined that learning
a second language boosts brain power which remains throughout
life.
Learning a language can be a source of pride and self esteem for
the child who is fortunate enough to be exposed to learning
outside of the classroom.
There are some parents who are concerned that their children
grow up respecting the different heritages that surround them.
Concerned that the nativist tradition of United States history
is always present, many parents, not of a Spanish Speaking
background, choose to prepare their children to accept and
embrace the Hispanic culture they live alongside of.
Their reason to encourage their children to speak Spanish is
based in part on the history of a previous group of Latin
immigrants to the United States, the Italians.
"Some social critics were aware of the consequences of sudden
assimilation. Mary McDowell, a social worker, wrote en 1904:
'The contempt for the experiences and languages of their parents
which foreign children sometimes exhibit... is doubtless due in
part to the overestimation which the school places upon speaking
English. This cutting into his family loyalty takes away one of
the most conspicuous and valuable traits of the Italian child.'
She attributed the lawlessness of some of the immigrant children
to their disrespect for their parents and therefore for all
authority."
(La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience,
Mangione and Morreale, p. 222)
Reflection on this same national history, and often more
importantly personal experience, moves many Hispanic parents to
keep their language alive in their children. They want to
preserve their heritage for their children by giving them its
most evocative and powerful manifestation, the language of their
forebears.
Whatever your reason for wanting your children to learn
Spanish, this site will provide resources to help you. You will
find suggestions and experiences of others who share your
interest; you will find songs and stories in Spanish that will
enthuse your children with their learning task. A list of links
to related sites will lead you to other resources. And you will
find that the books you need for yourself and your children have
been located and placed at your disposition.
?Buena Suerte y adelante con su cometido!
Do the Parents Know Spanish?
Although most of us agree that it is a good thing for our kids
to speak Spanish, most kids in the US whose parents were born in
Latin American countries do not speak Spanish well.
Even if both parents speak Spanish at home, quite often the kids
answer their parents in English. Look around at your Latin
friends and relatives and you will see that most give up on
teaching their kids to speak
Spanish. Chicano and Puerto Rican families seem to have a little
better luck than Latinos from other countries with keeping
Spanish alive in their barrios but even their younger generation
is losing fluency in Spanish.
However, parents who want their children to speak Spanish can go
against the current and set the stage for their children to grow
up speaking Spanish. It is not easy. Most families fail in their
resolve but it CAN be done. Take a look at our bilingual study.
How to Get Your Children to Speak Your Language/?C?mo Lograr que
Sus Hijos Hablen Su Idioma? You can find it in http://www.leerespode
r.com/comoeng.htm. This report will give some hints on how
to improve your chances.
But it is most important for you to get your kids reading
Spanish BEFORE they learn to read in English.
Don't be afraid that it will hurt their English. Unless they are
living in a closed Spanish Speaking Barrio,
their English will be perfect. They will absorb it on the
playground and in the school. Your job is to keep the Spanish up!
Take a look at the fuller argument presented below for the
importance of your kids learning to read FIRST in Spanish.
Finally, another idea for native speakers of Spanish: You may
want to review (or study it for the first time) your Spanish. I
found one reference for you. Sorry it is expensive; that's
because it is used as a textbook. But that will make it easy to
use and will surely be complete. Take a look at Nuevos Mundos,
Spanish for Native Speakers 2nd Edition, Workbook : Curso de
espanol para estudiantes bilingues"
Whether or not the parents know Spanish will determine their
strategy for exposing their children to the language. Obviously,
parents who do not know the language well will not have native
pronunciation.
If their children learn to read Spanish, they may not have the
proper pronunciation. This is a tough issue. Some might say that
pronunciation is not important for children. However, why not
try to expose them to the correct values of the Spanish sounds.
Parents should work on their own pronunciation to model as
correctly as possible for their kids.
Nevertheless, the value of the parents' involvement in reading
and singing in Spanish with their children more than outweighs
the disadvantage of the child hearing their poor pronunciation.
Much of the damage can be remedied by having the child listen to
as much Spanish spoken by native speakers as possible.
So, in general terms parents can fall into one of three groups:
1. those who know NO Spanish; 2. those who know enough to read,
even poorly; 3. and those who can model correct pronunciation
for their children. All these parents should make sure their
children HEAR a lot of good Spanish but obviously those parents
who know no Spanish will be more dependent on recordings for
their children to listen to. Try to find some good audio
resources. Besides the tapes and CDs you might buy or take out
of the library don't forget the radio and TV. All parents should
expose their children to ask much passive listening of Spanish
that they can. In most places there are Spanish language radio
stations. TV programs from the Univision network are very
widespread.
All of the above boils down to three tactics that are valid for
all kinds of parents and all kinds of kids of all ages and level
of Spanish.........
1. Passive Listening: Everyone should keep the Spanish radio on
as much as possible. Keep the radio or TV on while the childis
doing other things. It has to be the sea of sound that they swim
in while they are beginning their study of Spanish. The child
doesn't have to concentrate on it; they will not be listening to
try to understand. After a while they won't even hear the radio
but it will be affecting them. Little by little they will begin
to anticipate the rhythm of the language, even before they
understand they words. They will also begin to recognize certain
words.
2. Pattern Response Drills: Those parents who know some Spanish
can try to run through all the permutations of the new
expressions that the child learns. For example, suppose your
child just learned to say. "Pedro tiene cuatro a?os" rather than
translating from the English incorrectly, "Pedro es cuatro". Now
to make this new element of the language stick, you should go on
substituting different ages and the names of different people.
The child will soon be able to say comfortably, "Mar?a tiene
cuatro a?os." "Juan tiene ocho a?os." "Yo tengo tres a?os."
"?Cu?ntos a?os tienes t??" There are many examples of these
drills in most language courses but the parent can generate them
herself.
3. Encouragement: Don't correct their Spanish when they speak.
Don't interrupt the flow of their conversation. Don't make their
speaking Spanish to be another homework assignment. It should be
something special, even something "secret" in your family. Kids
like the mystery and intrigue of having something special of
their own. Their speaking Spanish should be a joyful,
non-threatening experience. If they make mistakes in their
grammar, correct their errors by using the same expression
correctly a few minutes after. Don't come right back at them
with the correct form or they will begin to feel conscious of
their expression and choke off their freedom of expression.
also...........
The Alphabet: If your child is coming up on kindergarten age,
you have a wonderful opportunity to teach him or her how to read
in Spanish BEFORE they learn the alphabet in English! Why? I
will be brief, hoping that you will catch the direction of my
thought (and my practice, with both my children and my
grandson!)
Spanish is completely regular. They can learn the vowels in one
sitting.This is how Spanish Speaking kids learn: from
"abecedarios", the same as English Speaking children used to
learn from primers. If your child learns to read (even if only
simple words) Spanish first, in effect you are giving them a
great head start.
You can start the child reading the simple words like Mami,
comida, mesa, Papi, mu?eca, carro, etc. Basically you are giving
them phonics without having to buy any expensive program. You
can do them no harm because, they will have a basis of the
sounds that DO hold up for English; they will have achieved the
satisfaction and boost to their confidence by your enthusisastic
affirmation of the achievement when they read "Mami y Papi" and
other simple phrases.
As they progress in English they will still have to deal with
the irregularities of this language. However, they will have
learned the consonants by applying them to completely foolproof
regular vowels.
I said I would be brief. I am very convinced of the value of
this method. I have no scientific proof, just intuition and my
own experience. To work, you have to teach the child to read the
alphabet in Spanish BEFORE they begin to learn in English. If
they are already learning in English, it will confuse them. But
if you get there FIRST, you will do them a great favor! to see a
bunch of alphabet resources for you to choose from.
Toys and Games: Of lesser importance but still a possible
beakthrough for certain children could be the use of toys and
games (board games and others) as a way to sneak in some fun and
variety into the learning process. See if Spanish Educational
Toys would be useful for your child.
Computer Programs for kids If you or your child is computer
savvy or if you want to combine math or science with Spanish you
may want to check out the Educational Software for Children in
Spanish: Reader Rabbit, Disney, Jump Start and many more...
Some First Recitations
A long time, universal, traditional favorite is "Pinp?n"
Pinp?n es un mu?eco, muy guapo y de cart?n
(the kids smile for "muy guapo", and act stiff for "de cart?n")
se lava la carita (the kids make the gesture of washing their
face)
con agua y con jab?n.
Pinp?n dame la mano, (the kids reach out their hand)
que quiero ser tu amigo (the kids make the gesture of shaking
hands)
?Pinp?n, Pinp?n, Pinp?n!
Translation:
Pinp?n is a doll, a handsome cardboard doll. He washes his face
with soap and water.
Pinp?n give me your hand, I want to be your friend. Pinp?n,
Pinp?n, Pinp?n!
Another favorite of our kids was "La Mar Estaba Serena" Kids
like this one because it is easy to follow. The repetition helps
them learn the relation between noun and adjective as well as
the vowels in Spanish.
The same verse is repeated by using all of the vowels in turn.
It begins by the parent singing, "La mar estaba serena; serena
estaba la mar". (The sea was calm; calm was the sea.) Then
either the parent or one of several children taking turns shouts
out, "?con A!", meaning, "Let's sing it with all "a" sounds"!
And you sing, "La mar astaba sarana; sarana astaba la mar."
"?con e"! "Le mer estebe serene; serene estebe le mer".
"?con i"! "Li mir istibi sirini; sirini istibi li mir".
"?con o"! "Lo mor ostobo sorono; sorono ostobo lo mor".
"?con u"! "Lu mur ustubu surunu; surunu estubu lu mur.
You'll find the kids really like this one.
English (sic!) As A Second Language
It might be interesting to do some "reverse engineering" and
look at the world of those Spanish Speakers who want to learn
English. Check out http:www.leerespoder.com
Reading in Spanish for the Parents
If you want to keep up your Spanish. Try to keep reading books
in Spanish on a wide range of topics, la familia, la salud, los
negocios, el ni?o, el adolescente, etc. A good source is http://www.bo
okslibros.com/LibrosEnEspanol.php
Good Luck! Your Kids will thank you!
About the author:
Frank Gerace Ph.D has lived and worked in Latin America on
Educational and Communication Projects. He currently teaches
English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He invites
parents interested in helping their kids learn Spanish to visit
him at: http://www.bookslibros.com/SpanishForNinos.htm
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