....but don't speak spanish yourself? I live in the south, and the town I live in we are rapidly becoming a minority...I think it is CRITICAL that my kids learn spanish. I took 4 years in HS but didn't really undertand it (my teacher wasn't even hispanic...I'm convinced she didn't even understand what she was teaching)...I would love to learn right along with them. I found this book: http://www.christianbook.com/Christ...8&event=PPCSRC&item_code=WW&view=details#curr What do you use?
I'm interested in this too! Right now Samantha is taking Spanish in an immersion program with a native speaker but that only lasts until summer. I will need something after that and I do not speak Spanish.
I think videos or DVD's or cd's would be better than just a book. I think hearing the words is important. My dd found a site just last week. It looks pretty good. They're having a sale right now, just for the next few days. Here's the link: http://www.learnspanishtoday.com/ms_vls/main.html
We tried Power Slide for a year, my kids eyes glazed over! Abeka Spanish is what we are using now and it has really worked.
As a fluent Spanish speaker I must say that one of my biggest pet peeves is when people tell me they can speak Spanish, but can't pronounce a single thing correctly. It's like nails on a chalk board to me... really. IMO, you can't speak a language until you have the pronunciation down. Until then you may be fluent at reading/writing the language, but not speaking it. All that to say: I agree with Deena 100%. CDs or DVDs are better than just a book any day. Not that a book doesn't have it's place, but it's imperative that hear the words, as well.
My dh is very fluent in Spanish in addition to reading and writing. He learned it as a babe. My dh said that are different kinds of Spanish from different parts, depending on where you are from. The people who speak Spanish around where I live sound different from those who are south of us.
Dialect is always going to be an issue. So are colloquialisms. There are 21 different countries that speak Spanish as the national language. Many of those countries are large and have different "accents" and colloquialisms, just like the difference between a Bostonian and a Floridian in the US. And that number does not include territories/colonies (like Puerto Rico) or the US. Most US Latinos speak a form of Mexican Spanish, so that's what most text books teach. Learning book Spanish is fine and will equip a child to converse with any native speaker.... as long as they can pronounce the words correctly
I do like the idea of the cd/dvd..but she's just 6. Would she understand/sit still for the lessons each day? It's pretty pricey. All her friends are hispanic...I urge her to listen to them. I'm comfortable enough in the easy pronunciation...it's when she get's older and there is sentence building involved I would feel out of my element.
I'd guess that you could find a child's program in the library that could help her if you don't want to buy something. If you sign up for the Visual Link Spanish (the link I posted above) newsletter/e-mail, they may send you an e-mail like we got. Their normal $199.99 program for only $89.99. That's better than their on-line sale price of $134.99! That goes until February 4. My dd has been doing the online free lessons, and really liked it. Plus I learned some when I was her age, but forgot much of it now, so I want to learn as well. We went ahead and ordered the whole thing for the $89.99 price. When you're ordering they ask who you're buying it for. One of the choices was for a child ages 5-11. So I'm guessing that your dd could do this program, especially with the incentive of learning to talk with her friends! The reason I brought this up is because you said you felt it was imperative. I think you're right, based on where you live, so this would be something that both of you could do together and learn well, aside from her being with her friends! $90 is much more affordable than $140 or $200!!! But, like I said at the beginning, check your library for children's Spanish programs that come on cd or dvd, or maybe old ones that have tapes. If you find a good program for free, then maybe that's the route you want to take.
Thank you, that is what I was trying to say. Not feeling well today, so my head is a bit-a lot foggy today. Beautifully stated!
We do Flip Flop Spanish with our 6 year old. www.flipflopspanish.com It's just a beginning place, but she likes it and I like it, too. I took French in high school (we lived in northern Ohio at the time... Canada was a lot closer than Mexico and the seniors in the French club got to go to Montreal!) (and then we moved in the middle of my freshman year, but that's a different story). My DH grew up down here and speaks enough Spanish to get by. I'm looking forward to learning conversational Spanish with Joy!
You're welcome Kris! I'll tell my dd, she's the one who found it. Sometimes I wonder if I am even needed for my dd's schooling! She picks up on things quickly/easily, does her own research, knows how to fix stuff on the computer, knows how to set up a Power Point presentation.... Sheesh, she's 10 years old! For her 8th Birthday we got her a watch. On the way home she read the directions and set the watch time and date all by herself! When I think about how she learns all these things so well, it makes me VERY glad I homeschool! She'd be put into a cookie cutter mold and expected to perform! She wouldn't do well with that! She needs to be able to explore, then she REALLY learns stuff well! Just another great reason to homeschool! (Wish I would've figured that out before my poor oldest ds had his disastrous grade 1 experience! But at least the other 2 didn't ever have to deal with that!) OOPS! Sorry, didn't mean to threadjack!
If your kid has a Nintendo ds check out My Spanish Tutor. My dd loves that game, it covers a lot, and uses voice recognition to check pronunciation. Great for quick vocabulary building.
My 10 year old dd decided she wants to learn Korean, I found this program that has many language choices. We tried the free download and she loved it, so i ended up buying the program. http://www.declan-software.com/index.htm Laurie
I only see flashcard stuff on there, or did I miss something? Is it vocabulary only? Does it put things into sentences?
if you click spanish there should be 3 or 4 different programs ,one is flash cards. one is reading and writing and the other is conversation. I bought them all for less than 100.00 Laurie
