My daughter wishes to learn spanish and already knows a couple of words (thank you Dora the explorer). Unfortunalty I can't afford the likes of bbc's Muzzy dvds etc so how else can I teach her? She is 5 by the way. She already wants a spanish wall in which she can stick names of things, furniture etc, but what else can I do? Anyone know any good sites etc? Pronounciation is important too, where can I hear proper pronounciations?

Thanks in advance :D

You can get a lot of DVDs with multiple European languages.

Get a load of Disney, Barbie, etc. and she will soon be picking it up.

I suppose she'll have to know the english versions pretty well though? Where would I get them in other languages?

Start withthe BBC website!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/lj/

I suppose she'll have to know the english versions pretty well though? Where would I get them in other languages?

This is one of the problems of rip-off Britain!

If you buy a Lion King DVD here, it will be English only.
If you buy the same DVD in France, Germany etc. it will have multiple languages. You get a choice-of-language menu on start-up, so you can watch the English version as well if you choose.
Some will let you have the foreign language playing with English subtitles.

We buy DVD's from 'amazon.de' (not amazon.co.uk) for the German language option.
The best way to get Spanish options would probably be from the US via amazon.com.
You would have to be sure of having a multi-region player, though.

This is one of the problems of rip-off Britain!

If you buy a Lion King DVD here, it will be English only.
If you buy the same DVD in France, Germany etc. it will have multiple languages. You get a choice-of-language menu on start-up, so you can watch the English version as well if you choose.
Some will let you have the foreign language playing with English subtitles.

We buy DVD's from 'amazon.de' (not amazon.co.uk) for the German language option.
The best way to get Spanish options would probably be from the US via amazon.com.
You would have to be sure of having a multi-region player, though.

Thanks and yes the dvd player is muti region :)

Start withthe BBC website!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/lj/

Thanks that could be useful :thumbsup: Isn't that Kevin from blues clues :suspect: I watch too much kiddie t.v :D

Apparently, you could get Teletubbies in different languages. I'd visit the central library to see if you can find a few for lending purposes and then dumb them into vids for her to watch. ;)

Or buy nursery rhymes in different languages, or even just music. My nephew watches cartoons in chinese, but he doesn't know all the words used. I think he is learning slowly by absorption.

I used to be able to sing in Japanese when I was a teen too. lol.. Just from listening to anime songs and imitating the sounds. I have no idea what it's about though. :P You can maybe download songs from the net or something.

Usborne do language books and dvd's.

There is the farmyard tales learning is fun dvd, there is also books, which have internet linked so you can go to the website in the books and it goes to monitored websites for safe childrens activities.

If you would like me to look up the full names of the books etc - then please let me know and i shall email you a list.

Here is a few examples
http://www.usborneonline.org/catalogue/catalogue_pop_up.asp?org=HAN18687&css=1&popup=sample&id=1188&pages=30-31

http://www.usborneonline.org/catalogue/browse.asp?org=HAN18687&css=1&subject=l&subcat=ls&id=2190

http://www.usborneonline.org/catalogue/browse.asp?org=HAN18687&css=1&subject=l&subcat=ls&id=1186

to be honest to learn a language you need to be living there to get an accent ext

to be honest to learn a language you need to be living there to get an accent ext

Pah!
I've been here for 7 years and you can still hear ze French aksente...;)

Anyway, linguascope is a really nice languages site, full of games and vocab, you can get a free preview on
http://www.linguascope.com/

Then click on Hola and have a go...

Hope it helps!

Pah!
I've been here for 7 years and you can still hear ze French aksente...;)

Anyway, linguascope is a really nice languages site, full of games and vocab, you can get a free preview on
http://www.linguascope.com/

Then click on Hola and have a go...

Hope it helps!

Im talking about a kid no a fully grown adult

My daughter wishes to learn spanish and already knows a couple of words (thank you Dora the explorer). Unfortunalty I can't afford the likes of bbc's Muzzy dvds etc so how else can I teach her? She is 5 by the way. She already wants a spanish wall in which she can stick names of things, furniture etc, but what else can I do? Anyone know any good sites etc? Pronounciation is important too, where can I hear proper pronounciations?

Thanks in advance :D

Am I right in thinking that you are home educating?

Some of the local home ed group kids are learning Spanish, if you wanted to set up a weekly group with a tutor I am sure there would be an interest in splitting the cost :) There are probably some Spanish students at the university who might like a spare time job.

My dd is doing this at the moment, we accosted a Japanese lady we met at a car boot sale and got her to come along once per week to talk with 4 of them :)

If it was french it would be easier as the HE group have a Muzzy video in the loans box ;)

Hi Henny Penny, no I don't home educate mine. Had I known about it before they started school it may have been something I would have done! Anyhow, i'm just a parent that doesn't believe that learning is for school time only and when at home they choose what they want to learn about and we go and learn about it! I think it broadens their minds, gives them encouragement to make decisions about their learning and stops them being limited by what they learn in the classroom! Children learn a lot quicker if they are interested in the subject in my opinion which is why I let them make the choices. They both want to learn a language and it can only help them in the future!

Hi Kittenta

Oh, sorry I picked up the wrong end of the stick there then.

Sometimes DVDs have the option to listen to them in another language. One friend got her kid the Harry potter movies in French.

You could find an au pair who is willing to swap a few hours talking to your kids in Spanish in return for bed and board.

I know several people who have found students who are willing to come and do a session of conversation for reasonable prices.

A bloke called Michel Thomas has a learning system that is much recommended amongst home educators, it is a bit expensive, and I haven't heard his Spanish cds but his french course is very good, and very easy to learn - maybe you and your children could play the cds on car journeys and learn together? http://www.michelthomas.com/

Total immersion is supposed to be the best way to learn, so you could move to Spain :)

Just listening to the language being spoken is supposed to prime your brain to hearing the sounds of that language, so playing the radio, nursery songs etc in another language can help with learning that language later on.

There is supposed to be a window of opportunity, when your brain is most able to pick up a first language between 0 and 6, and if you don't hear certain sounds then you will never be able to replicate them, which is why some cultures have problem with our th sound, etc, and why children raised by animals never learn to talk if they are not found before this window of opportunity is gone.

The window of opportunity for learning a second language is supposed to be between the ages of 6 and 11, so even just exposing your children to the sounds of another language is helpful as it helps their brains to hear the sounds.

have fun :)

I'm not sure if 5 is too young for 'Spanish for dummies'.

I don't think so. You can skip certain parts of it. And just play the picture games. There are loads of them.

Fun is the key to make anyone learn a language!

Im talking about a kid no a fully grown adult

Are you saying don't even try?! Kids are sponges for languages!! They'll sock up anything you can throw at them. Laying the foundations of Spanish now, in terms of grammar and vocabulary will make it soooo much easier for her in the future. She's got her whole like to refine things like accent.

What I would say it's all about games, repeating exercises, singing, games, Did I mention the games?
Just like you don't learn English by writing it down, don't worry about this part particularly, at primary school there is very little written down in the languages, if anything at all.
We learn through repetition, copying, imitation and making links so it's about making those interesting.
To learn numbers, try playing killer- say up to three numbers, then it's the other players turn... uno, dos, tres... quatro..cinco... seis,siete... ocho, nueve.... diez!!! (Doh!) Whoever has to say ten is out! Extend to twenty when ready.

To learn colours try learning the rainbow song in Spanish...

rojo y amarillo y rosa y verde, naranja, púrpura y azul, que puedo cantar un arcoiris, cantar un arcoiris, cantar un arco iris también.
Play matching games with picture cards... perro? no chat!

Learn nouns and verbs as separate entities, don't expect sentences straightaway apart from the stock phrases like how are you? Que tal? I'm very well thanks Muy bien gracias... get used to just using these in conversation...

Then introduce your child to sharing films and books with you and they will be able to pick out the odd word. You can get versions of books like the Very hungry caterpillar (La oruga muy hambrienta) and Dear zoo (Querido Zoo) which they will probably know in English which also adds to the confidence as they can then start to notice the equivalent word by knowing what will come next. I also echo watching favourite disney films in foreign languages.

Overall, make it fun!

EDIT: Also I noticed you mentioned about pronunciation... I use google translate for this as I teach French at school but learnt Spanish myself at school so my French is pretty much the level of the childrens!

The BBC sites are really good and there's lots of stuff on primary resources.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/spanish/

I was looking for a weekend playgroup that offered languages through play. never found one though :(

Apparently, you could get Teletubbies in different languages.

LOL. The teletubbies didn't even speak English when I last heard them.