CONSEJOS PARA QUE LOS PADRES AYUDEN A SUS HIJOS A APRENDER ESPAÑOL

Tips for Parents
Helping your Child Learn Spanish





Congratulations, because you’ve taken the most important and effective step to help your child learn Spanish by beginning as young as possible. There is "critical period" from birth until about 12-years old, during which children possess a maximum facility in which to learn and acquire a second language.

Here are some ideas to help you to enable and motivate your child to learn Spanish:

* Integrate Spanish vocabulary into everyday discussion and interaction – days of the week, months of the year, animals, family members, and colors. e.g., Ask: “How do you say Monday in Spanish? (Lunes). Identify things around the house in Spanish, and label it to help reinforce the Spanish word e.g., door (puerta), bathroom (baño), bed (cama), etc. For preschoolers and kindergartners, label in both English and Spanish.

* Practice at home helps greatly to reinforce vocabulary learned in the classroom. For example, Spanish Skool's Level 1 for Beginners program teaches more than 100 words in Spanish, while Level 2 introduces more than 200 additional words, building a strong foundation for Levels 3 and 4 to build sentences and phrases.

* Begin introducing the building of phrases with vocabulary e.g., “The dog is black.” – “El perro es negro.” Formal rules will come in Levels 3 and 4 to teach adjectives, masculine/feminine, singular/plural, El/La/Los/Las rules. It’s o.k. at this point for new learners to simply try to express themselves in Spanish e.g., “The perro is negro”.

* Make it fun and don’t criticize. Be patient and lighthearted. Let your child explore the language and vocabulary. Your child is being exposed to a new language that takes time and practice to learn. Don’t expect immediate results or fluency – we’re laying a foundation to build on.

* Encourage and praise your child. Let your child feel like the teacher. Ask them, “How do I say _____ (e.g, nose) in Spanish?” or “What is this color in Spanish?” Or enable your child to correct you? Pointing to your ear, say, “This is my nariz (nose) in Spanish, right?” Kids typically enjoy correcting mom and/or dad.

* Older children may benefit from an English-Spanish dictionary because they are curios. They often ask, “How do you say _______” or “What’s the word in Spanish for _______.” Local used book stores typically have a good selection of used English-Spanish dictionaries.

* Cultivate your child’s inquisitiveness and curiosity to learn during this “critical period” window of time. Above all – make it fun!

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