What is the easiest way that I can help my son learn Spanish?
My son will be 5 yrs old next week and I’m starting to feel like I am running out of time for him to be bilingual in English and Spanish. His father is Hispanic but I do not speak Spanish, therefore we spoke to him mostly in English. My in-laws do not speak English very well and I do not want my son to miss out on conversations with them. My father is also Hispanic but he did not teach me Spanish. In result of that I do not get to be close with my father’s family due to language barriers. I have tried flash cards but I can’t seem to get him to want to pay attention long enough to learn anything. I was wondering if anyone knows of any computer games that will be sure to teach him?
Tagged with: Easiest • help • Language • learn
Filed under: Uncategorized
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
22 comments
Rosetta Stone
dont watch dora
deport him to mexico.. or leave him outside of Home Depot
If you speak spanish, speak spanish to him. If not, seriously this a great way, although it wouldnt seem liek it, make him watch spanish soap Operas, news and comercials, it is a great way to “imerse” them into the language, much liek the way they first learned to talk
I’m pregnant right now, and I work with several Mexicans, and I believe that if you throw them into that environment they will learn it because they have to. The same way that he learned English. That’s what I plan to do with my little girl
Leave him in front of the TV on a Spanish channel
Best way to learn, is by listening to it. Have him spend the weekends with either your parents, or your husband’s parents, and you’ll see how quickly he’ll learn it.
have you tried buying muzzy. it’s a great tool for kids to use. it comes in these episodes like sesame street and says spanish words. you can order online and on your phone.
try extra classes at skool and making him stay at your in-laws for a few weeks during the holidays, the younger the child the faster he will pick up things like languages but i can see what you mean it must be hard to keep his attention on learning
Don’t speak to him and let your husband speak to him in Spanish while pointin at things eventually he will aprender
Depends on his personality. If he is serious, curious and somewhat introverted, he might find books interesting. You might try books with pictures.
If he is more extroverted, he might benefit of being taught by your relatives, or your husband’s. You know, trying to teach him the same way he learned English: speaking.
If possible have his father speak to him only in Spanish and you only speak in English as that worked for my niece and nephews with French and they are fluent in both languages.
Take advantage of the fact that his grandparents don’t speak English too well and immerse your son with them because not only will he get to have a blast with his grandparents, he will be picking up a language too. If they don’t live nearby then have them speak on the phone everyday or send him to stay with them for a weekend once a month.
Ask your father to read your son stories in Spanish, record them onto CD or a tape and play them in the car.
There’s a DVD called Muzzy (BBC) which is for young children and comes in a range of languages, but it’s pretty expensive, so maybe check at the library and see if they have it for rent there.
Looking at your local library for children’s Spanish classes, ask your son’s teacher or consider enrolling your son in a Spanish immersion school where Spanish is the first language and all lessons are taught in Spanish, most cities have schools such as these.
Good luck and well done for giving your son two languages.
Well if he is going to be in kindergarten soon, you should but him in a duel immersion school, and he should be proficient with writing, reading and speaking in both English and Spanish by 4th grade… but if you want to put him in regular school, get Rosetta Stone, works well. Hope i helped
Solutions
1 There are some good websites for Spanish search the web
2 Send him to a kinder-garden or school were they make the kids learn Spanish
3 Private lessons (some of them are free)
4 There are some free programs for kids to learn spanish I prefer private lessons
oh yeah I know he is only five I am not crazy okay : )
That’s all I got
GoOd LuCk ^_^
Some answers suggest you let your son spend weekends with his grandparents and I think it’s the best idea so far. But make sure no English is spoken to him, and I mean, at all.
On top of that you should also ask your husband for help. Since he’s the only one who’s fluent, he should speak to your son in Spanish, not a word in English.
You do need to hurry up, as you know, because you’re running out of time!!! What’s more, why don’t you start tomorrow, Sunday?
dont take offense but I think it is kind of dumb that being half hispanic and living in the US he has not learnt it…he is on time but has to learn it now…so his father should speak to him ONLY in Spanish he will learn soon
-Well I can say:
I have 2 friends that live in Mexico, their mother is Mexican and their father is American. One of them is 9 years old and the other one is 12 years old and they speak spanish as natives.
1.- Because his mother spoke to him in spanish since he was born. and well speaks english cause of his father.
You say your family speaks spanish, well try to keep in touch more often so he will learn much faster. Also I do not know if you can find some activites in the city where spanish can be spoken.
2.- Do not worry about “confusion”, as every language is learnt by childs. is speaking both languages since those early years.
You’re right — you’re starting to run out of time for him to learn a second language easily. Keep him around your in-laws as much as possible and ask them to speak with him only in Spanish. Ask your husband to speak to him only in Spanish. Flash cards won’t work because, as you’ve found out, he’s too young to focus on the written word. Make sure he starts to learn the spoken word as soon as possible. Also, as previously mentioned, have him watch Spanish language television shows. He’ll pick up the language all by himself.
But start on this soon, because after a child is about 7 years old, it becomes harder and harder to learn a new language.
Hi,
you can do a lot of things..for example you can buy some cd’s with book stories in spanish and during 30 min. have spanish stories, or if he likes wall-e or ice age 3 , buy him and put hi the dvd in spanish (it works!).
You and he need to have fun with spanish if you like music or some Dora games…do it but you NEED to be sure and sound convinced that SPANISH IS GREAT!!!
I know a very good school they have native teachers and with them you can start and motivate your son.
http://www.languagechamps.com.au.
Good luck!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F2obB7afMw
Try this website:
http://www.mansionspanish.com
.
There is an excellent board game called Spanish Start. The game uses flash cards and phonetics. Fun and Interactive.