Photo by *spud*
Basically, every expert on the subject agrees that if you want your child to learn a new language, just exposing them to “educational” media in that language won’t-on its own-increase their chances of learning it. For maximum language absorption, children need to be actively involved with caregivers, family and/or friends who verbally interact with them through play and daily activities.
That being said, media can be a useful tool for reinforcing the minority language if it’s an activity in which parents can actively engage with their children. If your kid already watches TV, it’s recommended that you choose programs in the minority language. This is a HUGE topic of discussion, and one we’ll be talking about in much more detail in later posts. For now, I want to introduce you to our:
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Every week we’ll browse the web to find a children’s video en español to share with you. The idea is that you can use these as a source of quality, educational and, of course, FUN videos to share with your child.
Our very first video comes from la madre patria of Spain: Pocoyó - a sweet and curious, 4-year-old preschooler. His joy and curiosity for life lead him into countless adventures with his friends: Pato, Loula, Pajaroto and Elly, the big pink elephant. Pocoyó stimulates a child’s imagination through playful interaction and lots of laughs. I just love to watch it with Camila and ask her to dance like Elly, la elefante ROSA, and watch her clumsily turn around and around in circles.
We’re posting the Spanish version, but the beauty of Pocoyó is that it’s available in 11 languages!
One of our favorites; yours to enjoy: El Baile de Pocoyó
Do you have favorite videos you and your child watch together? Please share with all of us links to your favorite on-line children videos in Spanish.
Hi, I’m a Mom’s Club of West Adams member and decided to check out your website per your post on our Yahoo Group . Very cool! We are trying to raise our daughter Mary bilingual, but she is learning Japanese rather than Spanish. We’ve had a hard time because the only person she ever hears speak Japanese is her dad, who works all day and doesn’t get to see her as much as we would wish. But still we refuse to give up and are making progress slowly but surely. Thanks for the tip on your site!
@Rebecca-”Progress slowly but surely” will take you where you want to go. The best advice we can give you is to immerse her in as many activities as you can with other Japanese-speaking kids. Think about starting your own if you can’t find one. You’ll be surprised how many parents are looking as well. Very soon we’ll be posting tips on starting your own playgroup in the minority language. Also, find as much media in Japanese as possible. You can actually watch Pocoyo in Japanese as well! Here’s the link: http://jsp.pocoyo.com/japan/home_fx.jsp?lang=8
Enjoy!
Just came across your blog from Mom Bloggers Club. We LOVE Pocoyo in our house.
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At our casa we LOVE Pocoyo! He is adorable. We purposely got the Spanish packet from our satellite provider so I can record kids shows in Spanish for my little ones to watch. It’s not very diverse where we live, but I really want my kids to grow up bilingual (like I did), so I find any and every way possible to expose them to Spanish and Pocoyo is a perfect example.
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