We’re excited! Disney Interactive and Rosetta Stone have joined forces to promote the value of learning languages for our kids!

Together they have launched a new online original series, it’s a small world: the animated series inspired by the iconic Disney Parks attraction that’s always a must-do during our visits to the parks.  Premiering on Disney.com, Disney’s YouTube network and across Disney’s connected TV apps, the new series does a fabulous job at taking the multicultural and multilingual experience of the attraction online for our generation of kids.

Sponsored exclusively by Rosetta Stone and their new language learning apps for kids (our review here), the eight episode series introduces families to unique words and customs from around the world. Our kids will get to join a group of children from different countries across the globe to explore new lands in a digital narrative brought to life through animation inspired by Disney artist Mary Blair’s original designs for the popular theme park attraction.

Beautifully done, in short 4 minute webisodes, we wholeheartedly celebrate that the theme of it’s a small world: the animated series centers around introducing the concept of learning languages and cultures to understand each other better.

The first webisode finds the children at the British Museum of Art and touches upon subjects like  how using the same word, like “football,” can mean different things in different languages and that some words can sound similar in different languages and can cause mix ups.  Oh, how we know about that! A topic near and dear to us parents raising bilingual kids!

To view the first three episodes of it’s a small world: the animated series visit disney.com/smallworld or watch the first episode below.

The Rosetta Stone – It’s a Small World presents on Disney Video

¡Cuéntanos! Did you like it? We’ve been working hard for years advocating with media, apps creators and toy companies to create more products for bilingual and multilingual children and that celebrate diversity. They DO want and need to hear from you, so please share in the comments section so they know we want more of these quality shows for our kids. ¡Gracias!

As a Spanish teacher and mother raising bilingual children, I am always searching for resources to support my children and students’ language abilities.  I was absolutely thrilled to be given the chance to review Whistlefritz’s newly released Educator’s Collection!  This comprehensive collection includes the Spanish for Kids DVD series, music CDs, a Spanish Immersion matching card game, and an extensive book that contains original Spanish lesson plans for kids and innovative activity pages.  The collection is indispensable for providing children and students with educational activities to further their knowledge and understanding of Spanish.

My children absolutely loved the captivating and enchanting DVDs!  These award-winning episodes are well made and fascinated my children!  They are their favorite DVDs, and my boys want to watch them repeatedly.  The immersion method, which is essential for the learning of a new language, is used.  I especially appreciate the consistent use of comprehensible input throughout the video.  The Spanish is clear and easy to understand, with the repetition of new words and phrases guaranteeing that children will learn while watching.  The songs in the videos encourage the children to participate and sing along, but for my boys the fun and loveable mouse Fritzi was the star of the show.

We very much enjoyed the up-beat songs on the CDs, which include some traditional Latin tunes as well as some new songs.  The award-winning singer and songwriter Jorge Anaya create music that is easy to learn and fun for singing and dancing along with.  A songbook is included which contains the lyrics and translation for the songs in the DVDs and on the CDs.  Music is one my family’s favorite ways to learn Spanish, and the Whistlefritz CDs are our favorites!

The memory matching cards game was great fun for the whole family!  My boys loved the cleverly illustrated action cards, and my five year old took great pride in reading the verbs under each drawing.  Playing together was a fun way to learn and review new words all while interacting in Spanish.

By far my favorite part of the educator’s collection is the compilation of Spanish lesson plans.  The activity-based curriculum will be invaluable for teaching both my sons and my students.  The content-based units and cross-curricular lesson plans provide excellent ideas for furthering the understanding and speaking abilities of the students in my classes.  I especially love the materials and worksheets that can be copied and used in the classroom and at home.

I highly recommend Whistlefritz’s Educator’s Collection for parents and teachers who are committed to raising bilingual children.  This multi-media collection provides interactive, hands-on language-learning activities, video, and music that will significantly enhance the learning in the classroom and in the home.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one complete educator’s collection to one winner — a value of $175! All you have to do is visit the Whistlefritz website and tell us how you would be using the Educator’s Spanish Collection. Then enter the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Dec. 7, 2009. On occasion, we re-publish older posts that we deem are still relevant to ensure our new readers are exposed to all of our content. 

Although sometimes I long for a few minutes of silence, the reality is that I love the fact that my three-year-old daughter, Vanessa, talks non-stop. Her vocabulary in Spanish is extensive and I know it has to do with the fact that I’ve talked to her since she was in my belly.

In fact, many studies show that the amount of conversations and the variety of words that children listen to have a direct influence on the pace at which they develop language skills. Children that are exposed to both more words and uncommon words in their conversations with adults tend to develop broader vocabularies.

So, how do you do this? Expose your children to a vast variety of experiences making sure you turn them into an opportunity for them to learn:

MEAL TIME

From cooking terms to the origin of a specif dish, the chances to teach your children tons of vocabulary abound in the kitchen. Just the other day, after Vanessa finished eating ice cream with her new-found-love, cajeta, she asked me to please wipe her hands with a wet towel because she hates being sticky. So I did and we went finger by finger saying their name in Spanish a couple of times for each hand.

PLAY TIME

Some children are more prone to have a conversation if they have something concrete to talk about, such as a toy or another material thing. Vanessa makes up all kinds of stories about her plush animals and she loves to tell me all about them. I encourage her to do so by asking probing questions and making relevant comments.

TRAVEL TIME

Oh, how I love to travel! I think there’s no better way to learn than this one. When traveling with children, it’s a good idea to learn about the place you’ll be going to before the actual trip. This will probably make them more eager to get there and will make them pay better attention to their surroundings once there. We recently took a road trip about six hours southwest of Denver to a spot famed for it’s healing hot springs. A few days before the trip, I showed Vanessa the route we were going to take on a big map I have hanging in my office and we talked about what we would find there. She was fascinated before we even got there and now, a few weeks later, she still talks about the trip.

ROUTINE TIME

As you probably know by now, children crave routines and I do too because they offer great opportunities for interaction. Every afternoon, after I pick up my daughter from preschool and we’re in the car ready to go home, I ask her about her day. We have great conversations and she’s come to expect them by now. Some times she has a funny story to tell me about what happened, other times she shares a song she learned in music class, and still others she has a question about something one of her teachers said. And, as we talk about all these things, her vocabulary continues to expand.

What are some of the experiences you like to turn into learning opportunities?

I take my boys to a weekly Spanish class. The majority of the children have had some exposure to the language, which makes this the ideal class for us. My sons always use Spanish with me, and it is the language that they use with each other.

During the art session of this class, one of the mothers started to ask me what I have done to get my kids to be so fluent in Spanish. I rattled off the usual, that I consistently speak to them in Spanish, they only watch TV in Spanish or their other minority language German, we sing songs in Spanish and read together daily. This mother claimed that she used many of these strategies, and although her daughter understood Spanish, the child always chose to respond in English. When we were discussing our husband’s language skills, it was then I realized how important the role of both parents is for the learning of other languages.

I am lucky that my husband grew up bilingual and always speaks to our kids in German, his second language. My husband also supports the children learning Spanish with me since he understands and speaks some Spanish. During our summers in Costa Rica and Peru, he has always taken classes to improve his abilities.

The mother from our Spanish class explained that unfortunately her American husband only spoke English and doesn’t understand Spanish at all. She felt her daughter’s reluctance to use Spanish came from the dad’s inability to speak or understand Spanish, and that English was always used when dad was around. In fact the mother of this little girl lamented that her husband didn’t even have an interest in learning Spanish. What a pity! It is such a missed opportunity for him and his daughter.

To be honest, I was initially rather critical of this father. How could he not want to learn his wife’s first language? Why did he have no interest in learning his daughter’s second language? Even more perplexing to me is how anyone living in southern California would not want to learn Spanish, a language that is so commonly used and prominent throughout the region.

As I pondered these many issues, I also began to reflect on my own language usage and abilities. I had to admit that although my husband has gone to great lengths to learn Spanish, I have done very little to learn German, the language he uses with our sons.  Although I understand the majority of the German used in our home, I have never studied it and can’t speak it. By not trying to learn the language, I am sending my children a mixed message, it is important for them to learn the language, but it is not important for me to do so. This double standard has got to change! There is nothing like the start of the New Year to start learning something new!

I have always believed, and many studies have proven, that children are greatly influenced by our behavior and will often follow our example. Our own actions and values greatly influence those of our children. To support our multilingual children, I have decided that it is time for me to get started with learning German. I know that my study of German and the efforts to learn will show my children how much I value language learning. I also want them to see that it can be a fun experience. For my 2013 New Year’s resolution, I will make learning German a priority.

As most people know from experience, it is very hard to stick to resolutions, so I decided to come up with a plan that would make studying German possible given my already busy schedule. Analyzing my typical day, I realized that there were times that I could study, and I would even be able to recruit my children to be my own private language teachers.

Prior to going on vacations abroad, I would always try learn some of the language of the country that I was visiting. As a result, I have had some experience with different language learning programs. For me, the most effective method has always been the Pimsleur method. Many of you may be familiar with this approach since it is used in the Little Pim language learning videos for children. This method is ideal because I don’t need to follow along or study with a book. I can listen and learn German while driving to work or while exercising, and my local library even has the first level available for checkout. So now I can study doing activities that I have always had in my schedule. I’ll be learning new words and phrases, as I commute to work, go for a run, or even while lifting weights.

On my iPad, there are two folders of apps that I let the kids play with. One folder is full of Spanish apps, while the other has German ones. Although these apps are specifically for children, I am finding that I too can learn vocabulary by playing with them. I love using the apps together with my children. It is a great way for us to have fun and learn together. Eventually, I will download some of the adult apps to help me with the acquisition of the German language.

Perhaps my favorite way to learn German is by having my children teach me. My 5-year-old is really enjoying the role of being mom’s teacher. While walking to the store yesterday, we worked on colors. I thought that I knew all of them, but as he quizzed me in Spanish to say a German color, I found that I did not know gray, white, or pink, and my pronunciation of black had both of my boys giggling. They had me repeat after them multiple times until they were satisfied with the way I pronounced the word. It is fun to play these language games with the boys, but I also think that it greatly enhances their learning. Teaching mom makes the children the experts, and it makes them realize that they have a skill that mom does not have. It also supports their learning to speak another language since everyone in the family is learning and speaking the languages of the home.

This year, I resolve to study German since by doing so I will be supporting my children in their learning of the language. I will also be giving my children the chance to be the teachers and the experts. My own study will model that learning another language is fun and fulfilling. Most importantly, I will enrich my life by learning German, especially since it is one of the languages that my husband and children can speak. Our home will truly be multilingual with English, Spanish, and German spoken by all!

{Photo by ferdy001}

Have you ever looked at a foreign language textbook and not known where to begin? All those pages of vocabulary…

A great app by Noyo is helping us avoid the symptoms of Overwhelming Textbook Syndrome. This iPad app is overflowing with useful Spanish vocabulary – over 1800 words! Each of the eight themed sections has over 20 pages of labeled pictures with written vocabulary (in Spanish and English) that can be shown or hidden so that you can test yourself about the items in the picture. For further support, turn on the audio feature to hear each word pronounced. Then, complete the multiple-choice assessment at the end of each section to track your progress.

While it looks like a middle-school Spanish textbook, the vocabulary is extensive enough for adults who are still learning or brushing up on spelling and pronunciation. Review categories like “Los viajes” or “Las estaciones.” The kids will especially love “Los animales” and “Los deportes.”

The most appealing thing about this app is that it can be used for entertainment (what child doesn’t love tapping and interacting with colorful pictures?) and education. It truly lives up to Noyo’s slogan: “Picture-Perfect Language Learning.”

Find Noyo Spanish Vocab Builder – Beginner in iTunes

Available for iPad and Android

Recommended for Spanish learners in the first 3 years of language acquisition

Price: $7.99

Check out Noyo on Facebook

Photo credit: koka_sexton

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on this blog in November 2009.

I was recently talking to somebody of Hispanic descent who wasn’t taught Spanish at home, but learned it later on in life. She vowed she wouldn’t follow her parents’ footsteps, but ended up doing exactly the same thing with her kids who are now elementary school-aged. “And, now it’s too late!” she lamented. I immediately reassured her that it’s never too late – that’s just a common myth. It is, however, definitely much easier the younger they are.

If you’re raising bilingual children, you’ve probably heard of the ‘critical period’ or ‘language learning window’, but what exactly does all this mean?

There is significant disagreement among language experts as to how long this period lasts and whether the ‘window’ actually closes – if at all.

“We think of a window closing and the opportunity going away forever. I don’t think that is an accurate perspective,” said Barbara Zurer Pearson, one of our own Ask an Expert contributors. “Learning a second language is easier for children under 10, and even easier for children under 5, compared to the much greater effort it takes adults.”

Many experts do agree that there seems to be an ‘optimal’ time period for learning a second language: from birth to three years. In other words, right along the period when a child is learning the first language. The time when his mind is still open and flexible. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know this describes the learning scenario of parents raising their children bilingual by using the OPOL method – which means the kids are exposed to two languages at the same time and hopefully with the same frequency and intensity.

After that, the second best time for learning a second (or third and even a fourth) language appears to be when they are between two and seven years old. (This is one of the reasons why we should all push for public schools to start foreign language education as soon as our kids enter through their doors – instead of when they get to high school.)

If your child is older than seven and you’ve been thinking about raising him bilingual, don’t think all is lost. A third period for learning a second language in childhood is before puberty, from about 10 to 13 years of age.

The main thing to remember is that it is never too late. If this is something you’ve been wanting to do, but have said to yourself that the time has passed, think again. Keep in mind, though, that it will take a lot of work from all the parts involved to change your behavior. Be consistent, but also flexible.

“You might want to call children’s early facility an opportunity we want to take advantage of.  But the window is never nailed shut,” reassured Zurer Pearson. “Given the right environment and motivation, one can learn another language at any age.”