Hit the Beach! Foreign Language Learning in the Summertime

I took a much needed break from the computer screen this afternoon–packed up the kids and headed out to the beach for a little sandcastle-building.  Here in my little corner of Michigan, “the beach” is a metro park with gravely sand and lawn by an inland lake.  It may not be the Riviera, but I believe the official translation of the noun “beach” in any language is “a magically relaxing place.”  Here are a few more foreign language beach translations you might enjoy on this sunny, summer’s day:  

A Beach in Italy

SPIAGGIA – Beach in Italian

sun- sole

sand- sabbia

sandcastle – castello di sabbia

ocean – oceano

 

A Beach in French Polynesia

PLAGE – Beach in French

sun- soleil

sand- sable

sandcastle – château de sable 

ocean – océan

 

A Beach in Cozumel, Mexico

PLAYA – Beach in Spanish

sun- sol

sand – arena

sandcastle – castillo de arena 

ocean - océano

 

Practice a foreign language during your beach excursions this summer.  Or, if the pool is more your style, check out the poolside Spanish learning ideas over at the Spanish Middle School blog.

And please forgive me for this closing, but I can’t resist . . . 

Hit the spiaggia this summer!  Life’s a plage!  Enjoy a playa-party!  Discover language at a beach.

• Photo Credit for Italian Beach: by danielito http://morguefile.com/archive/?display=128212&
• Photo Credit for French Polynesian Beach: by embala http://morguefile.com/archive/?display=39939&
• Photo Credit for Mexican Beach: by Schick http://morguefile.com/archive/?display=187117&

Preschool Foreign Language Counting Game: One Elephant Went Out to Play

This post has moved here on the new Foreign Language Fun site.  See you there!

I’ve got a fun preschool/kindergarten activity that’s perfect for counting in English, French, Spanish, German, and more.

Do you know the classic preschool elephant song?  It goes like this:  

One elephant went out to play

Upon a spider’s web one day,

He had such enormous fun

That he called for another elephant to come.

 

The second verse has two elephants, the third verse has three elephants, and so on.  You can find foreign language versions of this fun song on the Teach Me CD’s, as well as other sources.  I love the Teach Me CD’s, but for this particular song I just use it as a teacher resource for learning the words.  The verses go back and forth between English and the target language, which throws me just a bit.  

So, here’s how you can turn a cute, catchy elephant song into a fun and effective game.  Gather the children into a close circle and have them hold on to the edges of a small parachute.  (I find a vinyl tablecloth to be a dandy, frugal parachute substitute.)  Ta-da . . . it’s a spider’s web!

Prepare small, laminated paper elephants and number them from 1-10.  Toss Elephant #1 onto the spider’s web and sing the song as the children gently move the parachute up and down.  Kids love to see the elephant jumping up and down and having such enormous fun!  When the verse is done, everyone shouts, “Come!” in the target language.  Add in Elephant #2 and count the elephants.  Sing again.  Call over another elephant.  Count.  Sing.  Get the drill?  Continue the routine until all ten elephants have a turn.  This game is so hands on and repetitive, staying immersed in the target language is a breeze.

I just played this game a few weeks ago with kids ages 2-7.  Then we played it again later in the week.  The kids keep asking me to bring the elephants back to play.  I’m telling you, this game’s a hit with the little ones!

The Teach Me CD’s are available in ten languages:  English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, and Russian.

For more counting ideas, check out my article on Foreign Language Number Games.

Teach Me a Language: Songs for Teaching Kids Foreign Languages

This post has been moved here to the new Foreign Language Fun site.  See you there!

Teach Me CD's: Order from www.teachmetapes.com

If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce your child to a foreign language, start with a little music.  There’s a great little product called Teach Me Tapes.  Well, they were tapes back in the ’80′s when they were first produced. My tapes have been replaced with CD’s for quite some time, of course, but I’m still using these gems years and years later.  

The Teach Me CD’s have cute bilingual songs performed by professional musicians.  Most tracks are introduced with a short narration by a native-speaking child.  The songs are classic, traditional songs from both English and the target culture.  My Teach Me French CD is invaluable as I teach French to 3-6 year olds this summer.  The kids really like bilingual versions of The More We Get Together, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Kids learn basic vocabulary and phrases with the Teach Me music.  Things like greetings, family, weather, alphabet, etc.  It’s not a language program in itself, but it’s perfect for introducing kids to language for the first time and for enriching a language program.  It’s such a staple of my teaching, it’s hard to imagine life without it.

The original Teach Me CD’s are available in ten languages:  English (ESL), French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Hebrew, Korean, Japanese, Italian, and Russian.

Visit the Teach Me website to order these outstanding CD’s for your students or your children.

For additional reading, check out these articles:

How Music Helps Language Learning

Foreign Language Learning Materials for Kids