In some of our previous blogs, we’ve talked about Enjoying Reading with your Child and Making Reading a Routine Reality. But how about helping children to become independent readers? Author, teacher trainer, and owner of her own language school in Japan, Mari Nakamura, has developed a Three-Stage Literacy Program at her school, English Square. In […]
Developing Reading Fluency with Children Read More »
1. Make books part of your family life – Always have books around so that you and your children are ready to read whenever there’s a chance. We have a few low bookshelves dedicated to our kids and they’ve always enjoyed being able to access them freely (even if it sometimes drove us to distraction
Making Reading a Routine Reality Read More »
Reading with your children from an early age helps to foster strong learning habits
Enjoy Reading with your Child Read More »
Online lessons for kids: dinolingo.com Get fairy tales and storybooks in online or from your local library Children love shared reading time and regardless of language acquisition they will always remember the time they spent with you reading books.Try to find books with good illustrations. Look at the pictures with your child, point to things
Best Language methods to learn how to teach kids Read More »
Start Simple Start with some simple greetings and every day words.E.g. good morning/ how are you? Be consistent, use the words or phrases you have chosen every day. Items in your environment that you see or use every day can be used repeatedly and naturally in the 2nd language.Here you are/thank you, good morning/goodnight,Ball,
HOW TO TEACH KIDS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE Read More »
A recent study found that small children who live in neighborhoods where more than one language is spoken are more likely to learn from and interact with people from different backgrounds. This means, no matter what language is spoken at home if a child grows up in an ethnically rich neighborhood, he/she is more likely
Your Neighbourhood can Determine How Open Minded Your Child is Read More »
It is well known that English is the most common foreign language in all around the world but did you know that Tagalog is the most common foreign language in Saudi Arabia and Polish is a language that is very familiar to the British? What is more surprising is Argentinians hear more Italian than Spanish
What is the Most Popular 2nd Language around the World? Read More »
A recent study conducted at MIT showed that adults’ understanding of grammar decreases if they actively pay attention to grammar and try to decode unfamiliar grammatical structures. The study which made the subjects listen to an artificial language for 10 minutes either passively or actively concluded that listening while focusing on grammar actually reduced the
Trying harder makes language learning more difficult Read More »
When individuals study foreign languages they tend to focus on expanding their vocabulary as fast as they can without paying attention to paralanguage that is “how” people say things versus “what” people say. During these days where everybody is talking about soccer/football, one can see how much variation there is when it comes to saying
It is not only about the words Read More »
It has been already proven that speaking two languages delays dementia. A research team from Scotland provided further evidence to this fact by conducting another study with 835 subjects where they controlled the early childhood IQ. They measured the cognitive abilities of the participants when they were 11 and after they reach their 70’s. The findings indicated
Speaking Two Languages Strengthens the Mind Read More »
The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was amazing. Germany, who won in 2014 passed the Cup over to their European neighbors France the day after Bastille Day. What a celebratory weekend it was for France and friends. What if the national team of your country and your spouse’s country are playing against each other? Good
The World Cup Guide for Mixed Families Read More »
Our research shows us that: English is the most used language on Twitter. However, this is lower than the popularity of English on other platforms: e.g. more than 50% of websites all around the world are in English. Japanese is the 2nd most popular language on Twitter despite the fact that it is the 9th
INFOGRAPHIC Most Spoken Languages on Twitter Read More »
What to do when bilingual kids mix languages (code-switching, a.k.a. code-mixing)• Don’t worry if your child mixes languages—language mixing is a common (and typically short-lived) phase of bilingual development.• Trust your child is not confused—she may not know (or be able to explain) that she’s using two languages, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest
What to do when bilingual kids mix languages Read More »
Chinese – 生日快乐 – Shēngrì kuàilè German – Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag Japanese – お誕生日おめでとうございます – Otanjōbiomedetōgozaimasu Dutch – gelukkige verjaardag Arabic – عيد ميلاد سعيد Czech – všechno nejlepší k narozeninám Greek – χαρούμενα γενέθλια – charoúmena genéthlia Finnish – Hyvää syntymäpäivää Turkish – Mutlu yıllar French – joyeux anniversaire Hebrew – יום הולדת שמח Polish – z okazji urodzin Hindi – जन्मदिन की शुभकामनाएँ – Janmadina kī śubhakāmanā’ēm Russian
How to say ”Happy Birthday” in different languages Read More »
The short answer is yes, simply because language DVDs make babies process audio information coupled with visual information either passively or actively. This process in turn influences the phoneme differentiation (which naturally deteriorates after 8 months of age) and increases familiarity with different sounds. When children pay attention to the material, they acquire receptive or expressive
Can Language DVDs teach Babies? A Closer look Read More »
How to deal with conflict in mixed marriages •Don’t give examples from your own country •Apologize even if it means you’ll lose the face •Never use generalizations about his/her country/culture/family even if he/she previously accepted that (e.g. we,…s usually are not punctual) •Don’t touch and don’t get so close, different cultures have different use of proximity •Check
Conflict in Mixed Families and Conflict Resolution with Foreign Partners Read More »
According to Kansas University psychologist Michael Vivevitch, bilinguals do not confuse the languages they speak mostly because each language has a unique sound neighboring system. In other words, just like human DNA where A, T, G, C have an identifying order, the sounds that follow each other in Spanish and English are different. Thus, bilinguals
Bilingual Kids Differentiate Languages Read More »
Birth: Early crying, babies’ attempt to communicate 5 months: Cooing, making sounds like ga-ga, gu-gu 1st birthday: a few words like doggie, milk, dada 18 months~24 months: 2-word phrases such as eat now or baby cry 2 years~: Acquisition of about 200 new words a month 2.5 years: 3-word sentences such as no want carrots
Language learning process of children Read More »
To investigate the question of whether baby signs programs help children acquire language earlier or advance their cognitive development, in 2003 researchers J. C. Johnston and colleagues examined seventeen recent studies of baby signing. Johnston found that the studies did not support the big claims made by the infancy industry, that baby signs help make
Do Baby Signs Programs (Sign Language) Make Smarter Babies? Read More »
At Dino Lingo, we get this question quite often… Contrary to the common belief, children cannot acquire foreign languages in a shorter time span compared with older learners. This is just a myth since most people compare kids from immigrant families with their parents without keeping in mind that these children experience a higher level
Do children learn languages faster than adults? Read More »
Creating Good Language Learning Environments for Very Young Children (Ages 0–2) (p. 63) • Direct lots of rich, meaningful speech toward your child from birth. • Encourage friends, relatives, babysitters, siblings, and other visitors to speak and play with your child in the second language. • Engage in interactions that pique your child’s interests—for example, by
How to Teach Toddlers and Infants a Language Read More »
•Both partners should be more interested in giving than receiving. •There should be at least one language in which both partners are fluent. •Partners should never “assume” anything just because it’s common sense in their own culture. Online lessons for kids: dinolingo.com
Communication in Mixed Families: How to Communicate with A Foreign Partner Read More »
What to do when children reject to speak in the 2nd language (e.g. Spanish) Cases that worked (from Bilingual Edge p. 244-245) “• Anna (mother of Javier, age five): “We’ve had the most success using reverse psychology. Javier is super strong-willed and it’s actually helped at times to say to him something like ‘Spanish is
What to do when children reject to speak in the 2nd language Read More »
Finnish – Hauska tutustua Danish – Rart at møde dig Hebrew – נחמד לפגוש אותך Dutch – leuk je te ontmoeten French – Ravie de vous rencontrer Turkish – Tanıştığımıza memnun oldum Arabic – نيس لمقابلتك Czech – Těší mě Chinese – 很高兴认识你 – Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ Italian – piacere di conoscerti Polish – miło cię poznać Bulgarian – khubavo e da se zapoznaem – хубаво е да
How to say ”Nice to meet you” in different languages Read More »
