Motivation and Inspiration
I also want to show that language learning on our own is far more than just deciding to do something and then following a set of rules. To learn a language on our own means we are going to have to engage in mini-battles with our own heads. It is extremely psychological and emotional.
I can not force my children to learn a language but I can show them how fun it is for me to learn it (which means I need to figure out how to make it fun for me!). I start by tapping into what makes me motivated to learn Spanish. What do I most enjoy about Spanish-speaking cultures? How do I feel about the sounds of the language? Which books, DVDs, videos, TV programs interest me the most and connect me emotionally?
Once I can tap into my own connection to the language, then I can do the same for my children. I help them get excited about it for themselves by tapping into approaches that excite them – like their lego skits or their love for watching Pocoyo en español on YouTube over and over again (I’m not sure they realize that it is also in English – hah!).
Learning a language as a family means adults and children being able to make mistakes and laugh about them together as a family. My husband and I want to advance our language skills not so that we can be the authoritarian teachers over our children. Instead, we want to expand our Spanish language skills so that we can more effectively identify avenues for motivation and inspiration for ourselves and our children. The more Spanish we know, the more we can use our own Spanish in conversation with our children. Children want to participate when things are interesting and fun and joyful – not demeaning, overly demanding and boring. And knowing that makes this whole language learning process all the more exciting and fun!
I would love to hear what motivates you in keeping languages alive in your family. I am certain that there are as many reasons as there are parents, children and families!
Cultural Connections
Some of the books and materials I show in this week’s video diary are from a company called Cultural Connections located in California. As I said, I received some materials over two years ago to review in Multilingual Living Magazine but it was around the time that I stopped the magazine due to the death of my mother. I am delighted to have found this package again and to be able to incorporate some of the materials into our Spanish language-learning adventure!
The book Being Bilingual is Fun
We are also enjoying the Spanish game that I showed in the video diary. There is something about color that really gets kids interested (and me too for that matter)! We have yet to actually play the game but the kids and I went through the cards and listened to many of the corresponding words on the CD so that we could make sure our pronunciation was correct. I am certain we’ll play the game this week and plan to report back next week.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This was my first time watching the Theft of the Golden Idol. I like it. It is very creative. Thanks for the idea. I think I will incorporate creating skits to help my children with their Spanish also.
Tyeisha´s last [type] ..Tips to Learning Foreign Languages
Thank you for your comment, Tyeisha! I will let my kids know that you watched it – they will be in heaven. Clearly some of the fun for them is that others are out there who will see them in their acting glory. I love this last episode (I didn’t include subtitles like I usually do, sorry) where my son slinks down the sidewalk pushing the bad guys into the sunset (so to speak). The kids insisted that it end as it did – not your typical good guy vs bad guy ending.
Please let me know how it goes with your own skits! I let my kids decide what they wanted to use in their skits. Since they love legos, it was pretty obvious that using them encouraged additional motivation. If you create a video of your own, please share! I’d love to see it (and others too if you make it public).