You know I try to teach my kids German as much as I can. I remember when I first moved to America, it was nearly impossible to find any foreign products that would help my son learn German. I had to have my mom ship it and I remember the very last time I was at home (over 12 years ago) I took an extra suit case just so I could go shopping for German language toys, music tapes and VHS tapes, so my son cold learn German while in the US.
I truly believe that kids will learn a lot faster if they have a different language on their TV shows or music Cd’s to dance to. I’m living proof; I came to America with just basic and broken English. I fell every single English test I took in school and my best friend was the German/ English Dictionary
I’m strong willed (that’s how you call it, right…); if I put my mind to something I will get it accomplished.. So I was determined to learn the language, after all I had no other option; I was here in this new country of mine. My biggest help at the time to learn English was the radio.. yup, you heard that right. The radio was and still to this day is a BIG help for me to pronounce the words. Let your little ones sing along to the songs, at first they may not be able to pronounce them correctly, but you will see.. they will learn and they will figure out all on their own what the words and what the song is all about. That’s how I learned English.
I didn’t take a class; my radio was my best friend. I taught myself how to write (well.. I bet you can figure out why I sometimes have a weird way of writing…lol.. sorry.. Love it or leave it, that’s me.. till I learn more…lol), read and speak… all with the help of a radio.
My kids aren’t as fluent in German as I would like to, BUT every one of them can understand the language and is able to sit and watch a German movie with me or listen to a German song. You will not believe how big of an influence a song will have on the little ones.
When my Teen was just a little “knickerbocker” ( smile.. had to say that German word), I spoke German to him almost exclusively, he was able to speak both languages, when he was about 4, he stood up one day and looked at me and said ” Mom…. we are in America, I speak English and not German”.. From that day on he refused to speak any German at all, he still would sit and watch his German movies for hours (did he understand them?? I don’t know, but I believed he did, I couldn’t believe a 4 yo would sit still for an hour and half watching a movie he couldn’t understand.. so he had to)…. spoke German to him, he ignored me. Slowly I gave up; till my Tween was born, and once he hit about the same age 4, he did the same thing and refused to speak German. I was up sad, but after all it was hard, I did the best I could and I can’t force them….. Did it hurt, of course.. I miss my family and wish my boys would be able to speak it… now fast forward a few years and my Toddler is born, from that day on… like magic everyone in the crazy Mom’s house learned German, from my hubby to my wonderful in laws and amazingly yes, my Tween and Teen…!! They all learned through my Toddler; I spoke German to her, read German books, music Cd’s and movies and it was wonderful to see how this little beautiful girl was able to “teach” everyone German through play… Now my teen surprised me a few months ago, and he still does that every so often, he like I did English taught himself German. You will not believe how he learned or “refreshed” his German, yup.. through music and movies. He amazes me, every so often he comes up and speaks entire sentences in German almost perfect; he is determined to learn it and he is now kind of mad at me for giving up when he was 4…. well, he was the one that refused… :-)….
So my conclusion is.. Music will be wonders for your little one to learn a different language. The exposure of a second or eve
n third language will help them so much in life; even if you don’t speak the language, let them listen to English, Spanish, French, German or whatever your language of choice may be, it will help them in the long run. My Teen now is also taking Spanish in school and is taking Spanish Honors with ease. I notice myself, that it is a lot easier for me to pick up another language; I speak some French and Spanish, but haven’t used it in years… But the possibilities you can give your child are endless… it is never too early or too late to learn another language and it’s a simple as listening to some songs….
I did a little Amazon searching this afternoon and was amazed of the MP3’s that are available in German and many other languages. The internet made it so easy for anyone to pick up a language with just a click of the mouse. You can even order products through the different countries from Amazon.
I can go to Amazon.de and order CD’s, DVD’s and Books and have them shipped at a fair prize, shipping for ANY order is $15 flat; sounds high, but if you consider that if my mom sends me a 1 pound package it costs her almost $20 it’s worth it for me to order online and Amazon doesn’t even charge a conversion rate on your credit card, they let you paying US $$….
Check out some of the products that I found, that would make a wonderful addition to any home that is learning a foreign language.
German Products on Amazon.com
My favorite Kids Cd’s fromRolf Zukowski
German Kids MP3
German Kids Books
German DVD’SBooks
Check out the other Amazon stores across the world, for more products in the language you are looking for China, France, Italy, Germany, Japan & UK
Over Thirty Mommy says
Thank you for the info, I have been wanting to start teaching my little one a second language but was not sure where to start. Now I have some guidance.
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