The picture on the front of the “Spanish for Kids,” Set 2 box shows kids excitedly opening a present. That is how I felt opening the box of 10 story based books in Spanish where cute characters, a cat, mouse, dog, boy and girl, received a “Correo”/delivery and opened up surprises from a letter and card to a pizza and skateboard! These delightfully illustrated books make foreign language learning fun as they engage kids with simple black and white illustrations that use color coding to match the written word with the color of the illustrated object– “tarjeta” written in yellow print within the sentence matches a yellow card drawn in the boy’s hand. As a speech pathologist, I have told parents for years of the advantages of raising their child bilingual and if a parent or grandparent speaks a different language, have them talk exclusively to their child in that language. It’s a gift you can give your child. Research shows the cognitive benefits of being bilingual. A bilingual learner has been associated with having a better attention span, being a more flexible thinker as he can move between languages, and being a more abstract thinker. In addition, all language learning is enhanced through a story-based approach like Language Together. The author has used relatable stories to connect with kids’ experiences, heightening their interest and learning. Watch all the things I can do introduces action verbs, have a tea party to name kitchen tableware, or put on a show to learn words expressing emotion. Listen to the audio matching each book in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese (traditional and simplified editions), or French, spoken by a native speaker. I felt quite accomplished speaking Chinese for the first time! Parents and teachers will appreciate the free guides that complement this set of books. What a fun, effective way to build kids’ vocabulary, concepts, phrases and literacy skills in another language!
Available at Language Together. Click here
