Adventures in Home Learning: Episode 27

 

Learning a foreign language.

I’ve wanted to get my daughter involved in learning a second language and with her home, completing her school work in record time most days, this seemed like a good time.

“Research shows that learning a second language boosts problem-solving, critical-thinking, and listening skills, in addition to improving memory, concentration, and the ability to multitask. Children proficient in other languages also show signs of enhanced creativity and mental flexibility.”

WHY LEARN LANGUAGES: Early Childhood & Elementary

I think it’s a great way to interest children in the joy of learning as well.

My daughter loves anime so I got her started on Duolingo (https://www.duolingo.com/) for daily practice in learning Japanese. Duolingo has at least 30 languages and sends me reports on whether she logged in that day. I let her choose whether she wanted to do 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes a day. (I want her to enjoy this, not really look at it as a chore.)

She started with 5 minutes at a time, but then promptly did 3 of them.

I’m thinking about which language I would like to learn as well.

I have seen some negative reviews that you don’t really learn the language with Duolingo, just phrases and words. I think that’s sufficient to get started and have some fun with learning a language. Then, if she is still interested, she can move on to Mango languages.

Our library also makes available a program called Mango Languages that people can use for a more extensive, self-driven learning. There are over 70 languages, (including Pirate.) They even have Castilian Spanish along with Latin American Spanish.

I’m leaning toward Italian or brushing up on my Spanish.