Foreign Language Resource

Ok, it took me a few days to realize who I need to thank for this resource. You see, I was reading my emails, message boards, and blogs that I frequent - and at some point clicked on a link to open in another tab to look at. It was a link for a free French program. I figured that again I'd be out of luck.... because we want to do German. Once I was done, I found the open site, and had a look, and I'm jumping for joy!

So, I have to say thanks Jeanne on http://ohpeacefulday.blogspot.com/ - because I finally found where I got the link!

Anyway, what is this great resource!

"First Steps auf Deutsch". It exists for French and for Spanish too. This is a video program that was designed for a school system to teach Foreign Language to young elementary students where the school might not have a teacher that knows the language. Hey, sounds a lot like me!!!

The video lessons are short - about 15 minutes. There are 10 of them for the first level, and there are 3 levels. For schools that don't have a teacher that knows the language, for the first level at least, there is an "Again" video (ie, First Steps auf Deutsch Again) to watch on another day. Apparently there are audiotapes available somewhere, but darned if I know where, and you would probably have to buy them.... it would have some practice and the songs on it...) There is a teacher's guide (read it!) with suggested activities

So, Delta and Echo have watched the first video (well, Echo only watched some) and they are going around saying "Guten Tag" and "Danke", etc. Delta loved it! I don't think he was as keen on the "Again" video (we watched a couple of minutes) but it is probalby worth while doing.

The videos (at least the German one) are setup with a couple of families meeting a new neighbour from Germany. The kids are interested in learning German, so arrangements are made for 3 to visit the new neighbour for lessons. The lessons are done in an immersion format, with it almost all in German - but it is easy to follow what is going on. Near the end, there are a couple of songs (at least in the first video), and a bit of review of a few main words - and we see some school kids practicing the words in context...

With the short lesson, and the emphasis on learning verbally instead of written, I think it would fit well with CM.

Definately more interesting than anything we have tried so far. It is FREE, and it is designed for kids that are young... yet useful for older kids too.

THANKS!

Why German

One might ask why Maple Hill Academy starts with German for our first foreign language, instead of French, which is our other national language, or some other language, like Spanish, or even Japanese.

I did debate for a while which language I would like my children to know. I found this to be a bit of a personal choice for our family.

The main options we looked at was:

French: A very good choice as it is our other national language. There are a lot of resources available (including in our neighbourhood library). Many of our movies have a French soundtrack and we have a couple of French TV channels. There is a french community where we live. And with it being an official language, knowing it can be very important in some careers. Both Mike and I know a bit of it. However, I grew to hate French in school and neither of us are fluent. I didn't enjoy the thought of doing French - although we will in later years.

ASL: I considered American Sign Language, as I took a number of courses years ago. In fact, I used ASL baby signs with my children, and they have taken some ASL based sign classes for pre-schoolers. They do enjoy it, and they do know a lot of words. It is helpful at unexpected moments. However, ASL can be an inconvenient language at times. And as it has no written component, it is somewhat limited for education. I do plan to informally keep them using ASL however, as there are times when it CAN be very convenient (when silence is important), and it is enjoyable.

Spanish: We also considered Spanish as an option, as there are quite a few Spanish speaking people in our church that we could use as a resource. With the number of Spanish speaking people in the United States, it could be very beneficial to know it. Some of our movies have Spanish soundtracks. However, no one in the family currently speaks Spanish, so it would be a big learning curve.

German: The main consideration for German is that Mike lived in Germany for several years, and is fairly fluent. (Although admittedly not with child topics). There is a German community here. Mike has an attachment to the language. So although I do not know German, it still seems like the best choice.

We are using the Powerglide course for Children for German mainly because I was given it. I have a hard time arguing with free! Delta has done a couple of the lessons as a trial, and seems to have remembered a bit. This course will not be all encompasing, but it is a good start.

Update - Powerglide did not work well for us, and it took a lot of looking to find something that is working for us. We are now using "First Steps auf Deutch" and it is a much better fit, with short (15min) lessons. Find the link in the (new) Year 1 schedule.