Spanish/language class recommendations for 2.5 year old
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Anonymous
| Our daughter is sure to be a language buff - she loves to speak and learn new words - and we'd like to introduce her to Spanish sometime in the near future, informally of course as she's only 2 1/2. She attends daycare and doesn't hear much if any Spanish on a regular basis. Any recommendations on how to do this - Spanish music class, etc. - would be really helpful. We want it to be light and fun. |
Anonymous
Spanish-language immersion school. |
Anonymous
| Lango - they have locations in PG and MoCo I think. It's play based with really cute songs. We did one Spanish and two Mandarin sessions with them. |
Anonymous
| Language Stars is the best. They have locations throughout the DC area. You may also check Hola Baby in Arlington or Communikids. |
Anonymous
We looooove Hola Baby! Es absolutamente fabuloso. 
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Franklyre
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Hey there.
Don't think that 2.5 years is too early. The earlier the better. The first couple of years is when their ear is able to recognize all languages. After a couple of years that drops off big time. So get them in early. Make SURE your kid has a teacher that is a native spanish speaker. Seems obvious, but not always the case. You want your kid to hear the exact and proper sounds to emulate. Also if you can swing it, make sure it is full immersion. Again seems obvious, but it is rare. I would not recommend a place that shows a card of a dog and says "This is a dog, can you say Perro." I am highly biased on this, but to me, the kid needs to learn a language and connect an image directly to the brain in the foreign language. You don't want them thinking in english, translating to Spanish. The delay is horrible and will impede their ability to truly be fluent. Language Stars is great. I had an acquaintance that went to one class and didn't get it. Was like "I can do that at home with some flash cards and same the money." Oh I wish it was that easy. Their curriculum is well thought out by experts. They know how to interact with kids and adjust according to skill levels. I have seen it first hand. One kid might be asked in spanish "Is this blue or red", while the more advanced kid might get "what color is this?". Subtle but important. Best of luck! Tell them Frank sent you and get a discount. (which isn't why I wrote this, but why not get one!) Also watch this Video on Ted Talks and see that DVD language learning is useless and why earlier is better. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html Frank LL |