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Learning a new language can be an exciting addition to your homeschool, but it might also at times feel like a daunting task—especially if it’s a new subject for everyone. Here are some simple tips to add into your day-to-day foreign language curriculum from Rosetta Stone.
1. Look for an immersive language arts curriculum and add in activities.
An immersive foreign language curriculum exposes your child to words alongside contextually relevant images and the voices of native speakers simultaneously. This helps learners progress naturally from learning words and phrases to building sentences and having conversations—without relying on translations as a crutch. Here are some fun activities to add into your child’s school day to enhance their foreign-language learning:
• Build listening skills. Look for ways to incorporate listening to the language you’ve decided to teach in your homeschool. Whether that’s an appropriate TV show, movie, or audio program, hearing the language spoken goes a long way. (Tip: Step it up by turning the captions off.)
• Embrace the culture. Take your child to a restaurant that serves food from the country where their new language is spoken and have your child order a meal. (Tip: Practice beforehand by reviewing the menu online or going to the restaurant ahead of time to pick one up). Alternatively, if that’s not practical, set up your own restaurant/café at home and practice ordering food at your own kitchen table.
• Sing something they know. Find the words to your child’s favorite song in the language being taught and learn the song in the new language.
• Get creative. Plan a craft using the new language and create something related to the country in which the language is spoken.
2. Make language part of the daily routine.
As with any subject, consistent practice makes all the difference. Dedicate a little time every day to language lessons, and then reinforce those lessons by using the newly learned vocabulary when as you go about other daily activities.
3. Look for a program that builds speaking confidence with pronunciation feedback.
It’s easy to start reading and butcher the pronunciation, but that’s not helping anyone. The positive reinforcement your student receives from correctly pronouncing words helps develop the confidence needed to succeed in learning and speaking a foreign language. Rosetta Stone’s speech-recognition technology (patented as TruAccent™) provides instant pronunciation feedback, so little wins build motivation to continuously improve. It’s also adjustable, so you can dial-in the desired difficulty.
4. Find a program that works across multiple devices.
Being able to access your language curriculum on a mobile device, tablet, and desktop computer empowers your child to practice at home and on-the-go. (Tip: Look for one with downloadable lessons, so they’ll have access to lessons anywhere, anytime.)
5. Practice the language together.
Learning a new language can be difficult, so give your child confidence by showing them it’s okay to mess up... as long as they keep practicing. Learning from mistakes and embracing learning new things at any age is a great way to lead by example—and there’s no one better suited to this than you.
By implementing some of these strategies into your classroom, you’ll relieve some of the trepidation of teaching and learning a new language, which could quickly become one of the most rewarding subjects for both you and your student.
We’d like to thank our friends at Rosetta Stone who provided this week’s blog post. Rosetta Stone Homeschool is a top homeschooling foreign language curriculum!
Save up to 47% plus get Bonus SmartPoints when you subscribe to Rosetta Stone Homeschool Online HERE through the Co-op by September 28, 2019.
