El Nino - M'S Gems

By: Melissa Goldberg


Well, the new school year is off and running and our busy schedules are falling into place. Even my son has gotten used to our “new” breakfast schedule. Many of us are getting used to going through the homework folders and if your children are anything like my son, when you ask them what they did in school today? You get a “nada”. I personally have pledged to be a nagging momma and I will continue to ask specific questions with the smallest hope of finding out just some sordid detail about his day. To my relief, I attended open house this evening and it turns out, my son is doing something in school, contrary to what he tells me.

I am super thrilled to learn that they will introduce Spanish to his curriculum. If only I paid a bit more attention to Senor Colorito in high school. There many days I say to myself, “I wish I could remember some of that Spanish I learned in high school”.

I did have the benefit of learning another language in first grade and all through my grade school years. I am thankful for the gift, however I struggled to grasp the language because no one spoke it at home. After college, I traveled for a summer to Israel and it was such a great feeling to use my long lost tongue. I struggled with my grammar, but people embraced my effort to speak in their dialect and helped me get through every conversation. I recognize the language I learned hasn’t been the most useful language day to day, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I was given the gift to read and write in another language and I would never throw that away.

I don’t think I’m alone in wanting my children to learn another language. Although my children are still young I already worry about the level of competitiveness there is to get into college and to difficulty of getting a job after graduation. The ability to speak another language has benefits that pay off throughout life.

Studies Have Shown...
... Benefits academic progress in other subjects 
... Benefits basic skills development 
... Benefits higher order, abstract and creative thinking 
... Helps students score higher on standardized tests 
... Improves chances of college acceptance, achievement and attainment 
... Enriches and enhances cognitive development

(all references via web; National Council of State Supervisors for Languages; American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages)

A Second Language is Complimentary to Every Profession - We live in a global society and business is done all over the world. Even when employees are hidden away in their little cubicles, often they are attending to business all over the world. There isn’t any profession that doesn’t appreciate someone who is fluent in another language. Chef’s study in other countries to learn the language and cuisines of other cultures. Physicians can treat and help more patients when they can communicate in other languages. Again, when thinking about going into the work world, being fluent in another language is a skill set that immediately sets you apart for a job then another person who isn't.

Builds Self Esteem - Studies have shown foreign language study builds self esteem and enhances a student’s achievement. Hence, your child will be patting himself on the back!

Makes a Parent Proud - I feel compelled to add this gem because I know, all through my childhood and even now as an adult how proud my mom is every time she hears me speak or read Hebrew. As a parent, we want our kids to exceed our own abilities and to learn more then we will ever learn.

So When and Where Do I Start? - During our conversation on this weeks radio show with Julia Pimsleur-Levine, founder of the Little Pim foreign language learning series, we asked her this very question. She told us at any age really. In fact, research has shown and proven that babies are born equipped to learn one or more language starting from birth. Even playing music in other languages kick starts the process of babies hearing different sounds and learning the rhythm of other languages. Scientifically by the age of 5, the early learning window begins to close. A child’s ear becomes accustomed to the sounds of the language it is learning, (think about the sounds of the English language) and when you later on expose new sounds and tones that are “foreign” to them (think about the sounds of Chinese or French), the effort or interest to retain them becomes less and less over time. The younger the better it is to begin to expose your child to a second language.

Keep It Silly - We asked Julia the best advice her dad ever gave her and she shared, “Don’t be afraid to sound silly when trying to learn. In fact, make it silly so its fun for your kids.”  Go on adventure with Dora The Explorer and Ni Hao Kai-Lan and like Cynthia's kids, soon they'll be screaming "Ayudame!" rather than "Help!".

One At A Time or Mix Up The Dialects - Julia also recommended picking one language and sticking to it. If you want to begin teaching more than one language at a time, she recommends not teaching similar languages at once but selecting two diversely sounding languages. For example, don’t teach two romance languages - French, Italian, Spanish but instead mix it up with Spanish and Chinese.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. ~ Nelson Mandela

With Love...

עם האהבה
Con Amore
愛を込めて (Ai o komete)
Avec l”amour 爱 (Ài)
με αγάπη (me agápi)

~ M’s GEM’s

Full Disclosure:

Little Pim, Co. is an official sponsor of Mommas Pearls and we have received free product samples. Check out our review of Little Pim, Co.'s products and our special coupon by clicking here.