Spanish Courses For Kids
Spanish courses customized for kids teach children Spanish in an interesting and easy way. It doesn’t go into grammar and syntax in a direct manner. Children, like most adults, would become bored in no time if they had to tediously conjugate regular and irregular Spanish verbs. Spanish for kids avoids all that, but still manages to teach the kids the basics nonetheless.
Children have the ability to learn Spanish fast. The younger a child is when they are initially exposed to a language, the sooner they are able to learn it. A five-year-old could learn pretty good Spanish in a matter of a couple of months, while a twelve-year-old might take more than six months. It is also dependent on their exposure. If they only hear Spanish in school, but not at home, they will take longer to learn.
Children are able to learn Spanish quickly. They soon find out that Spanish for kids shows them Español es un lenguaje fonético y la pronunciación es muy clara. Unlike English where the ending, “ough” for example, can be pronounced at least six different ways, in Spanish the pronunciation is clear, straightforward and phonetic.
In general, the second to last syllable is where the emphasis goes, unless the word has a letter with an accent on it. The word, “farmacia” has the emphasis on the second “a” as there is no accented letter. The word, “problema” has its emphasis on the letter “e.”
But when there is an accented letter, it gets even easier. You simply place the emphasis of the word on that letter. For example, “fútbol” is that ever-popular ball game, or soccer, as it is known in the USA. The emphasis is naturally on the emphasized letter “u,” and sounds more or less the same as the word in English. Another instance is the word for “plastic” that is spelt as “plástica.” Without the accented first “a” it would be pronounced as “plastEEca.”
Spanish lessons for children should be fun. Remember, it shouldn’t have been too long ago that they begun learning English. This is why kids they are able to adapt so fast; they are always learning so much daily that another language is something they take in their stride without batting an eyelid.
If you are teaching a child who have not learnt how to read yet, then you should make them engage all their senses, if possible, to learn the language. Computers are great for this in many ways as they can see diagrams and animations as well as hearing the language.
Employ your house pet too. Your children will find it funny to call the dog “un perro,” or the cat “un gato.” Needless to say, they have to get the genders right as well! If the dog and cat are female, then they will become “una perra” and “una gata” respectively.
Generally, the younger the child is when they are first exposed to Spanish, the sooner they will be able to learn it. If you make the learning fun, children wouldn’t view it as a tedious chore every day. Also, teach them helpful phrases, such as, “may I have a glass of milk?” (¿Puede darme un vaso de leche?), and begin using them in every day speech. They will take to it naturally. Spanish lessons for kids can be easy and fun too.