President-elect, Barack Obama, believes it necessary for children to speak Spanish. One fun way for them to learn is through Boca Beth. Boca Beth is a free bilingual program on the Education Channel that is both entertaining and will help children learn the language. Lucy Griggs, the program director for the Education Channel explains:
Boca Beth’s music videos and vignettes offer our youngest viewers a fun, interactive introduction to another language (Spanish or English) while they watch a cute puppet and some adorable children sing, dance and have fun. It’s such a simple, friendly and easy way to help children acquire new language skills.
I have a cousin who is only three years old and speaks both English and Arabic perfectly (as well as a three-year-old can speak) from being exposed to them evenly. His parents speak Arabic at home so that he doesn’t lose his first language and he learns English from watching children’s programs on T.V. He’s also picked up some Spanish and Chinese from shows like Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan.
I think that, although it may not be the best way, T.V is definitely a way for children to learn new languages. They are entertained, not sitting bored in a classroom, and are learning through doing something they enjoy. I believe the Boca Beth program will appeal to many parents who would like their children to learn Spanish and it will appeal to the children as well.
Gratis Bilingual Children’s Programming Available to TV Stations Nationwide — Program Creator Answers Obama’s Plea to Teach Kids Spanish
P.R. Web Press Release Newswire
November 25, 2008
Hi / Hola –
Beth Butler here of the Boca Beth Program … you are so correct that TV is not the way to get a child bilingual, but it is a good way to introduce them and their families to the idea that children CAN learn at an early age a new language in addition to their native language.
Hope the second language journey is fun for all who hop on!
By: Beth Butler on December 1, 2008
at 4:38 pm
As far as learning a second language is concerned, can I put in a word for Esperanto?
Although it is a living language, it helps language learning as well. Four schools in Britain have introduced this neutral international language, in order to test its propaedeutic values.
The pilot project is being monitored by the University of Manchester, and the initial results are very encouraging. These can be seen at http://www.springboard2languages.org/Summary%20of%20evaluation,%20S2L%20Phase%201.pdf
An interesting video can be seen at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670 and a glimpse of Esperanto at http://www.lernu.net
By: Brian Barker on December 3, 2008
at 3:35 pm