When carried out across our national education landscape, this means Americans continue to devalue the advantages of teaching our children a second language. Foreign language learning is not mandatory in the national public school system and the percentage of public elementary schools offering foreign-language instruction decreased from 31% to 25% over the past ten years; in middle schools, that figure dropped from 75% to 58%. This simply makes it that much harder for our kids to succeed in tomorrow’s job market, a market where the US will not necessarily be the reigning economic power. They will also miss out on all the social, political and cultural advantages of speaking a second language. Why would anyone defend that?

In contrast to the bleak statistics, there are still pockets of parents lobbying for language teaching all over the country. A recent Fayetteville Observer article reported on a first-grade teacher in a public school based in Cumberland County, North Carolina who is getting ready for back to school by decorating her class with maps and pictures of koalas for their Australia study. All 650 students in her school will also be learning Mandarin Chinese (“Youngsters heading back to globe-trotting classroom” August 22, 2010). She explains, “Our kids, our children, when they graduate from here have to know there’s a bigger world out there than Cumberland County or the United States… And that they’re going to have to interact with kids from all over the world or compete with kids from all over the world.”

Elementary school kids watching Little Pim in French

What is your take on “English-only vs. raising global citizens”? If you are reading my blog, I assume you care about foreign-language learning and how it will shape our children’s future. Judging from your community, do you think America is going the way of the North Carolina school or the English-only defenders?

Little Pim teaches kids French planting words

Articles mentioned:
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/08/22/1022759?sac=Home

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704002104575290602423212366.html

Here at Little Pim, we know this is more than just a New York, or an East Coast phenomenon. We talk every day with parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles from South Carolina to Montana to Seattle who are looking for ways to introduce the kids in their lives to a second language from the earliest age.

We see that it’s not just people who speak two languages themselves that want their kids to learn a foreign language, but forward-looking parents everywhere. Parents are signing up their kids for immersion schools, buying language-teaching products and seeking out online communities to help them raise their kids with two languages in increasing numbers. They have read the widely available research that shows that learning a second language improves memory, enhances analytic skills and is generally a great work out for the brain. They also know it’s a global economy, and want their kids to have a place in it.

The cognitive benefits are still being studied, but it is clearly beneficial. As psychologist and researcher on bilingualism Dr. Ellen Bialystok says in the article, “bilingual children do better at complex tasks.” While this doesn’t mean your child will automatically jump to the head of his Kindergarten class because he can say “tengo hambre”, one mother notes that her bilingual son “tested in the 99th percentile for the city’s gifted and talented program.”

Research shows that bilinguals tend to have more grey matter in their brain than monolinguals and are better able to multi-task and problem-solve.

Why wouldn’t you want your child to have these benefits? Well, some people still think learning a second language will “interfere” with learning English. The article totally dismisses this persistent myth, while acknowledging there could be a short-term delay in children finding the right word to express themselves in the right language. But what many parents believe outweighs this short term delay is that their kids are learning at the time they learn languages best (up to age six), that early exposure guarantees them the best possible accent, and they may eventually speak both languages perfectly.

Speaking a second language is a skill that opens up a lifetime of educational, social and professional possibilities. “We view it as a gift we are giving him,” said one of the dads interviewed. With millions of American parents giving this gift, our kids can become more full participants in the increasingly multi-lingual country and world in which we are raising them.

The mom of two children, Liam and Stella, and star of Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood thanked Little Pim for sending her a copy of Little Pim Spanish and said she’s learning from the DVD as well!

We’re tickled pink that Tori and the kids are enjoying español as a family. Each of our 35-minute DVDs are segmented into seven 5-minute episodes to accommodate a young child’s attention span and encourage pausing for parent interaction. The Dean/Spelling family is right on track for an interactive language learning adventure.

Mucho gusto for the note, Tori!

Contest: Win a copy of Little Pim Spanish I Can Count! (DVD 6).

Leave a comment sharing why you’d like your child to learn Spanish. If you click on the Facebook Share button below and share this post with your friends, leave an additional “I shared” comment for a bonus entry. You can also receive a bonus entry by emailing info@littlepim.com.

The winner is Tracey with the email address: tlm*******@msn.com

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The durable bag has extra-long straps allowing it to hang on your stroller perfectly.

So how do you win? Leave a comment telling us one way you’d use your Little Pim Tote Bag. If you share this link with your Facebook Friends by clicking on the button below, let us know by leaving a bonus “I shared” comment and increase your chances of winning! You can also send in a bonus comment by emailing info@littlepim.com.

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Purchase a tote, tee, or onesie here: http://www.cafepress.ca/littlepim

Today is Bastille Day, or as the French say, le 14 juillet. On July 14th, 1789 the Bastile prison was stormed and the French Revolution officially began. If you’re lucky enough to be in Paris today you’d be enjoying fireworks, parties, and an incredibly jovial environment.

Today is the perfect excuse to use the French word in your vocabulary. Eat traditional French foods like croissants, baguettes, French fromage (cheese), wines, fondue. Make reservations at a French restaurant and be sure to learn the words to La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.

My son Emmett with a pain au chocolat in Paris.

]]> http://www.littlepim.com/happy-bastille-day/feed/ 0 http://www.littlepim.com/contest-win-2-dvds-of-your-choice/ http://www.littlepim.com/contest-win-2-dvds-of-your-choice/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:59:02 +0000 Julia Pimsleur Levine http://www.littlepim.com/?p=5034 New contest! Summer is officially here. It’s been so warm in New York City these past few days. We hope all of you are having fun in the sun. Are any of you taking vacations overseas or visiting family that speaks a language other than English? Little Pim to the rescue!

Summer Contest #1

Enter to win any two Little Pim DVDs of your choice. The DVDs can be from the same language series or two different ones. Arabic Eating & Drinking and Spanish Wake Up Smiling? Sure! We have 10 languages to choose from. Just share the DVDs you’d like and one thing you love about summer in the comments below. Good luck!

View the DVDs by going to http://www.LittlePim.com

We are thrilled to partner with Giggle, a chain of stores that offers the best in baby products and gifts. Giggle now carries Little Pim in all its locations.

The event kicked off with adults and children singing along to two favorite songs from the Little Pim Spanish Bop and French Bop CDs. With festive instruments and song sheets in French/English and Spanish/English, everyone could get in on the fun.

(click on song sheet to enlarge)

Afterward, young and old attendees loved seeing a clip of Little Pim and his new friends Lola the Elephant and Bob the Bobcat. I answered some of the most frequently asked questions about foreign language teaching. Many parents were already using Little Pim at home and wanted to know how they could keep the second language even more active in their lives. Other parents wanted to know the right age to begin, and whether they could raise bilingual kids if they don’t speak the language (yes!). Meanwhile, the bigger kids had fun coloring in the Little Pim coloring sheets.

The whole group!

Before leaving, everyone enjoyed a taste of France and Spain with
croissants and dulce de leche pastries. As Little Pim would say “mmm,
c’est bon!”

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and check back often for
upcoming events. We’d love to meet more of our Little Pim extended
family.

It’s always amazing to see some of the world’s best soccer players take to the field for their countries. Did you know that soccer is the most popular team sport in the world?

One can only imagine the number of languages being spoken in Cape Town right now as tourists from all over the world flood the city to support their players.

The World Cup games are a great opportunity for you to teach your child about other countries. The blogosphere is full of posts by mom & dad bloggers who have made teaching crafts centered around the games.

• Consider printing out pictures of the flags of different countries and hanging them up in your child’s room. Point out the the corresponding country’s name and language.
• Look up how to say “hello” in the language of the two teams playing at any given time.
• Use a globe or large map to show your child where the different countries are located.

The World Cup games are not only exciting, they’re an opportunity for you to spark an interest in your child about cultures & language. Have fun and may the best team win!

Ils parlent français! They all speak French!

If you follow my blog you already know about the multiple advantages of being bilingual. From improved cognitive development to educational and professional advantages, there are so many reasons to get your child started learning a second language. You may not have known that Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnny Depp and Michelle Obama are French-speakers, as well as all the celebs listed below, many of whom are also teaching their children to speak French!

Other French-speaking celebs:

Music is a simple first step to introducing your child to a new language, and hearing the music will get the rhythm of that language into their brains, making speaking it later on even easier and giving them a better accent. We culled the best of popular French and Spanish songs to create French Bop and Spanish Bop. The CDs will help your children discover French and Spanish through music, and the words in the songs reinforce many of the same words taught in Little Pim! We also included a 16-page book with all the lyrics, printed in the language being taught and in English.

Both CDs feature great kids melodies, sung by native speakers, and include beautiful lullabies and lively sing-a-longs. Spanish Bop and French Bop include three original songs by the popular kids’ band Milkshake and the Spanish CD also has a guest song by Dan Zanes in Spanish. If you are a native Spanish of French speaker, you will likely recognize some popular songs from your childhood, and discover some catchy new tunes.

Play French or Spanish Bop in the car, put it on for an impromptu music party or make it part of your child’s bedtime routine. Soon you too might be singing “Frère Jacques” or “Los Elefantes”!