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

This week, Little Pim met Karen Ong, the founder and CEO of Language International, a place where parents can find and compare language study abroad programs for their children and also for themselves. They offer study abroad programs worldwide for kids as young as 3 years old. Karen says their most popular programs include Spanish courses in Spain, French courses in France, and Italian courses in Italy. For parents who want their kids to learn English, there are also English courses in London as well as in other cities in both the US and the UK available.

You’ve heard it said before, people learn languages fastest when they’re younger, before their thinking is set in stone in their native language. In fact, many people who are fluent in two or more languages either learned a second language from their parents when they were young, or lived abroad during this time. Kids growing up in these environments will often learn the second language as effortlessly, and fluently, as they learned their first, helping them in later life. So, if you want to give your kids a linguistic head start, but don’t personally speak a second language or know anyone who does, then the best course of action might be exposing them to a new language abroad.

There are multiple summer exchange and language learning programs for teens, but at this point any language learning bonus has probably worn off. However, even for younger children, who obviously require supervision, there are still a number of language learning programs, and other options like tutors and Little Pim DVD’s, available. Of course, simply having your kids in a foreign language speaking environment for any length of time would probably have the same effect, as they naturally absorb the foreign tongue around them. Even a yearly vacation to Mexico or Spain for only two weeks at a time can help the young ones pick up some Spanish. Quite simply, to get your kids speaking another language with fluent ease, taking them abroad for any manner of time will do wonders (although obviously the longer the better). If you have a foreign language speaker in the family, or even a nanny who speaks another language, then that can definitely help as well. After all, when it comes to something as positive and character building as learning a new language, it’s never too soon to start!

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.

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On Friday afternoon we held a special lunch at Bar Americain with six amazing women, all of whom own blogs with an emphasis on one of our favorite languages: Spanish. The time I spent with these bilingual bloggers was fantastic- the blogosphere is expanding as writers of varied cultures enter the scene to connect with waiting audiences.

Thank you Roxana, Ana, Melanie, Silvia, Rory and Carrie for making our Little Pim Language Lunch entertaining and informative!

Babble.com blogger Elina Furman included Little Pim in a post entitled, “Best Products for Global Citizens“. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! According to CNN.com, 66% of the world is bilingual. Also, 14% of students consider themselves fluent in two languages.

In her post, Elina shared why Little Pim was one of her product picks:

“Of course, I want him to be cultured and worldly, but with my workload and his attitude about sleeping anywhere but his crib, I don’t see us taking that trek anytime soon. So in honor of helping our kids develop a global awareness and a love of travel while still staying close to home, here are the products I’ve come to love.”

Parents have many reasons for choosing Little Pim. In the comments section below, share why helping your child learn a second language is important to you. One person will win one DVD, one CD, or a pack of Word & Phrase cards!

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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Browse LittlePim.com to choose your prize. Good luck!

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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Good luck!

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

Shop the Little Pim store for onesies, hats, t-shirts and more!  http://www.cafepress.ca/littlepim

Win a copy of either French Bop or Spanish Bop and a Little Pim Plush Panda! Just comment below with which one you’d like. For a bonus entry, leave a comment with the name of one track from either CD. Good luck!

Learn more here:

Little Pim Spanish Bop

Little Pim French Bop

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.

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