Parent and Teacher Guide on How to Use Little Pim

First of all, congratulations on choosing the most effective method for introducing babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers to a second or third language at the time they learn best. The foreign language learning series is specially designed to take advantage of the critical window when young minds are hard-wired to learn up to three languages with ease, which is up to six years old.

This parent and teacher guide includes information and tips so you can become your child’s first language tutor even if you don’t speak the language yourself. You can find full scripts for each language here.

The Little Pim series stars an animated panda bear named Little Pim who is also the teacher. Using our unique Entertainment Immersion Method™, Little Pim makes learning easy and fun. The videos combine live-action segments showing children eating, playing and engaging in everyday activities, along with the adorable animation of Little Pim the panda. The entire series is in the foreign language for total immersion, with optional subtitles.

We are always eager to hear from parents, teachers, or caregivers about their experience with our program. You can email us at info@littlepim.com. Thank you for choosing Little Pim for your little learner.

- Julia Pimsleur, Founder of Little Pim

Each Little Pim theme is broken up into seven short episodes. Because we know babies and toddlers have short attention spans, Little Pim was designed to allow you to start and stop after any of the five-minute episodes. Older children (2-6) may enjoy watching the seven short episodes in one sitting. You can pause the episodes at any time and interact with your child to help reinforce the new vocabulary.

Below are some tips on how to use Little Pim effectively at home:

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why should my child learn a foreign language?

There are numerous benefits to learning a second language early in life. Children who are consistently exposed from a very young age to the sounds of a foreign language are more likely to achieve native or near-native fluency in adulthood and have a much easier time learning other languages later in life. Research shows that these children also tend to have stronger verbal, cognitive and analytical skills – giving them a head start in school. Simply put, learning a second language boosts brainpower, even if the child does not achieve total fluency

Will my child be confused?

Children are uniquely equipped to learn up to three languages without affecting their progress in their mother tongues. Countless people grow up in multilingual environments: for example, many Swiss, Belgians, Canadians and Africans learn two or even three languages from birth. In the first half of the 20th century, the prevailing view was that bilingualism and second-language acquisition early in life confused children and interfered with their ability to develop normal cognitive functions and succeed in educational environments. These ideas were reversed in a landmark study by Peal and Lambert that showed a general superiority of bilinguals over monolinguals in a wide range of intelligence tests and aspects of school achievement. Please refer to our books on page six to learn more about the many benefits of studying a second language at a young age.

What if I don’t speak any foreign languages?

The Little Pim series can be enjoyed and used by adults with no prior experience in speaking a foreign language. Although adults will not have as easy a time repeating the vocabulary as young children, they too will be amazed at how quickly they pick up a few new words. There are also aids built-in for adults: optional subtitles in English, writing on the screen, and a free downloadable script for each language on our website.

THE RESEARCH

Language Exposure At An Early Age

Study after study shows that from birth to age six, the human brain is optimally equipped for learning and producing language. Little Pim was specifically created for young children to be able to take full advantage of this window for learning.

Babies hear their mothers’ voices before birth and know the rhythm of their native language as newborns. Once born, babies can understand and discriminate the sounds of every language in the world. Infants detect different sounds and hear the nuances in foreign languages with perfect clarity and precision. The sound elements of language are called phonemes, and repeated studies show that adults perceive phonemes differently than infants.

Young children’s ways of assimilating language are distinctly different from adults, especially in pronunciation. As children become “tuned” to their native language (or languages), they gradually lose the ability to tell the subtle sounds in foreign languages apart. When people are introduced to foreign sounds later in life, they have much more difficulty hearing the differences, thus making it that much harder to imitate these sounds.

Babies gain understanding long before they can speak and benefit from having a rich language environment. That is because babies learn to talk by listening. Research tells us that the more words babies hear, the more quickly they learn to talk. Frequent exposure to words and active social engagement helps the brain pathways that foster language learning to develop more fully.

Children need to hear language in relation to what is happening around them. It must capture the child’s attention, thus the “motherese” - speech with rising and exaggerated contours - is very effective when speaking to one’s baby or toddler. In addition, surrounding children with language materials such as books, objects, and pictures for naming help to support language learning. Little Pim’s voice mirrors “motherese” and the series uses sharp and colorful images of objects and actions, allowing young viewers to connect the sounds they hear with actions and objects in real life.

Little Pim makes it easy and fun for parents to take advantage of the best window of opportunity for successful foreign language learning and give them all the cognitive benefits of being multilingual.

How to Start Introducing Foreign Languages into Your Child’s Life

It’s common knowledge that the earlier you can start teaching and incorporating language into your child’s life, the easiest it will be for them to learn and the more benefits they’ll get out of the experience; both in terms of enhancing their learning capabilities and for being more cultured and diverse when they’re older.

However, whether you speak multiple languages yourself or just speak the one, introducing the ideas of learning a new language can be hard work and requires consistency and perseverance. In today’s guide, we’re going to detail everything you need to know to get started.

Introducing Language in a Bilingual/Multilingual Home

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

The best way to teach a child anything is to repeat it over and over again, so it becomes embedded in their minds. Never forget that a child’s brain is like a sponge, and when teaching something like a language, the more you can repeat the words and phrases, the more it will become something they don’t forget.

Be Expressive with Language

Many children are visual learners, and by being able to see what they’re learning in the form of actions, role play, or images, the easier it will be to help them remember what they’re learning. 

Use all kinds of movements, including facial expressions, exaggerated physical gestures, and by physically acting out whatever it is you’re learning. This can be a lot of fun for both you and your children when introduced in the right way.

Keep Things Positive

As with all kinds of learning experiences, if you’re not creating a positive environment for your child to learn in, they’re not going to want to stick with it, and the whole experience will quickly turn sour. 

Always practice positive reinforcement and always try to make the learning process into a game which can be enjoyed, rather than turning into an activity associated with resentment.

Be Creative with Learning Activities

“Sitting down and learning a language through reading a textbook is quickly going to get boring for everyone involved, or just sitting and talking to each other on repeat, so get creative with your approach and try to make the learning process as entertaining as possible” explains Nick Hardy, an educator for Academic Writing Service and Do My Research Paper.

There are endless ways you can do this, such as creating flashcards or your own board games or using online videos or foreign children’s books you can read together.

Roleplay with your Children

Of course, the majority of language is going to be used on a conversational basis, so why not roleplay with your child, giving them an easy way to use the language they’re learning. Use your child’s favorite games, such as buying food in a shop or taking public transport.

Introducing Language in a Monolingual Home

Introduce Native Speakers

While you may not speak another language yourself, getting a native speaker of the language you’re teaching can be a great way to help your child understand and learn it on a native level. Whether you have a family friend or colleague that can help, or you hire an actual tutor, communicating with native speakers is the best way to learn.

Use Available Software

There’s plenty of software applications out there that are designed to help you learn a language, whether you’re learning it yourself, with your child, or if just your child is using it. Make sure you do your research to see what kind of software is out there and available on your budget to ensure you find the best application for you.

In fact, Little Pim has recently released a video player app, across platforms, in which your child can start learning one of twelve languages, at any age.

Use Available School Clubs

For school-aged children, their school may offer extra-curriculum language learning activities, classes, or clubs, so ask around to see what’s available.

“More often than not, they’ll be plenty of languages to explore, plenty of opportunities, and your child will have access to someone who is trained to teach the language properly and to give your child the best possible start” shares Charlotte Harrison, a teacher for Thesis Writing and Ox Essays.

Learn with your Children

It’s always far more encouraging for your child to learn a language if it’s something you’re doing with them. For children, you, the parent, are the best role models in the world; you’re the king or queen of their reality, and whatever you’re doing, the child will want to do as well.

Learning a new language comes with so many benefits, and the fact you’ll be sharing that activity with your child is only going to strengthen your relationship as a parent and will make the learning experience infinitely better for everyone involved.

About the Author:

Beatrix Potter is a professional parenting writer at BoomEssays and Essay Service. Bea writes about language learning; she also tutors at Essay Help Australia website. Beatrix enjoys helping families make the most of modern opportunities.     

Strengthen Your Child's Language Skills on a Nature Walk

Being outdoors among the birds, insects, plants and puddles gives your child endless hours of interesting things to do and study. Taking a nature walk with your young child has so many benefits! Being outdoors helps with important developmental things, like improving attention span and increasing creativity. It gives your child a chance to use his "outdoor voice" without getting in trouble. It gives you and your child physical exercise. Plus, the natural benefits of fresh air and sunshine give you both a healthy physical and emotional boost. Did you know that a nature walk is the perfect time to help strengthen your child's language skills? It's true. Learn more about the different ways you can incorporate language learning into your nature walks.

First and Most Importantly, Be Present

As a parent, you should be right there with the child, marveling over a wildflower, wondering about a birdsong, examining the sky for cloud-shapes. Spending time with your child helps them feel secure and free to play, imagine, and learn. Spending time outdoors with your child also lets your little one know that you think it is important to get fresh air and exercise. If it's important enough for you to take time to be outdoors, they will also learn to make it a priority. When you are spending quality time with your child (and not tuning out your child while you look at your phone), you have a connection with your child. It's this type of connection that makes you perfect for teaching your child language skills. You know the right times and right approaches to best reach your child. No one knows your child like you do! Take advantage of that fact.

Provide Plenty of Free Time, and Watch for Opportunities to Play Language Games

Although some trips outdoors might be only a few minutes, make sure there are times when your child can explore nature unhindered for long periods of time. You don't need to hike a 5-mile trail. Your nature walk could be a meander around the neighborhood park. Allow your child to get bored outdoors! A bored child soon finds ways to amuse himself. Boredom also provides an opportunity for you to step in and introduce something in another language. For example, if your child is learning the names of colors in Spanish, you can begin a game where you find objects that are rojo.

Explore Different Scenery

Take your child to different outdoor locations. Walk a nature trail in a wooded area. Visit a beach. Spend time on a farm. Sail toy boats in a small stream. Travel to the mountains or the plains. Go sledding in the winter, or play in the yard with umbrellas while it's raining. Don't leave out the beautiful night sky! A safe adventure in the dark, catching fireflies or running around with flashlights, could be one of your child's favorite memories. Nature has many faces; go out and meet them! When you are finished exploring, ask your child to tell you what she saw. Encourage her to use vocabulary words from the language she is learning. After some practice, this exercise becomes easier and helps your child focus. You might be amazed by what she notices, and you might also be amazed by the words she remembers!

Take Your Meals Outdoors

Nothing says fun like a picnic! Make a special occasion of the first picnic of the year, and then continue to eat out as often as possible. Picnics can be enjoyed on a blanket in the backyard, on your front porch, at a park, or even in the back of your pickup truck. Be sure to pack plenty of water and healthy snacks; fresh air and exercise works up a little one's appetite! As you set out the food, point to each item and say its name in the language you are teaching. Have your child repeat it. Keep up the fun by being lighthearted. If you come to something particularly delicious, rub your tummy and call it "All mine!" Your child will probably know you're teasing, and you can share the joke again later.

Take Books and Toys Outdoors

Do you and your child share special times reading books together? Many special things you do indoors can also be done outdoors. Pack some picture books written in the language you are studying. When you are taking a rest from your nature walk, you can enjoy the book together, perhaps sitting on a low branch in a tree. Other small toys can be brought along in a bag, too. Bring a favorite stuffed animal or doll and have your child be a tour guide to it, using words from the language you are learning.

Find a Special Place to Call Your Own

Your home is your special indoor place, but you can have a special outdoor place, too. This could be a spot under the big oak tree at your favorite park. It could be a picnic table that you return to again and again. Maybe it's a big rock that your child loves to sit on. Whatever it is, it's a special part of the outdoor world that your child claims as his own. Possession and familiarity with just a small part of nature really helps your child feel comfortable outdoors, and he'll want to return again and again. When you're at your special spot, make sure you notice certain things about it, using the vocabulary you're learning. Reinforcing these words will really help your child connect the real object to the word.

Remember that language is a natural part of our lives. It grows out of our everyday habits and conversations like flowers grow out of the ground. Extending your child's language skills into the natural world should not be difficult or feel unnatural. In fact, it may be the perfect way to grow enthusiasm and love for your child's second language. If you would like to know more about Little Pim's natural immersive method of teaching languages, please contact us.

Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash

How to Raise Your Kids as Global Citizens

"I am a citizen, not of Athens, or Greece, but of the world." — Socrates

As parents, it's our goal to raise children who feel a deep connection to their community — both locally and globally. By raising kids as global citizens, we're not only exposing them to fascinating world cultures, we're also teaching them to be kinder, more compassionate, and more inclusive individuals. Because that's what global citizenship is all about, isn't it? Embracing our part in communities and the wider world while working cooperatively to make this planet a better place for all. 

While these goals may seem lofty, they're certainly achievable — especially for children. In fact, you can easily nurture your kids' natural tendencies towards morality and empathy in a few simple and achievable ways.

What Makes Someone a Global Citizen? And Why Does it Matter?

You don't necessarily have to travel the world to be a global citizen. Rather, a global citizen is someone who recognizes that there are no boundaries to our shared humanity, and that human rights and civic responsibilities transcend our individual cultures, communities, and countries. Global citizens tend to stand behind common goals that benefit everyone, like greater ecological sustainability, human rights, and the end of world poverty.

Obviously, there are many benefits to raising children who think like global citizens. Firstly, kids raised like this will find it easier to be more open and inclusive in social situations. They'll understand that other members of the human community are just like them, which will deepen their empathy and compassion. And when you teach your kids about other cultures and ways of life, you'll help foster in them a lifelong love of learning, education, and curiosity.

Finally, it's more important than ever to prepare kids for a future in which they're comfortable interacting with people of different backgrounds. This sets them up for a lifetime of good citizenship, and even prepares them to pursue careers and educational opportunities in pursuit of the greater good.

5 Ways to Raise Your Kids as Global Citizens

Every family is different, but some of these tips might help your kid on their path to becoming a global citizen:

1. Teach the Core Values: Empathy & Curiosity

Global citizenship requires a person to look outside themselves and their own limited community in order to extend their energy and compassion outwards to others. This requires a healthy knowledge about other peoples and ways of life, which is something your child will naturally want to explore if you encourage them to remain open and curious.

Sometimes children ask questions about other people that they perceive to look or act different from themselves. Instead of shutting these questions down, work with your kid's curiosity by taking the time to explain people's differences — and underlying similarities.

Most importantly, encourage your children to think and act with empathy. Validate your child's emotions ("I see you are feeling frustrated/sad/excited") so that they can identify feelings in themselves. By teaching them the value of their own feelings and emotions, you're setting them up for the next step — extending that compassion and understanding to others. 

2. Read Books on Global Citizenry 

You don't have to go that far to teach your kids about different cultures around the world. In fact, incorporating children's books that celebrate other ways of life is an easy, inexpensive way to expand their horizons. Here are just a few to get started:

• What is Your Language? by Debra Leventhal. Geared for pre-K to second grade children, Leventhal's delightful children's book celebrates music, language, and communities the world over.

• What Can a Citizen Do? by Dave Eggers. It's so important to teach your young global citizen about what citizenship actually means, and Dave Eggers' book seeks to do exactly that.

• Babies Around the World by Puck. Looking for something for babies and toddlers? Babies Around the World is a simple and colorful celebration of the world's babies, suitable for little ones.

While books that teach children about diversity as a whole are great, it's also important to find children's books that celebrate specific cultures. If your child is bilingual or learning another language, consider foreign language versions of treasured classics. 

3. Teach Your Child A Foreign Language

"Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where it’s people come from and where they are going." ‒Rita Mae Brown

Learning a second language can support your children's development in so many ways: it helps keep their brains active and sharp, boosts memory, and improves listening skills. 

When it comes to supporting young global citizens, learning a second language can also create a powerful connection to another culture. Understanding a foreign language helps foster a deeper connection to another culture's art, music, literature, and lifestyle. And when you can communicate with another person in their native tongue, you improve social connections and enrich relationships with others.

In addition, learning a foreign language sets your children up for future educational opportunity, internships, jobs, or initiatives that involve speaking a different language. If they want to make a global difference as adult citizens, a bilingual background will help them reach their goals.

4. Set Goals to Travel as Often as Possible

Of course, almost nothing can beat travel as a way to support your children on their way to becoming global citizens. Not only is travel a fun and enriching experience for the entire family, it offers children a way to immerse themselves in another culture. Make sure you get creative while traveling:

• Visit playgrounds and parks so your child can play with other children

• Go to museums and events that highlight culture

• Engage openly and respectfully with the people that you meet, encouraging your kids to do the same

• Enjoy local cuisine, art, and music 

More than anything, it's important to bring your curiosity with you when you travel. Encourage your children to remain open to learning about a culture from the individuals who live in that culture daily. Often, the most important traveling experiences won't take place in a museum — they'll happen in a local marketplace or on line at a cafe.

5. Explore Your Community: Art, Music, and Volunteerism

If international travel isn't necessarily in your budget — or you simply want to take advantage of opportunities close to your home, then you might find that your community is a surprisingly rich place to teach your kids about the world at large. To get started:

• Check with your local library to see if they have any upcoming classes, workshops, or events celebrating diversity or world culture

• Scan your local news outlets for any parades or events that highlight a particular culture in your area

• Many universities have multicultural events and resources; check out the schedule of events at your nearest institute of higher education

• Keep an eye out for the arts: any upcoming international musical festivals or art exhibits upcoming in your area?

• Celebrate the World Day for Cultural Diversity every May 21st with your family

Volunteer. Celebrating art, music, and dance is an incredible way to connect with your larger community. However, one of the best ways to explore your community while strengthening the key values of global citizenry is to volunteer with your children. Even elementary-age children are mature enough to visit a local nursing home, clean up your local community, or participate in a food drive. Volunteering helps them understand how their individual actions can make a difference in the world at large — and helps them see the value in global citizenry.

Get Started Today

Children have a unique and incredible ability to absorb new information, develop their neural pathways, and strengthen their compassion and empathy. By exposing your children to other cultures, teaching them to learn a new language, and celebrating multiculturalism in your community — you can help raise your child as a true global citizen. 

How To Use Little Pim Effectively

Congratulations on choosing the most effective method for introducing babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers to a second or third language at the time they learn best. The series is especially designed to take advantage of the critical window when young minds are hard-wired to learn up to three languages with ease, which is up to six years old.

Each Little Pim theme is broken up into seven short episodes. Because we know babies and toddlers have short attention spans, Little Pim was designed to allow you to start and stop after any of the five-minute episodes. Older children (2-6) may enjoy watching the seven short episodes in one sitting. You can pause the episodes at any time and interact with your child to help reinforce the new vocabulary.

Here are some tips so you can become your child’s first language tutor even if you don’t speak the language yourself!

As you and your child watch the episodes, repeat the words and phrases aloud.

If you know the vocabulary, you can comment on what is happening or predict what comes next. Speaking and interacting with the video is an effective way to engage your child and enhance their learning.

How many hours per weeks should my child watch?

Our recommendation is for babies and toddlers to watch at least two five-minute episodes two to three times a week, and for older children to watch all seven episodes. It is best to expose your child to the sounds of the foreign language as often as possible.

Learn with your child and make it fun.

Practicing along with your child keeps him or her motivated and engaged. Put post-its around the house or find objects mentioned in the videos right after watching, and name them together in the new language.

Model, don’t correct.

If your child makes a mistake, simply reinforce the word and show that you’ve understood, then repeat the word with the correct pronunciation. You can refer to the videos for proper pronunciation.

Enroll your child in a language playgroup.

Find other parents with children who are learning the same language as your child, and get together weekly for singing, stories, and play in the foreign language. If you do not have access to one, start one yourself!

Engage your child in the foreign language whenever you can.

Use his or her favorite toys or everyday objects to talk about vocabulary you have learned. For example, use the new words as you cook, or pretend that his or her stuffed animals are having a tea party and reinforce the vocabulary in the series.

Why Should My Child Learn a Foreign Language?

There are numerous benefits of learning a second language early in life. Children who are consistently exposed from a very young age to the sounds of a foreign language are more likely to achieve native or near-native fluency in adulthood and have a much easier time learning other languages later in life. Research shows that these children also tend to have stronger verbal, cognitive and analytical skills – giving them a head start in school.

Simply put, learning a second language boosts brain power, even if the child does not achieve total fluency.

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Code or Let Language Learning Programs Implode?

“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Whether coding courses should be offered as an alternative to foreign language classes in highs schools’ core curricula is the subject of great debate among legislators. To make my position undoubtedly clear early on in this post, I urge our leaders to vote against a bill that allows coding to substitute foreign language learning. As an intern at a foreign language learning company, my bias is evident. However, I will present irrefutable support to my position on the matter to show you I don’t speak out of self-interest but rather popular interest.

Before I delve into why I vehemently disagree with the proposed course of action, I must qualify that I understand the motives behind the bill. With our president using Twitter as his own media outlet, Facebook allowing cute images of puppies and simultaneously devastating snapshots of war and terrorism to reach millions in seconds, and posting videos to YouTube becoming a career path, I do concur that our world grows ever more dependent on technology. I also understand that this dependency on technology implies a demand in the global economy for individuals educated in engineering and computer science. With only 4% of people graduating with a bachelor’s degree in engineering in the US, compared to 31% in China, for example, it logically follows that other global superpowers are fulfilling this demand in the job market. To become more competitive in the job market and contribute to technology-related fields of the global economy, US citizens must be better educated in the associated areas of study. For these reasons, I understand the desire to integrate coding into the core curriculum.

While I recognize the need for coding classes, I do not understand how they can be viewed pedagogically as comparable to foreign language classes and therefore be offered in lieu of them.  Java and C++ are languages in that a combination of good diction and syntax allow for expression. However, these coding languages

• Only consist of approximately a hundred words (Little Pim can teach you 250 more in the foreign language of your choosing)
• Are not spoken
• Don’t underpin a society’s rich cultural history

These qualities that differentiate coding languages from foreign languages may seem unimportant to a decision about the proposed education bill, but they are actually the very reason we must say no to the bill!

1. Word Count

Learning the thousands of words of a foreign language requires the brain to become flexible and switch between vocabulary, grammatical structures, and accents. These skills developed to speak foreign languages are believed to be responsible for bilinguals and multi-linguals divergent thinking, or creativity. The fact that coding languages have significantly fewer words than foreign languages means the skills required to jump between languages, skills that translate to divergent thinking and improved creativity, are less developed. Why should you care? Coding is integral to a successful career in technology-related fields, but creativity is equally imperative in technological innovation. Steve Jobs may have been able to program Apple software, but he also needed the creative mind to come up with product ideas and marketing strategies. Without this creativity, he wouldn’t have been as successful. Thus, foreign languages, in cultivating creativity, are just as important in training people valuable to the tech space as coding classes. Moreover, creativity is appreciated in many other fields, too. Thus, to deprive children of foreign languages, effectively limiting their creativity, is detrimental to the US’ position among tech powers, like not having coding classes at all.

2. Spoken Word

Coding has become important, because our society is so technology dependent. Accordingly, many of us have grown more screen-facing than people-facing in our jobs and daily lives. Changing the foreign language requirement to permit coding in place of foreign languages only reinforces this screen-facing culture, which endangers the quality of our face-to-face interactions and children’s people skills. Tech companies might need coders to build products, but they need to know their consumer in order to create desirable products. Surveys and stats are only so telling of consumer response. Face-to-face interactions, where you can see body language and hear intonation can be far more informative. Thus, successful tech companies also require people-facing individuals. These people skills are acquired through conversation, like those had in foreign language classes. Once again, foreign language classes are as necessary in properly educating individuals to enter the tech space as coding.

3. Cultural Awareness

There is a horrible stigma surrounding Americans that we are culturally unaware and self-centered. With English as the language of business, we are rarely forced to accommodate others linguistically. This unaccommodating nature has leaked into our service industries, like tourism, and beyond, tainting our global image. Foreign languages force students to acquaint themselves with a different culture. The AP foreign language examinations offered to high school students who have taken the course test both language and cultural knowledge. Having taken AP French, I can say that the curriculum truly does touch on culture too. We read French literature, discussed historical events, learned of famous chefs and characteristically French dishes, compared the French educative system to the American one, and more. The class taught me a lot, but most importantly that language is merely a window into culture. With this in mind, coding keeps the curtain over that window, bolstering the negative perception of Americans’ cultural awareness. Furthermore, in a globalized economy, cultural awareness, achieved through foreign language classes, not coding, is more and more important to potential employers, including tech companies.

“…allowing coding to replace foreign languages may create more programmers, but runs the risk of letting those programmers be less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware.”

The fact that coding languages have fewer words, aren’t spoken, and don’t lay the foundation for a society’s cultural background may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Yet, these aspects of coding entail that coding languages don’t heavily improve creativity, don’t better interpersonal skills, and don’t make coders more culturally aware. Foreign languages, unlike coding, enhance all of these qualities, which are desirable to tech employers and all employers, in fact. Therefore, allowing coding to replace foreign languages may create more programmers, but runs the risk of letting those programmers be less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware.

“In trying to find a solution to the fact that America is behind other countries in the tech space, the proposed bill creates more problems in the form of less well-rounded graduates.”

Moreover, if the same amount of money is allocated to foreign languages while coding classes, which involve very expensive equipment, are included under that umbrella, even less money will go towards foreign language classes. With smaller budgets, foreign language classes will likely have higher student teacher ratios, potentially less enthusiastic teachers, and less immersive curricula. Studies, (like the one in the following article: https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7460958-a-way-to-teach-babies-second-language-if-parents-only-speak-one/), have shown there is a direct correlation between these qualities of foreign language classes and students’ mastery of the language. Effectively, passing the bill wouldn’t only result in less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware programmers but also less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware foreign language students, meaning all students suffer. In trying to find a solution to the fact that America is behind other countries in the tech space, the proposed bill creates more problems in the form of less well-rounded graduates.

Works Cited: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

jane-swift/make-language-

learning-a-priority_b_6801296.

html

https://www.mondo.com/foreign-

vs-coding-languages-in-

schools/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

zach-simon/can-learning-a-new-

langua_b_4998795.html

Did You Know Every Parent is Bilingual?

“Don’t talk to me like a baby!” You might be familiar with this phrase if you have an older child or have gotten into a spat with a partner or colleague. While baby talk can be construed as condescending when directed at an older individual, it is actually critical to the cognitive development and language learning of infants and toddlers. Linguists and child psychologists refer to baby talk more often as child-directed speech. Many aspects of child-directed speech allow it to facilitate language learning, such as the following:

High-pitch and tone variation

These qualities characteristic of child-directed speech make it more stimulating, effectively causing the words spoken to be more memorable.

Repetition

Children’s first words are often the ones they hear the most often. This is because repetition is a key component that drives memorization. Thus, the repetition common in child-directed speech helps children learn the language.

Reduplication

When using child-directed speech, parents often say expressions like “woof woof” and “beep beep.” This specific type of repetition, called reduplication, also helps with memorization and language learning.

Isolation

Sentences and phrases formed when using child-directed speech tend to include the most important word at the end. For example, parents might say “oh look at the cute little doggy” instead of “there is a cute dog right over there.” This isolation of the word dog helps children learn the word, because they can separate the noises associated with saying the word from the rest of the phrase.

When children imitate child-directed speech, they are actually imitating and learning proper grammar.

One theory about language acquisition is that much of children’s knowledge is innate. Specifically, some linguists have asserted that children are born with knowledge of syntactic structures and then utilize imitation to learn words to fit into those structures. Complete foreknowledge of grammatical structure prior to birth seems unlikely, especially given this structure is unique to every language. In fact, a closer look at child-directed speech reveals that it is far more properly structured than casual, fragmented conversation between adults. When children imitate child-directed speech, they are actually imitating and learning proper grammar. While children’s capacity to learn may be innate, their language learning is in many ways an imitation game.

Each and every parent around the world is fluent in both his or her native tongue and child-directed speech.

Child-directed speech doesn’t just exist here in the United States and with English, but in a plethora of cultures and with a multitude of languages. Each and every parent around the world is fluent in both his or her native tongue and child-directed speech. This form of bilingualism is pertinent to infants’ and toddlers’ first language acquisition and cognitive development.

Just like child-directed speech improves cognitive development in infants and toddlers, so does learning a foreign language.

While parents adopt this child-directed speech with ease, infants and toddlers could also adopt another language with ease. Children can learn more than one language at a time without conflating the two or hindering their progress towards fluency in their native language. In fact, children are noted to become more native-like speakers in a foreign language if they learn the language at a very young age. Just like child-directed speech improves cognitive development in infants and toddlers, so does learning a foreign language. As it happens, children who learn another language at a young age are said to be able to concentrate better in spite of outside stimulus, an important skill in an age when technology, among other things, has become a huge distraction.

While all parents are fluent in their native tongue and child-directed speech, not all parents are fluent in other foreign languages… cue Little Pim.

In conclusion, while many people may not appreciate when you speak to them like a baby, your infant or toddler loves it. Your child’s engagement with child-directed speech makes it a useful tool to teach words and proper grammatical structures. Via aiding in first language acquisition, child-directed speech improves a child’s cognitive development, just as learning a foreign language can. While all parents are fluent in their native tongue and child-directed speech, not all parents are fluent in other foreign languages… cue Little Pim. Let us join you and your child on a path towards intellectual growth.

Works Cited:

http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test4materials/ChildLangAcquisition.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3937814/Why-baby-talk-GOOD-children-Speaking-motherese-helps-develop-language-skills-faster.html

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-motherese-important-children-language.html

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2009/05/learning-second-language-good-childhood-mind-medicine

Don't Put the Brakes on Bilingualism this Holiday Season

It's that time of year again! The holidays are just around the corner. If you're raising a bilingual child, it also seems like an unproductive time for language learning. You're busy with orchestrating the perfect "winter wonderland" at home and carrying out all of the family traditions. Grandma's visiting and you're taking off work. Who has the time to sit down for language lessons? Even if you do have the time, who wants to do book work while Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is on? The kids are out of school for most of the month, after all! Why make them study during their break?

Hold your horses. Even during the season of cheer, your kiddos shouldn't "pause" their language learning efforts. We know that kids lose some (alright, a lot) of the progress they made during the school year over the summer. Kids lose two months worth of reading skills and computational math skills over the summer. As for that Spanish class? You can forget about it. Literally. But, what's the difference when your kids are off in December as opposed to the two month break that most kids in North America get from June to September?

Although experts at the college-level agree that it's not as significant as the "summer dump," it's still worth it to continue learning into the winter to avoid a total information brain freeze. From Thanksgiving to New Years, your child will have a lot of down-time. There are lots of simple things you can do to keep their mind engaged in language learning over the holidays.

Here are a few fun ideas that will help keep your children's' minds active this winter:

Foreign Language Journaling

Depending on the age of your child, encouraging them to keep a physical journal over the break actually helps retain and improve the skills learned in school. Inspire their creativity with response prompts in both English and their target language. To gain their interest, suggest prompts related to the season at hand. For elementary students, here's 77 prompts to inspire their winter writing.

Journaling in another language is actually a great way to advance in it. There's a well documented link between handwriting and knowledge acquisition. Some college professors ban electronic note taking for this reason. There's also the freedom to make mistakes without being made fun of; a common anxiety among those who wish to speak another language. Encourage them to practice their new language, reminding them that a journal is a safe place to express themselves without fear of having their mistakes overanalyzed.

Dual-Language Reading

According to experts, reading is the number one action students should take in order to avoid a mental deep-freeze. If they're too young to take the initiative themselves, you can read with and to them to reap the benefits. Encouraging your child to read over the holidays is one of the easiest ways to keep them engaged, as books are accessible through local libraries, create meaningful interactions with the family, and are portable for holiday travels. Getting lost in a good story is also just plain fun!

To encourage language learning, you can purchase (or borrow) dual language books, which allow your child to read a story in both languages side-by-side. Dual language books are available in many languages and improve language acquisition and vocabulary in bilingual children. There are even some available for free on Trilingual Mama's website.

It's not just beneficial for learning another language, either. According to a study done at the University of Calgary, the introduction of dual-language books into classrooms improved overall literacy skills.

Cultural Field Trips

Field trips shouldn't just be left to the school. A recent study from the University of Arkansas indicated that students learn more about a subject when exposed to it on a field trip versus the classroom. In particular, the empathy and cultural understanding of disadvantaged students was shown to improve after being taken on field trips. Since field trips offer an opportunity to expose children to different cultures, they're an excellent way to foster bilingualism. We know that language isn't just about conjugation, nor is culture all about tradition. Culture influences language and vice versa. Consider visiting a museum or other cultural exhibit with your children during the holiday season, like a local Hispanic heritage museum.

Multicultural Holiday Traditions

This time of year is an excellent one for cultural immersion, as every culture has its own holiday traditions. Attend a festival, or guide your child in an activity that relates to the traditions of another culture. If you're teaching your child Spanish, consider attending a Posada party. If they're learning Russian, participate in the New Year's tradition of Father Frost and discuss the similarities and differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus. This will get your child fired up about another culture - something that's important for success in another language.

At Little Pim, we offer amazing products that will help your young child learn a new language. Consider beating those winter woes by starting your child on one of our 12 language programs today.

Bilingual Baby: When is the Best Time to Start?

The benefits of introducing your baby to another language are well documented. In our rapidly globalizing society, knowing a second (or third) language provides an obvious edge over the competition in the job market.

But, what about its impact on childhood development? While some would suggest that over-exposure to foreign language may cause delay in speaking, this assumption is both unproven and outweighed by the benefits dual-language babies experience as they grow.

We know the many benefits, so the question soon becomes: “When do we start?”

The answer is surprising. According to an article by the Intercultural Development Research Association, it may be most beneficial to begin second language exposure before six months of age. In a study by psychologist Janet Werker, infants as young as four months of age successfully discriminated syllables spoken by adults in two different languages. Dr. Werker’s work also determined a possible decline in foreign language acquisition after 10 months of age. To give your child their best start, you must begin early.

How is this so? The answer can be found in the complex world of the human brain. Our brains react uniquely to language learning at any age, even growing when stimulated by another language. While mankind can acquire a language at mostly any stage, it is exceptionally difficult to do so outside of childhood. From infancy to age five, the brain is capable of rapid language acquisition. Even so, there are varying degrees of acquisition, even for children. After six months of age, infants begin distinguishing the differing sounds of their native tongue and others. Beyond six months, exposing your little one to a brand new language will pose a challenge.

That is not to say that teaching your two year-old French is a bad idea! It is merely to say that the earlier you begin teaching your child, the better.

Though most babies wont utter their first words before eleven months of age, they develop complex mental vocabularies through the piecing together of “sound maps.” As they gather from what they are exposed to, an infant who hasn’t been immersed in another language during this delicate stage will not piece together adequate sound maps to differentiate another language.

The reason for this is rooted in the brain at birth. Children are born with 100 billion brain cells and the branching dendrites that connect them. The locations that these cells connect are called synapses; critical components in the development of the human brain. These synapses are thought to “fire” information from one cell to another in certain patterns that lead to information becoming “hardwired” in the brain. The synapses transmit information from the external senses to the brain via these patterns, thus causing the brain to interpret them, develop, and learn from them. From birth to age three, these complex synapses cause infants to develop 700 neural connections per second.

These synapses are critical in sound mapping, and at the age of six months, the infant brain has already begun to “lock in” these new patterns and has difficulty recognizing brand new ones. This is because although your baby is born with all of the neurons they’ll ever need, that doesn’t mean that they’ll “need” all 100 billion. Infancy to the age of three is filled not only with rapid neural expansion, but also with neural “pruning;” a process in which unnecessary connections are nixed and others are strengthened.

Exactly which connections are pruned and which are cultivated is partially influenced by a child’s environment. Synapses are cultivated or pruned in order of importance to ensure the easiest, most successful outcome possible for a functioning human being. If a function is not fostered during this stage, it is likely that the neural connections associated with it will fade. For the brain to see a skill as important, you must make it important.

To put it plainly, if you only speak to your child in English, the infant brain sees no reason to retain a neural pathway regarding the little Mandarin it has heard. Babies learn about their environment at every age and are internally motivated from birth to do so. Your baby wants to learn and does so by exploring and mimicking the world around them. They’re entirely capable of building a complex knowledge of Mandarin, Arabic, or Italian. So, why not feed their mind and start now?