6 Tips for Teaching Korean to Toddlers

There are several benefits to being bilingual or multilingual. It's an opportunity to think and solve problems in different languages, improve social skills by speaking different languages, and grow cognitive muscles. While all these benefits are amazing, they may not be visible to a young child. Teaching your toddler Korean is daunting, especially if you're a beginner, but it's possible. As a parent, providing guidance can improve your child's ability to learn a new language. Here are a few tips for teaching Korean to toddlers which really can be applied to any target language.  

1.      Find Fun Ways To Teach

Children learn well in relaxed environments where they can express themselves through fun. Play and entertainment are the best ways to introduce a toddler to a new language. There are several creative ways to add fun to your lessons:

Use Songs and Rhymes: The repetition and chanting in rhymes and the joy in singing are delightful for toddlers. You can teach your child a rhyme to help them learn the Korean alphabet. The lyrics are more comfortable for toddlers to remember, and the rhythm makes learning exciting. Toddlers can also learn pronunciations through singing. 

Word games: Games such as scrabble and charades challenge your toddler to think of words and also remember their meaning. Print pictures and ask your child to describe the image using Korean words. Keep the game easy, according to their level of learning.

Body movement: Rhythmic body movements such as dance help toddlers learn. For example, teaching different body parts is an excellent opportunity to combine a rhyme and a dance that incorporates touching the necessary parts of the face and body.

Homonyms: You can test your toddler's comprehension by asking them to differentiate between words that sound the same.

Stories: Find Korean storybooks that match your child's comprehension and read the stories with them. Ask your child to read along and encourage them to speak up as you correct them. You can also try to tell everyday stories in Korean. Stories are also great for teaching because they tap into a kids' imagination. You can let their creativity grow and encourage them to tell their story in Korean.

Tongue Twisters are fun for both you and the child and are great for teaching pronunciations for words that almost sound similar.

Play: Playing telephone and doll games with your child can help them learn Korean better. Ask them words over the phone and wait for them to spell. You can also ask them to name their favorite toys in Korean.

2.      Have Lots of Visuals

There's a reason why getting your child off their favorite cartoons is hard- kids love visuals. If the pictures can talk, dance, and sing, they pay even more attention. Children are also drawn to bright colors, which are often present in their books and animations. Animations also break down complex concepts to a toddler's level of understanding and make children laugh. Little Pim is the perfect way to introduce your little ones to Korean featuring a mix of fun, colorful animations, and real kids doing everyday things to describe their world.

You can find visual elements for naming objects and describing actions such as eating, dancing, or walking in Korean.

• Buy books with drawings for learning, joining dots, painting, and coloring with pastels.

• Create new and bright flashcards that you can use during word games.

• Watch Little Pim Korean and use props around the house to help reinforce the vocabulary.

3.      Talk to Your Child

Children also learn through observing and listening to the surrounding activities. When you speak to your child, use complete sentences. Ask them to also respond in complete sentences. This will help your child understand how sentence structures work. It will also help your child articulate themselves better in the future.

As you talk, ask the child to explain details. For example, if you show them a flashcard with a picture of a child on it, ask them to explain what they see. Is it a boy or a girl? What is the child wearing? What color are their clothes and shoes? Teach them to observe and voice what they see around them.

4.      Structure The Classes Into Small Sections

The attention span of a child changes as they grow older. At two years, a toddler can focus for around 6 minutes before becoming bored and distracted. By five years, most kids can focus on a task for up to 15 minutes. With short attention spans, structuring the Korean lessons into short sessions with play is the best way to teach the toddler. Long lectures are a sure way of getting your kid bored and also disinterested in the new language.

However, you can improve their attention span by being actively engaged. Research indicates that children respond well to more attention, especially when they're young. Learning along with your child, rather than just being physically present or showing disinterest works well when introducing your toddler to new concepts.

5.      Follow Your Child's Lead

Instead of forcing your child to express interest in something you like, allow them to lead the way. Learn to observe your child and pay attention to their needs both outside and inside the Korean lessons. What parts of learning interest them most? Do they prefer pictures? Do they need colors and flashcards? Once they're interested, engage them and encourage them to continue learning.

6.      Invest In Structured Lessons

Having a structured manual with guided lessons and goals has several advantages:

• You can help your child understand the basics before tackling complex terms.

• You can track your progress and create a routine.

• Professionally scripted lessons also guide the parent, which makes them ideal for homeschooling.

• You can take advantage of pre-designed flashcards, printed stories, and animations within structured lessons and focus on teaching.

• Join an online community of other parents teaching their child Korean for tips and playgroups.

Conclusion

Little Pim has a professionally scripted program that you can use to introduce your toddler to Korean. The lessons include play and repetition, great visuals and printable content you can access offline. The lessons are also scripted to guide you, as the parent, even if you have no prior knowledge of Korean. You not only guide your child through a new language but also acquire the skills for yourself. Try watching Little Pim with your loved one today!

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 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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Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with Little Pim

Did you know that September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month? Every year, Hispanic Americans celebrate the contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. September 15 marks the beginning of the month because it is the anniversary of the day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua celebrated their independence. Mexico, Chile and Belize also celebrate their independence days on September 16, September 18, and September 21, respectively.

The month culminates with a celebration on October 12, when Spain and Latin American countries celebrate their own version of Columbus Day, known as Hispanic Day (Día de la Hispanidad) to commemorate Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas on behalf of Spain in 1492. This is considered the National Day of Spain (Fiesta Nacional de España), and parades and festivals are held throughout the country.

Young kids may be familiar with the story of Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas for Spain, but as a Columbus Day nears, it's a great time to teach them there's more to the story than just the Niña, the Pinta and Santa María.

Your kids (or students) will love this interactive white board activity from Scholastic that features fun Hispanic facts, history and even a Piñata concetration game.

We also love this set of printables of famous Hispanic American role models from Nick Jr. And this Hispanic paper flower fiesta craft from Latinaish will have your house (or classroom) looking festive in no time.

Of course, it's also a great time to introduce kids to Spanish language and culture. Check out our Spanish Bop CD featuring fun 15 Spanish language songs for kids, our Spanish vocabulary flashcards, or our colorful English-Spanish books perfectly suited for young kids.

photo credit: zetgem via photopincc