LITTLE PIM BLOG
Contest: How Do You Say "Halloween"?
Halloween is right around the corner & we're in a spooky mood! How about you? What will you be dressing up as this year? We'd love to see what your little ones in their Halloween costumes.
For this week's contest, either post a photo of your child in a Halloween costume (from this year or previous years) on our Facebook wall or email it to info@littlepim.com.
One person will win either Spanish Bop or French Bop! Both CDs feature three original songs by the popular children's band, Milkshake.
Below are a few Spanish and French Halloween vocabulary words to get you in the spirit of the season!
Spanish
- una arana - spider
- aterrador - scary
- una bruja - witch
- una calabaza - pumpkin
- caramelos - candy
French
- un chat noir - black cat
- une chauve-souris - bat
- une citrouille - pumpkin
- une araignée - spider
- un balai - broom
- des bonbons - candy
*photo from coolhalloweencostumesforkids.net
Children learning languages abroad
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!
Little Pim Celebrates World Cup 2010
Everyone at Little Pim is very excited about the World Cup games taking place right now in South Africa. And it's not just because the Fifa mascot bears a striking resemblance to Bob the Bobcat of Little Pim Volume II.
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!
Little Pim Says "G'day Mate!"
Little Pim is definitely a world traveler! Check out these photos of our DVDs being proudly displayed in one of our Australian retailers. Did you know that most Australians take a year or two off to travel between high school and college? Australia is a diverse cultural landscape and its children speak a variety of languages. In primary school Australian children are encouraged to learn a second language from a young age.
Below are two images from the Brisbane Dymocks display. Dymocks is the Borders equivalent in Australia.
The last image is from a Sydney York Street Display.
Happy Mother's Day From Little Pim
Happy Mother's Day! We hope all of you wonderful mothers take some time for relaxation and rest today with your families. Have crêpes in bed!
Below are a few ways to say Happy Mother's Day in different languages!
Catalan: Feliç Dia de la Mare
Chinese: Mu Qin jie kuai le
Hebrew: Yom ha'em sameah
Italian: Buona festa della Mamma
Spanish: Feliz Día de las Madres
Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Today commemorates the unexpected 1862 victory of the Mexican army over the French army in the battle over the city of Puebla. I've compiled some Spanish vocabulary words that follow the theme of today's festivities.
La batalla - battle La revolucion - revolution La bandera - flag El heroe - hero La independencia - independence La victoria - victory
Get the kids together and practice your espanol today! If you're heading out to a party, I've included a guacamole recipe below that will entice even your pickiest eaters.
Yummy Guacamole
Ingredients
2 large ripe avocados 1 small red onion, finely chopped 2 tbsp (30 mL) lime juice 1 medium tomato, seeded and finely chopped 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin 1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped cilantro 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
Cooking Instructions
Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit, and peel them. If they are ripe, the peel should come off easily. Dice the avocado flesh, and dump into a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients, and toss to combine without mashing. The ingredients should remain separate, and the salsa chunky. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping, or as an accompaniment to tacos or burritos.
Servings: Makes about 2 cups (500 mL).
recipe from Kaboose.com
photo from score.rims.k12.ca.us
Happy New Year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!
BONNE ANNÉE!
AUGURI!
Happy New Year from Little Pim. Thank you for helping to make this year a great one. Here's to 2010!
Warmly, Julia
Where in the World is Little Pim?
Guten Tag! That's Hello in German. Little Pim's Chief of Marketing, Peggy, is in Germany this week at the Annual International Book Fair in Frankfurt. If you find yourself in the area, come to the Edureach Booth in the American Collective Stand, Hall 8.0 S961!
Danke!
Meals Around The World... In Your Kitchen.
I am always looking for ways to introduce my children to newlanguages, and also to the idea that we live in a world with many different cultures, traditions, foods and lifestyles. A friend recently shared an idea her mom used to help her brother and her learn about the wide world from their home in Maryland. Once a month they had a "French night" or "Spanish night" or "Chinese night" where they would eat the foods of that country (imagine crepes, burritos or dumplings) and learn about the places the food came from. They would cook together, look at maps, browse through guide books, play music from the country in question, and talk about what they knew about that country. Sometimes they had a guest at dinner from the chosen country or watched a movie in that language. She and her brother loved these festive, themed evenings, and they are among her happiest family memories. I thought that seemed like a pretty easy and fun way to bring the world to your dinner table, without having to wait on any long lines for check-in!
If you want to try "country night" at home, here are some web sites that can help you fill in the gaps. I suggest you plan three nights at once so you can stock up on ingredients, music and images. It's also a really fun thing to do with other families. Your kids will get even more excited about country night if they see that other kids are also participating. And remember, kids will only sometimes do as you say, but they will *always* do as you do! By making this a regular event and spending time on it, they will learn from you how important it is to know about, respect and enjoy other cultures. If your kids are very young, you can still do this activity to broaden their palate and introduce them to the sounds and rhythms of other languages. You might find you have a pint-sized flamenco music enthusiast or sesame noodles-lover in your family... Bonne chance!
Links:
To order a GeoPuzzle, Travel Mania game or other Geo Toys
If you have favorite foods from other countries you like to make for your family, please tell us about them and we can add them to our blog, which is read by thousands of parents interested in their children having a multi-national experience from an early age. Email us at info@littlepim.com.
How Do Kids Celebrate Holidays Around The World?
In FRANCE families eat a special dessert at holiday time called Bûche de Noël (pronounced "booche de no-el") which means "Christmas log". It's a very sweet cake, shaped like a log from the fireplace! It's made of sponge cake and has lots of chocolate icing. Here is a picture:
In MEXICO a big party for children usually includes a Piñata, (pronounced Peenyata, for it has an ñ, not an n), filled with peanuts in the shell, oranges, tangerines, sugar canes, and candy. All the children sing while one child at a time tries to break the Piñata with a stick while he/she is blindfolded.
Decorate your own pinata: : http://www.expertvillage.com/
video/14795_pinata-making
-warp.htm
Or fill a store bought
one with your favorite treats HERE.
In CHINA, s
ince the vast majority of the Chinese people are not Christian, the main winter festival is the Chinese New Year, which takes place toward the end of January. Kids decorate by lighting their houses with beautiful paper lanterns. Many Chinese children also hang stockings and await a visit from Santa Claus, whom they call Dun Che Lao Ren (dwyn-chuh-lau-oh-run) which means "Christmas Old Man." Santa Claus may also be called Lan Khoong-Khoong, "Nice Old Father."
