So many students are picking up a second language for numerous reasons: business trends, demographic changes, brain benefits, travel, or just for fun. It is important to keep the process active as we approach the summer months. There are many fun and easy ways to maintain a second language, it does not have to be in form of homework.
Research shows that people learning another language, or who know another language should be exposed to the target tongue for a minimum of thirty minutes a day. The number one way to learn a language that is guaranteed to be fun, is to travel somewhere Spanish speaking this summer: Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, or any of the 20 plus Spanish speaking countries, will help you learn as fast as possible.
Research shows that people learning another language, or who know another language should be exposed to the target tongue for a minimum of thirty minutes a day. The number one way to learn a language that is guaranteed to be fun, is to travel somewhere Spanish speaking this summer: Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, or any of the 20 plus Spanish speaking countries, will help you learn as fast as possible.
If it is not in your budget or time frame to leave the country, take a trip to Yakima or Wenatchee for the day, where the Spanish speaking population is 70% or more of the population. Or plan to eat at a different Spanish speaking restaurant once a week and try ordering and communicating in Spanish. Caadixi, the newest Mexican restaurant in Snoqualmie, offers the most authentic Mexican food in the valley, you are sure to find things on the menu you have never seen and can practice some phrases while enjoying a delicious margarita and an array of salsas.
Aside from eating your way through Spanish, you and your kids can get free CD’s in a foreign language from any of the KCLS libraries, and turn on the music 30 minutes a day and dance, it can be on in the background while the kids play, or you ride in the car. Just hearing it in the background will help acquire the language. Pick up a pack of flash cards for less than $5 on Amazon and practice them in the car. Play for points, for who knows the most words. Practice until the deck is mastered. Have the kids read the cards to you and you guess the meaning.
Pick up some great children’s classics in a foreign language from the public library, and read them together. We are so lucky to have the countries best library system, which also offers free videos, cartoons, and movies in foreign languages. Watch 30 minutes of Scooby Doo in a foreign language, laugh, and bond with your child while learning!
For more ideas on language learning, follow our blog at www.lux-language.com, or on Facebook, Lux Language Partners.
