Spanish Lessons For Kids
Spanish courses designed for kids teach children Spanish in an interesting and easy way. It doesn’t teach grammar and syntax in a direct manner. Kids, like most adults, would become bored very quickly if they had to tediously conjugate regular and irregular Spanish verbs. Spanish for kids avoids all that, but still manages to teach children the basics too.
Children have the ability to learn Spanish fast. The younger a child is when they are first exposed to another language, the sooner they can learn it. A five-year-old could learn fairly good Spanish in a matter of a couple of months, while a twelve-year-old might take more than half a year. It is also dependent on their exposure. If they are only exposed to Spanish in school, but not at home, they will take longer to learn.
Kids can learn Spanish quickly. They very quickly learn that Spanish for kids shows them Español es un lenguaje fonético y la pronunciación es muy clara. Unlike English where the ending, “ough” for example, can be pronounced at least six different ways, in Spanish the pronunciation is clear, straightforward and phonetic.
In general, the second to last syllable is where the emphasis goes, unless the word has a letter with an accent on it. The word, “farmacia” has the emphasis on the second “a” as there is no accented letter. The word, “problema” has its emphasis on the letter “e.”
But when there is an accented letter, it becomes even easier. You simply place the emphasis of the word on that letter. For example, “fútbol” is that ever-popular ball game, or soccer, as it is known in the USA. The emphasis is naturally on the emphasized letter “u,” and sounds more or less the same as the word in English. Another instance is the word for “plastic” that is spelt as “plástica.” Without the accented first “a” it would be pronounced as “plastEEca.”
Learning Spanish for kids can fun. Remember, it shouldn’t have been too long ago that they started to learn English. This is why kids they are able to adapt so fast; they are still learning so much every day that another language is something they take in their stride without batting an eyelid.
If you are teaching a child who cannot read yet, then you should make them engage all their senses, as much as possible, to learn the language. Computers are good for this in many ways as they will be able to look at diagrams and animations besides hearing the language.
Employ your house pet too. They will find it funny to call the dog “un perro,” or the cat “un gato.” Of course, they must get the genders right too! If the dog and cat are female, then they will become “una perra” and “una gata” respectively.
Normally, the younger the child is when they taught Spanish, the quicker they will be able to master it. If the learning process is interesting, they would not see it as a tedious chore that they have to undertake. Also, teach them practical phrases, such as, “may I have a glass of milk?” (¿Puede darme un vaso de leche?), and begin using them in your daily conversations. They soak it up naturally. Spanish lessons for kids can be easy and fun too.