Children which are in contact with a second language at an early age, bilingual or not, require an affective emotional tie with a person that teaches the language. The parents of these children also lean on books, CDs and DVDs to intensify the stimulation in the second language.

Nowadays there are new alternatives available in addition to the traditional materials like books, CDs, DVDs. These are the so-called “Podcast”.

Podcasts are electronic files that can be downloaded for free from the web, often in a free subscription form so that the latest episodes are always at hand for you. Podcasts exist in audio or audio-visual format. Podcasts can be professional or homemade. Podcasts can be seen / listened to on the PC, the TV (when it is connected to the Internet) or in systems like Ipod or other MP3 players.

Podcasts can contain short songs, films, stories and more. Today you can find great variety of Podcasts in English. In German more and more material is available, and also in Spanish, although here the selection is still limited.

A great variety of Podcasts can be obtained on pages like Apple iTunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes/), Podomatic (http://www.podomatic.com/directory), or Digital Podcast (http://www.digitalpodcast.com). A quite complete vision of directories and finders of Podcast is in http://www.masternewmedia.org/podcast_directory/.  A good catalog in German is http://www.podcast.de/kategorien/. ITunes offers the possibility of locating Podcasts that are not in its directory if you have the URL available (see http://www.apple.com/itunes/pocast/).

For kids there are interesting Podcasts which support the education of a second language at an early age. This holds especially true when obtaining materials in the second language becomes difficult in the country where you live. Older children can experiment making their owns Podcasts. Pages like http://www.kid-cast.com or http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/ict/podcasting.htm offers information of how you can make Podcasts or where you can publish them.

Here are the favourite Podcasts of Raising Bilingual Children:

Podcast for children in Spanish:

Cody`s Cuentos

Podcast para niños hispano hablantes

Mi podcast en español para los niños de Kindergarten

Mama Lila y sus Tesoros

WCPS Spanish

Podcast for children in English:

Sesame Street Podcast

NickJr Blue Clues

Children´s fun storytime

Storynory.com

Podcast for children in German:

Sendung mit der Maus

Der Hoerstern Podcast

Grimms Märchen

Wissen macht Ah!

If you know other Pod Cast, we would like to know about them.

Bilingual children are in contact with a second language from an early age and are developing more or less parallel both languages. When reaching an adult age a child which was educated bilingually has the capacity to dominate both languages. But not only bilingual children can take advantages from the early learning of a second language. Children who do not have a real tie with a foreign language can also from early on take advantage of learning a second language.

The following are some recommendations to begin the education of a second language at an early age:

1. Do not create false expectations

The children who are in contact with a second language, without the intensity of a truly bilingual education, cannot reach results as bilingual children. Parents must be clear and not foster false illusions, like for example thinking that the children with a few hours of English a week will be able to speak this language in a fluid way.

2. A second language is best learned in close contact with a native speaker

For a successful apprehension of a second language at an early age it is most important that there is a direct contact to a native speaker. Such contact can be through the family, the Day-care center, a nanny or a private teacher. Studies have demonstrated that a child needs an affective direct bonding with the language to learn.

3. Take advantage of varied materials to intensify and to motivate the learning

There are a variety of products in the market like books, CDs, DVDs, and games that have been conceived for learning of a second language. Also there exist many other products that can be used to accustom a child to a second language, without being explicitly being created for this purpose, such as children’s songs, audio stories, DVDs (why not check out if the favourite DVD of your children have other languages as well – this works particularly well as the child knows already). All these materials are ideal to wake and to maintain the interest of the child for a language; they reinforce the learning in a playful way.

4. Start as soon as possible

The best moment to start is before the child begins to speak. In this way, the child has the possibility to hear the second language and its rhythms for a long period of time, like a bilingual child before they can start to speak. In nonbilingual children this can be obtained through materials like CDs of rhymes and songs or with the support of mixed-language children groups, nannies, etc..

5. Do not interfere directly

Do not commit the error to want to teach the second language, unless you dominate it perfectly. It is of most importance that the parents do not commit the error to speak to their children a little bit in the second language, as this only confuses the child, and – unless you are really perfect in that language – you will pass on the errors in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation

6. Do not press your children too much

Do not force your child too much, as such pressure will only lead for your child to reject the second language. Children pick up languages in a playful way.

7. Be consistent

The impulses for a second language must be consistent and in a constant fashion since children learn fast but they also forget very quickly. The second language must be present in the routine of a child in the same form in which it accompanies bilingual children.

A trip to the foreign country, a language course, classes in school or a cultural or school interchange can activate the passive vocabulary that the child has acquired through the years. If the second language is English, is very probable that it is taught from early age on in school, which complements the effort that the parents are doing to bring to a child a second language.

Recommendations of various materials to stimulate the learning of languages

The following are some personal recommendations of different materials which can be used for the learning of a second language at an early age:

Between 0 to 3 years: CDs of children’s music and rhymes are excellent allies. Small babies and children thus learn from them melody and the real speed and rhythm of the language. There are some DVDs for babies. Bilingual games for babies exist in great variety, for example the ones produced by CHICCO and V-TECH. Books with CDs are a good alternative, books of images are good if you have a native speaker to read them.

Between 3 to 6 years: The children can continue to listen to CDs and complement this with DVDs of films. “DORA” and “DIEGO GO” are excellent alternatives for the learning of English. Short stories are good if you have the suitable person to read them. At this age it is possible to begin with children computers – V-TECH has a great variety. We also recommended in this age games where short words and phrases are learned like “Memory”.

Between 6 to 9 years: CDs and DVDs must stay. A good tip is to see the older “DORA” or “DIEGO GO” Films completely in English where they can recognize some words in the other language. Children computers and PC games are excellent allies to learn the ABC and to gain more vocabulary, as well as certain games. Bilingual books with accompanying CDs are excellent allies to teach the reading.

Between 9 to 12 years: Books, computer games and DVDs can make wonders here. Games of Karaoke also can be very useful. If a child is already capable of reading in the second language this is a great way to expand grammar and vocabulary.

Do not forget to check out our store where you can find a great selection of products for the learning of languages (http://raising-bilingual-children.com/shop/). You will find products categorized by ages (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12) and by medium: bilingual books, CDs, DVDs, games, products.

YouTube offers an excellent compilation of materials in audio-visual format that can be used successfully in bilingual education, especially when in the country of residence of a bilingual family there is a lack of access to products in the second language.

In my search for interesting materials to reinforce the languages of my children, who grow up in three languages (Spanish, English German), I have resorted many times to YouTube. Some times we looked for children’s songs, other times for information on a variety of subjects and also for traditional children films. My children enjoy Youtube and I have one more support tool for having them listen to language.

It is for this reason that we want to make you aware of the information compiled through our YouTube channel. In our channel we have included interesting shorts on bilingual education, bilingual children and bilingual families, children’s songs and other videos that could be of interest.

This it is only the beginning. We wish that this channel grows with the support of all. So send us a link to your favourite videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/raisingbilingualchil