"If nothing else, my daughters will have received Italian as a gift from me"

The 5 Questions: How do you inspire your children to learn another language?

Profile: Gianett and daughters Laeticia (7) and Giuliana (4)

Location: New Jersey

Language learned at home: Italian

What are your favorite activities that help your daughters learn Italian?

Reading and playing games. All types of games, board games, cards,… I read many books, when the book is in English I translate it into Italian while reading to my daughters. I grew up in California and we were speaking Italian at home. I would like to provide the same language-learning environment to my children.

What are helpful resources you use?

Italian DVDs make it fun for Laeticia and Giuliana. “La Isola Perduta” is a DVD they like, as well as Beauty and the Beast in Italian.

What is your #1 challenge? How do you try to overcome it?

We live in New Jersey and Laeticia goes to 1^st grade here, English-only school. So at times she would want to answer in English. I just stay strong and focused, and ask her to answer in Italian. Some parents feel like answering in English and give up, especially when other people are around. I talk to my daughters in Italian, and expect them to answer in Italian. If other people are around, I translate into English right away, so that guests or friends do not feel excluded.

Any piece of advice you have for other parents?

Make it fun and persevere. Keep the focus until your child is 6 years old. If you succeed in creating a bilingual environment until age 6, your child will continue to answer in the language you want to teach. I see that from Laeticia, and also from my experience seeing other children grow up (note: Gianett has a masters in early education and was among other things an American English teacher in Paris).

What keeps you going?

A language is a wonderful thing to share. If nothing else, my daughters will have received Italian as a gift from me.

My husband is French and communicates in French with Laeticia and Giuliana. It is key for us to maintain our home languages so that our daughters have their own personal relationship with their grandparents.

I also believe that it helps Laeticia and Giuliana be open-minded. Speaking several languages will open up a world of opportunities.

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Princesses Learn Chinese exposes children to their first Mandarin Chinese words and expressions, through stories, games and songs.

Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are the first books in the collection. The application is free, and the 1^st book is free. It is available on both iPad and iPhone

What makes Princesses Learn Chinese different?

#1 We believe in a story-based approach: helping children understand Chinese expressions in the context of a story

-        Discover new Mandarin Chinese words, integrated in timeless tales. Tales are in English, with a new Chinese word or expression on each page

-        Listen to high quality narration by professional narrators

-        Enjoy classical music (Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty,…) by Tchaikovsky and other famous composers 

-        Associate images to Chinese characters and their pronunciation

-        Practice repeating the Chinese words on each page with the help of a Princess

#2 We believe that learning should be fun. Games and songs help reinforce the learning

-        Memory game: Exercise your memory and associate Chinese characters with their pronunciation

-        Bingo game: Listen to a word and find the right image and character

-        Sticker game: Put stickers to the right location and listen to its pronunciation

-        Color a picture while learning about the different colors in Chinese

-        Sing a song in Chinese and tap onto musical buttons to listen to different parts of the song

New stories are added on a regular basis. Open the app to see which new story is added to the Princess Library.

Website: www.princesseslearnchinese.com

Send us your feedback, it will help us improve.

Enjoy discovering Chinese with the Princesses!

"One of the best presents a parent can make is the gift of a language"

The 5 Questions: How do you inspire your child to learn a new language?

Profile: Marcelo and sons Marcelo, Mateo, Nicholas

Location: Madrid

Marcelo, Mateo and Nicholas’ native language: Spanish

Language they learn: English

What is your favorite activity that helps your sons learn English when you were in Madrid?

My wife Sonia and I are both native Spanish speakers. My parents taught me English early on. So I decided even before little Marcelo was born that I would only speak in English to him, and Sonia in Spanish. One of my favorite activities is reading before bedtime.

What is a helpful tool you use?

We had cable TV in Madrid. You are actually able to change the setting of cable TV, so that the default language becomes English instead of Spanish. This allowed the kids to watch Disney Channel or Nickelodeon exclusively in English. It helped develop their hearing and vocabulary in English. I would also buy books and DVDs each time I was traveling to England.

What is your #1 challenge?

I was very strict with myself to only speak in English with the kids, and Sonia would speak in Spanish. In a public setting, it felt awkward at the beginning. I’m Spanish speaking, people know that, and here I go speaking in English to the kids. However, I believe that one of the best presents a parent can make to the children is the gift of a language. So I just stuck with it.

What helps in overcoming this challenge?

I asked my family (brother, sister, my father, etc.) to help me in speaking in English with the kids. The support of my family helped me in being perseverant.

Any tip or advice you have for other parents?

Because our sons learned two languages at the same time, it took the kids a little longer to make full sentences when they learned how to speak. Some parents are concerned about it and give up. Don’t give up.

Also, creating a fun environment, associating the language they learn with fun, helps a lot (play dates with English-speaking kids, doing fun activities together in English).

We now moved to the US and the kids are going to school here. So I now have to find a solution to the reverse problem: how do I make sure that the kids keep their level of Spanish?