A Foreign Language Plan for Upper Elementary Students

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

13 Aug 2007 06:03 AM

Awhile ago, I wrote about why I believe that teaching foreign languages to young students is over rated. It's quite hard to teach your child a foreign language if you don't speak it yourself. Consequently, I do not advise parents to spend an arm and a leg on a foreign language curriculum in the early elementary grades. You will find that it does very little, if any good towards producing a child that can speak the foreign tongue. Exposure on the other hand is never a bad thing.

I do feel like I need to make the point that I am assuming the home schooling parent in question does not have experience in the target language. After my last article someone asked me if I teach my own young children foreign language and indeed I do. The key difference however, is that I speak the target language I'm teaching. I follow this basic pattern that I've outlined here, but I include more opportunities for speaking and response and I use the vocabulary we are working on throughout the day in natural situations.

In the early grades, I mentioned that the focus is all about exposure rather than learning to speak. Any phrases that you teach in the early grades have to be phrases which your child would regularly use in English as well. The idea that the world is bigger than one's own immediate surroundings is key in teaching foreign languages and is a good building block to start with.

Starting in about 4th grade however, the focus can change provided that a couple of conditions are met:

1) The student is interested in learning the foreign language. Many parents force their kids to take Spanish early on, explaining that it is practical. This will do little more than kill the desire to learn the language because 4th graders have no need for practical yet.

2) Learning is still not completely structured but rather centered on learning the child's own environment.

Assuming however, that your child has interest in learning the language, this is a good time to start working towards a conversation. You can break learning down in this way:

Key Phrases

Things like introducing yourself, and asking and answering basic questions should be worked on here.

Expanding vocabulary naturally

Personally, I still think it is too early to have kids memorize vocabulary word upon vocabulary word. Rather try learning one verb a week with appropriate nouns. Focus on one type of activity or space per week. For example, if you want to focus on sports for the week a verb you might use would be 'jugar' which is Spanish for 'to play'. Teach your student how to conjugate it, and then work on appropriate nouns or phrases that go with 'jugar'. And where do you find all this out? You can look online and you can also look in the foreign language section of your Barnes and Noble. Steer clear of really expensive packages but something as simple as 'Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day' would be just fine.

So when should you spend the big bucks on a foreign language curriculum? No earlier than 7th grade. By this time, the student should be writing fluently (and well) in his or her own language. Hopefully too, you've been building a foundation that foreign language study is important to communicate with the world around us and is a necessary and valuable skill.

Related Articles:

Teaching Foreign Languages: What the Research Really Says

Teaching Foreign Languages: Intro

Creeping Doubts: Missing Something?

Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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carol pitts (168) 13 Aug 2007 11:35 AM

I have three spanish speaking friends that have children.one has spoken to her children from birth both english and spanish.at home they speak spanish.the other two only speak spanish when they do not want the kids to know what they are saying.now they wish they would have started at birth.My neice is from the philippines and is teaching her son both languages from birth.I do the same with signing.if you know the language start at birth.if they can speak it they can write it.

Valorie Delp (49340) 13 Aug 2007 12:17 PM

That has been my point all along and I mentioned that more than once in my original articles. i too have spoken Spanish to my children from birth and they are surrounded by the language in the neighborhood. This blog is really for parents whose states either require them to teach a foreign language as part of their homeschooling plan or they want to, but don't speak the target language. This is NOT a blog for someone who is already fluent in a language. Then of course, the best thing to do would be just to talk in that language to your child.

Nola Redd (7081) 13 Aug 2007 09:00 PM

When I was in college, one of my best tools was the television. Of course, my Spanish-speaking friends were the best tools. My kids have picked up their spanish thus far from Dora - not ideal, but I have been amazed at what they have learned in a show I chose primarily for education. Several of our DVDs have an option to listen in Spanish, and I think I'm going to make use of that option to expose them; then later, as you said, they can learn. If nothing else, it will give me a break from hearing the same movies over and over in English! LOL Great blog, Valorie!

Valorie Delp (49340) 14 Aug 2007 03:14 AM

Yes. . .I let my kids watch cartoons in Spanish as well. Since we live in New York City, we get many Spanish channels so just about anything we want to watch is in Spanish. It really helps them get the flow of the language. In order to become fluent in my languages, I used to watch news broad casts in the target language to learn to speak better and improve my vocabulary. Excellent tip Nola!

Andrea Hermitt (5512) 14 Aug 2007 05:35 AM

I miss living in New York! I grew up watching Telemundo! I may not be able to speak spanish, but I understand what Spanish people are saying. My next door neighbor from Dominican Republic is improving her English by watching the news.

Valorie Delp (49340) 14 Aug 2007 07:05 AM

LOL My son totally knows soccer vocabulary from watching soccer on Telemundo! Living here definitely has its advantages that's for sure!