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FOR PARENTS
Language is a skill for life.
Language is the heart of communication.
Many links can be found between all of the world languages.
We can all learn something new everyday!
Read and enjoy …
Life is a journey of learning, and learning different languages teaches us more about other cultures than what you can read in information books. Even knowing a few words in a second language ensures that we then speak more clearly in our native tongue when meeting foreigners. Knowing a second language helps us to be a better person, and if more people took the time to learn a second or third language and absorb new cultures then this world would be a better place to live in.
People are continually learning and everyone learns languages through their daily activities and through schooling. The best way we learn, however, is when we enjoy things. Schools encourage students at the ages of five to eight to explore their learning through enjoyable activities. Unfortunately many teachers then start to treat students like mini-adults and fun class activities seem to decline.
When children are learning to read, we give them stories with wonderful imaginative tales and let them guess words from the illustrations. We encourage them to re-read stories. Yet when children learn a second language at school, the extent of vocabulary learnt and the number of class hours are like a brick wall and do not let them practise and look for new words in that second language.
Bilingual books give children an enjoyable way to read a story and children naturally absorb the relevant vocabulary in the second language. Just as pictures help the learner in their native tongue, the bilingual text helps the student understand new words and phrases. Reading is such an enjoyable way to learn outside of the classroom. After reading a bilingual story a number of times, a student would have markedly increased their vocabulary without even realising that they were studying!
Remember - Read and enjoy!
© Dana Skopal, OPAL AFFINITY BOOKS 2004
Opal Affinity Books - publishing bilingual books about Australia
A division of Japan Affinity Pty Limited
ACN 050 101 927 - AUSTRALIA
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