Little Linguists, Inc.

There are many things that you can do as a parent or student to enhance foreign language acquisition at home and on the road.

 * Look at signs, labels and ATM machines for French and Spanish.  Repeat what the foreign words are and try to think about what they mean.

* Label your home in the target language using index cards;  everytime you pass the index card, look at the object and repeat the name.

* Purchase music in the target language and listen to it regularly.

*Select your target language on your DVDs and watch in your target language.

*Find your target language on your cable, satellite, or XM radio and listen and watch everyday for a short time.

*Change your computer settings to the target language.  You will be forced to learn :)

*Webkins now has the option to change languages.  On the top righthand corner of the Webkins page, you can choose your language!  Choose your target langauge for your child and let them learn while they have fun!

* Try out some new recipes in the target language;  translate the ingredients using www.wordreference.com

* Play "Uno" and other simple card games like "Go Fish" & "Bingo" in the target language practicing your colors and numbers.

* Play "Twister" calling out left, right and the color in the target language .

* Use our word of the day link to practice a new word in your target language everyday

 Having a Hard Time Deciding Which Language to Choose?  Perhaps this list compiled by Weber can help.  The results may surprise you!

After weighing six factors (number of primary speakers, number of secondary speakers, number and population of countries where used, number of major fields using the language internationally, economic power of countries using the languages, and socio-literary prestige), Weber compiled the following list of the world's ten most influential languages:

(number of points given in parentheses)

1. English (37)
2. French (23)
3. Spanish (20)
4. Russian (16)
5. Arabic (14)
6. Chinese (13)
7. German (12)
8. Japanese (10)
9. Portuguese (10)
10. Hindi/Urdu (9)

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