Language learning observations.

Latin's going well -- Prima Latina is just right for our family to get started with.  Our modern language, Spanish, isn't going quite as smoothly.  Note:  I'm not worried about it because I didn't want our study of Spanish to be "formal" until we're well into the Grammar stage.  Right now I mostly wanted the children to develop an ear for the language and learn to say a few things.  That's why I chose Phrase-a-Day Spanish, because it's an audio course, because it's short and simple, and because it familiarizes the child with everyday utterances.

Prima Latina is the traditional, "formal" type of study.  It uses a workbook, vocabulary drill, grammar rules.  ("Habito.  I live in.  Habito.  Specto.  I look at.  Specto.  Judico.  I judge.  Judico.")  Phrase-a-Day, on the other hand, is casual, no drill, no-grammar, just a whole phrase presented along with a picture to color while listening to it.  ("Tengo calor.  Salgo para afuera."  Picture of an electric fan blowing and a child headed out the door.)  When I chose these, my thought was that it would be okay to use the formal study method with Latin, since we were using it more as a thing to exercise our brains on and a method of learning grammar, and since it wasn't a language we needed to, you know, speak with native speakers or anything.  So it wouldn't hurt to use the formal method, even with our kids this young. 

But you know what?  It's the Latin that I hear Oscar trying to use and speak and form new sentences in, not the Spanish.   (And we've been doing Spanish for twice as long as we've been doing Prima Latina.)   When we drive past a Catholic church he yells, "Salve, Deus!  Salve, Jesus!"  (And pronounces the latter Yay-zoose, by the way.)  He loves to recite the one prayer he's learned all the way through, the Sanctus.  He's been saying "Valete!" to random people we meet as we part.

I happen to be a big fan of formal, traditional, drill- and immersion-based styles of language learning.  I achieved a high fluency in French in high school thanks to my most excellent and very hardass French teacher, who would take "hardass" to be a complement, je pense que oui.  But somehow I didn't think that would hold true for little kids.

Anyway, I'm mostly going to stay the course with the Spanish, and introduce a formal course later on.  But I think I'm going to include some other ideas, too.   This week I purchased a copy of Oso pardo, oso pardo, que ves ahi? , a Spanish translation of Eric Carle's board book Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?  It involves various animals of various colors and is quite repetitive.  I started teaching the kids the individual words in the book (un oso means a bear, un pato means a duck, etc.)    When they've learned everything, I want to show them the book. 

Comments

[Christy P]

Ahhh, Latin. The frog in the water jar, Caesar's commentaries, so many words and idioms and situations that don't resonate with our culture, and yet so many of our words derive from there. I think that Oscar is ready for the super junior Junior Classical League (JCL). Have you found the Latin versions of Christmas carols (Tinniat, tinniat, tintinabulum. Labimur in glacie post mulum cultum -- google that and you will find it)? Probably if you find those then you will find other modern books translated into Latin, too. I know that there is a Winne Ille Pooh set at least.

[bearing]

Yes, some time ago I got _Cattus Pettasatus_ (sp?) from the library. It was really fun to read aloud but far beyond my ability at this point...

[4ddintx]

We love Prima Latina, as well. My 8yo started it last year, and now both 8 and 7yo say the table blessing in Latin. I also had an amazing German teacher in high school--here's to formal language learning and drill!