I just read an interesting article about using theater or drama in the foreign language classroom. Here is an excerpt:
Drama and languages have much in common. As curricular areas, both need their learners to be active, expressive and communicative participants. Using our strategies to teach the four skills of language helps learners to learn the mechanics, but using drama helps them to experience the language.

I thought these lines express the advantages very well. Our products such as “Mighty Mini-Plays” (French, German and Spanish) and “Skinny Skits” (French and Spanish” are grabbed up by teachers frustrated by the lack of theater pieces they can use for their students. One can use simulated conversations as well, but there is something different about performing a play in front of classmates, or for parents.

Any comments from teachers out there?

Exhibiting this week at a military conference. It has been interesting to see where there is the most interest. Foreign films are clearly # 1 – for maintainging and improving proficiency, especially for colloquial vocabulary, and for learning more about the culture. That interest was not surprising. What did surprise me was the interest in foreign language editions of classic comics – Spiderman, Batman, GI Joe, etc. I am now researching foreign language editions – look for them soon on our website at www.wor.com – if you know of any – especially for tough to find languages – Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, Serbian, etc. – let me know!

I read an article in the Wall St. Journal yesterday about Rosetta Stone’s new Totale online subscription. If it was not expensive enough to spend several hundreds dollars for their program, they are charging $999 to access this online program for just one year, then it is finished. I refuse to sell Rosetta Stone, because of its price (and because of the fact that several years ago, a vice president with the publisher told me if I could not be 100% positive about the product, he did not want me to sell it. I replied that I was not 100% about any product – they all have weaknesses, and because I want to be honest about what I sell, I took it off my website that day!)

This is the email I sent to the WSJ this morning:

As a businesswoman selling foreign language resources since 1989, and one who refuses to sell Rosetta Stone because of its price, I felt compelled to email re the article by Katherine Boehret. There are SO many alternatives to paying $999 for one year for their program, I was surprised by the emphasis only on this product and no mention of other products. I personally recommend Learn to Speak French Deluxe 9.0 for adults who want to learn a language – $34.95 – with 30 topics, videos of native speakers that one can converse with using their speech recognition, etc. Instant Immersion French Deluxe – $45.00 – hours and hours of varied activities, etc.
Then one can purchase dvds of French films to practice comprehension and learn about the culture and the slang, the way the language is really spoken. You can then buy books to read to further your vocabulary. Upshot?
2 software programs – $80.00
4 French films on dvd – ~$100.00
5 books to read – ~$50.00
You could buy a dictionary, audio cds for the car, etc. and STILL pay less than $999.00.

There are SO many online groups one can chat with, for free too – why would anyone pay $999 and then lose the access after one year?

Forgive my rant, but so many people call me, looking for programs and disappointed at what they got after buying Rosetta Stone. They felt, with all the publicity and marketing Rosetta Stone pays for, that it must be the best out there and did not realize all the alternative programs. When I see free publicity like that article, it makes me aggravated.

I feel so much better now that I have gotten that out. In these tough economic times, value is important.

Well, Entre les Murs (The Class is the English title) was finally released on dvd this week.
http://www.wor.com/pd-entre-les-murs—the-class—dvd.cfm
I watched it the other night with our 15 year old and 20 year old son. At first, we all really enjoyed it. If you had muted the sound, you might have thought this was a typical American classroom, some white students, some black students, even a couple of Asian students. However, with the sound, you discover most of the black students are immigrants from Africa. Unlike many Hispanic students in the U.S., they all spoke fluent French. However, many of their parents could not read the notes sent home by the teacher. It was interesting to see how the different teachers viewed these students and how the main teacher, François, interacted with his class.

However, after an hour, we all got a little bored with the film. There is no real plot, it is definitely more of a documentary. While I think it is a great film to show in many high schools (but it is rated PG-13 because of bad language), I would show maybe half of it, not the entire film. I also think for advanced classes – French IV and AP – have them read the book first – then they should appreciate the film even more. http://www.wor.com/pd-entre-les-murs.cfm

I would definitely like to hear what others think of the film!

I exhibited at the national TPRS conference in San Antonio, Texas last week. What is TPRS, you ask?

TPR Storytelling is a method for teaching foreign languages that was invented by Blaine Ray, a Spanish teacher in Bakersfield, California, in 1990. Concerned that his students were disinterested in the unexciting process of learning a language from a textbook, he began to use James Asher’s Total Physical Response to teach Spanish. Asher says that students acquire their second languages as they acquired their first languages. Our students learn as babies learn. Therefore, we should not expect them to produce the language before they have had an ample amount of time to listen to it. Blaine experienced great success, and the students began to be excited about his class. Although TPR has been the most effective method for acquiring a second language since it was invented in the 1960s, Blaine found that after hitting the “TPR wall,” he was unsure of what to do to move from the imperative to the narrative and descriptive modes of speech. He found that changing from commands to the third person singular allowed him to tell stories, a long-term memory technique. He found that asking the students to act out the parts of the characters in the stories preserved the highly effective physical element that had been so powerful in Classical TPR. As the technique was developed over the years, it became an all-encompassing method and methodology. The method combines Dr. James Asher’s Total Physical Response (TPR) with Dr. Stephen Krashen’s language acquisition strategies, allowing us to teach grammar, reading and writing along with vocabulary.

Teachers experience the role of their students by signing up to learn Chinese or Russian during the conference. It is fun to see how much they can learn in just a few days, using this methodology. We were there with all our readers in a variety of languages!

I am pleased to announce that World of Reading is now an approved vendor for the RIF – Reading is Fundamental Program. Here is a little information about them, for those who do not know the program:

Founded in 1966, RIF is the oldest and largest children’s and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year.

All RIF programs combine three essential elements to foster children’s literacy: reading motivation, family and community involvement, and the excitement of choosing free books to keep.

Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8.

Supported by the U.S. Department of Education, corporations, foundations, community organizations, and individuals, RIF has provided more than 350 million books since 1966 for children to choose and keep.

RIF serves children and families in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories in programs that operate in schools, libraries, community centers, childcare centers, Head Start and Even Start centers, hospitals, migrant worker camps, homeless shelters, and detention centers. Today, thanks to public-private partnerships, RIF is the nation’s largest nonprofit children’s and family literacy organization.

We have designated which books on our website are eligible for RIF, basically those readers which are $7.00 or less. If you have any questions, let us know!

After a shocking and scathing editorial in our local paper in Atlanta, I feel very defensive about the importance of taking French. This uninformed man was up in arms that his child only had the option of taking French or Spanish in high school, because he wanted him to be able to study German. While I strongly agree that schools here in Georgia should offer more choices than just French or Spanish, that does not mean French is not worth studying.

As the rap of the same name as the title of this blog entry by the well-known Etienne puts it,
Over 200 million people speak French in this world, in more than 50 different countries. French is the official language of UN and NATO, The Red Cross, The Olympics, and UNESCO.

From a local perspective, in 2006, more than 50 French companies operated in metro Atlanta alone, employing over 5,600 people. There are approximately 60 Atlanta companies operating with subsidiaries in France. In competing for a job in the U.S., you will compete against far fewer native French speakers than Spanish speakers in looking at marketable skills.

It just amazed me that in this day and age, someone could not understand the importance of French.

A lot of homeschoolers ask me which foreign language they should first teach their child (children). If your children are young (as in 6 or younger) – I would make this recommendation. If there is a language which you know well, then obviously start with that language. If your family heritage is Russian, and you are planning a trip in a year or two, learn Russian with your children. Even if you don’t speak the language, you can learn with your children by watching a dvd together (such as Bilingual Baby in Russian) or listening to an audio CD (Teach Me Russian) or doing a software program together (Vocabulary Builder Russian). I guarantee your child will learn faster than you, though! If there is no connection to another language, you can either start with a more difficult language, such as Chinese or Arabic – making your child quite marketable when they are older, or an easy language such as Spanish – plenty of materials available and native speakers with whom to practice.

If you never thought of teaching a foreign language before and your child is still in elementary school – see the above. If they are in middle to high school, Latin is a good choice for a year or two. In my opinion, the benefits of Latin to everyone are to strengthen their knowledge of the English language in terms of both vocabulary and grammar and to help in preparation for tests such as the SAT. I think Latin is better taught in middle and high school than to elementary school students, and would welcome a discussion on that subject.

However, you still need to study a spoken language that is used today to communicate. Speaking properly in another language becomes harder and harder the older you become. You need materials – whether audio, video or software where you can hear pronunciation by native speakers.

Going out for Mexican food for dinner last night inspired me to write this article.

Whatever language your child (or YOU!) is studying (except Latin) – try to find an opportunity to use it in the community at least once a month. You don’t have to be able to afford a trip overseas. Just find an ethnic restaurant!

Spanish is pretty easy – Mexican, Cuban, etc. restaurants or grocery stores. Chinese is the same – find instances where your children can actually practice some of what they have learned. This practical use is one of the reasons I look for curriculum to sell that teaches the language that you can actually use in the real world. Being able to put that studying to practical use helps give you an incentive to learn more.

I remember studying Spanish for 3 years in middle and high school before we went on vacation to Mexico. Being a teenager, I thought I knew it ALL and was totally fluent. I told my parents that I would translate for them since they could not speak Spanish. They were wise enough to reserve comment until we got there!
I still vividly remember my first attempt to use my Spanish. I could speak well, but had NO IDEA of what the person had said back to me. They spoke extremely fast and used “conversational” Spanish, while I had learned “proper” Spanish. That is when I realized I still had a lot to learn and wanted to work on being able to understand Spanish. This is why I now recommend buying software that teaches more than “basic” vocabulary and as much as possible, watching movies in the language, so you become accustomed to different accents and slang expressions. Watching movies with English subtitles may not give you the “exact” translations of what is being said (subtitles often leave a lot to be desired), but it will help your oral comprehension and once your fluency increases, watch a French film with FRENCH subtitles, so you know exactly what is being said.

Many people know about “The Pimsleur Method” and Dr. Paul Pimsleur’s famous audio CDs. I met his daughter, Julia Pimsleur Levine. She felt there was a need for a GOOD dvd approach to teaching young children (ages 0-5) a second language. This is an immersion approach, with no English in the DVDs. We have added them – the set of 3 dvds come in French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew and English. We have even added a sample video with the description, so you can see how it is structured before you buy. Tell us what you think!

Here is a little more about the methodology behind the dvds:
Julia was inspired by her own bilingual childhood: she is the daughter of Dr. Paul Pimsleur, who pioneered the international best-selling foreign language audio teaching method. In determining how best to approach creating effective materials for kids, she immersed herself in the latest scientific research regarding language acquisition and brain development, her own experience as a teacher, and background in filmmaking.

The Little Pim method uses entertainment and immersion, and engages with a child’s natural love of repetition. Children get very attached to the lovable cartoon panda bear, Little Pim, who is the series “teacher.” He invites young viewers to join him in his playful antics as they learn the language along real children enjoying everyday activities, such as playing, eating, waking and napping.

The entire DVD has language spoken by native speakers, and words are presented and repeated at regular intervals. Each Little Pim DVD focuses on sixty words and phrases typically acquired in a toddler’s primary language, providing the essential building blocks for language acquisition.

Little Pim DVDs are designed and paced for developing minds. Young children respond enthusiastically to Little Pim’s format, a combination of animation and live action. Babies respond to black and white, therefore the panda captures the attention of even the youngest viewers. Each 35-minute DVD is segmented into seven 5-minute episodes to accommodate a young child’s attention span and encourage pausing for parent interaction. Simple sentences are broken down into easy-to-understand parts, and reinforced through repetition. We encourage you to watch Little Pim with your little one and repeat the words together – it’s fun for kids and adults! The more you interact with the language, the easier the lessons become and the more your child will learn.