Tip: Learn a foreign language while shopping.

When my daughter was young, we wanted her to be bilingual.  Knowing two languages, we felt, was not only a great way to understand another culture but would allow her to communicate when we traveled.  One of the hardest things to do is engage a child through book work, especially when the work is something that should be done by reading and speaking. We chose to hire a native Spanish speaker to do outside adventures with. She went shopping and to restaurants with her tutor. Both to the mall and to the grocery stores. We added in authentic Mexican restaurants where they primarily spoke Spanish so that she could have the chance to order and communicate with the staff, with the help of her tutor. Today she will tell you that those experiences where what solidified her ability to speak Spanish. She learned the appropriate dialect and day-to-day communication.  While an abroad immersion program would be an wonderful opportunity, it is not always feasible, especially for a young student. 


The tutor we hired was not a certified teacher. She was a young lady from Mexico who was in the US as a student. It gave her tutor the opportunity to learn English as well. A win-win. The biggest bonus of this method is that my daughter learned the accent at an early age and became comfortable speaking another language with others. I noticed that was the biggest complaints of language students, they are too embarrassed to speak because they have only done it in class. Today, my daughter and her tutor have remained friends, bonding over their shopping journeys.

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