Top Ten Obstacles to learning Foreign Languages, #8 and #7

Flip Flop Spanish will be counting down this week with the top ten obstacles (and solutions!) to learning Spanish (or any foreign language.)
Today we are on #8 Finding Time, and #7 GRAMMAR!

Finding time for Family Spanish with Flip Flop Spanish#8 Finding time to practice
This is a real problem. Since no one is checking in on your second language acquisition, it often falls to the bottom floor -even the basement - of the priority sky scraper we all are managing. Here are three ways to manage it:

First: Do it FIRST! Begin the day with your foreign language - it’s a great warm up, short lesson, and can be finished in 15 minutes (for the younger set) to create momentum for the rest of the day. If you got the Spanish Fun Activity Calendar from the live video link, then you don’t even have to find the book - just walk over to the calendar on your wall!

Second: Do it in conjunction with something you ALREADY do. You’re going to eat. Like, EVERY single day! So, keep your flash cards in the silver ware drawer. Go over them while the children are having lunch, or snacks. - It’s ok - the jelly wipes off pretty well. And if not, just think of it as patina.

Third: Do it in conjunction with a PLACE- if you have lots of trips to sports locales, parks, waiting rooms for therapies, or any where else - you can practice in the car, or even in the parking lot - waiting room schooling, clinic schooling, piano lessons schooling. Before or after you arrive is a great way to trigger your memory. My children STILL break into Spanish only when we arrive at a park of any kind.


How do we handle grammar with foreign language?#7 What about grammar?
This is important. Very very few analytical minds do well with language absorption when we discuss grammar on he front end. Learning about how it looks, or how woads are spelled is NOT a benefit, and creates on obstacle fairly quickly. Yes, you can overcome it, but why present it? SO! Begin with words and phrases that you and your children can build on. I recommend not diving into grammar in ANY foreign language until you have a good amount of exposure - at least ten hours of practice (about 3 to 4 weeks, typically.) Please remember that you learned your first language without knowing a stitch of grammar. In my products we cover grammar as needed - when the “why” questions arise, you have the egg head there to give you the technical details. YOU then decide if that info is beneficial to your children who are learning with you.


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