Spanish For Kids

Spanish for kids describes language courses designed to teach children Spanish in a fun and easy way. It doesn't go into grammar and syntax in a direct manner. Children, like most adults, would become bored in no time at all if they had to laboriously conjugate regular and irregular Spanish verbs. Spanish for kids avoids all that, but still manages to teach the kids the basics too.

Children learn fast. The younger a child is when they are first exposed to another language, the sooner they will learn it. A five-year-old could learn pretty good Spanish in a matter of a few months, while a 12-year-old might take more than six months. It depends too on their exposure. If they only hear Spanish in school, but not at home, they will take longer to learn.

Children take to Spanish very quickly. They soon discover that Spanish for kids shows them Español es un lenguaje fonético y la pronunciación es muy clara. Unlike English where the ending, "ough" for example, can be pronounced at least half a dozen different ays, in Spanish the pronunciation is clear, straightforward and phonetic.

In general, the second to last syllable is where the emphasis goes, unless the word has a letter with an accent on it. The word, "farmacia" has the emphasis on the second "a" as there is no accented letter. The word, "problema" has its emphasis on the letter "e."

But when there is an accented letter, it gets even easier. You simply place the emphasis of the word on that letter. For example, "fútbol" is that ever-popular ball game, or soccer, as it is known in the USA. The emphasis is naturally on the emphasized letter "u," and sounds more or less the same as the word in English. Another example is the word for "plastic" that is spelt as "plástica." Without the accented first "a" it would be pronounced as "plastEEca."

Spanish for kids should be fun, and it certainly can be too. Remember, it won't have been too long ago that they started to learn English. This is why they can adapt so fast; they are still learning so much every day that another language is something they take in their stride without batting an eyelid.

If you are teaching a child who cannot read yet, then you should make them use all their senses, if possible, to learn the language. Computers are great for this in many ways as they can see diagrams and animations as well as hearing the language. Employ the family pet too. They will be amused to call the dog "un perro," or the cat "un gato."

Of course, they will need to get the genders right too! If the dog and cat are female, then they will become "una perra" and "una gata" respectively.

In general, the younger the child is when they start learning Spanish the sooner they will master it. If you make the learning fun they will not see it as a boring chore every day. Also, teach them useful phrases, such as, "may I have a glass of milk?" (¿Puede darme un vaso de leche?), and start using them in every day speech. They will take to it naturally. Spanish for kids can be easy and fun too.