foreign language at what age? how many?

[mam29]

Always wondered what age is best.

There seems to be idea that in europe they start english earlier and easier to learn when they young yet in england most primarys do few token words but no formal lessons until year 7 age 11.

I have a 6year old , 3year old and 16month old?

what age is best?

my welsh is apalling and we live in england.
My french is o but could improve.
hubbys german equally as bad.

read some primaries teach english.

got spanish book from libary I dont speak spanish but heard its easiest

but also read some schools say latin helps with english.

is 6 to early to start with 1-2 guessing they wont be fluent but maybe provide building blocks to work on at secondry?

anyone recceomend good books/dvds teaching languages to kids?

Rubbish! Especially as so many schools in Europe don't actually START school until close to 7. Children from Germany/France/Austria/Denmark/Netherlands are certainly no more fluent in English than my 9 year old daughter is in their languages. We see this regularly as we travel with our daughter and she's in a group of children and no adults and they are forced to try and communicate with each other! Our friends who are Japanese also have children our kids age and they don't know English yet either. Literally nothing.
There are various theories to do with the way languages are taught; the part phonics has to play, etc.
Yes, we need to ensure our children learn other languages but it is not so simple as just teaching it rote to our 5 year olds.
(disclaimer: this is not applicable to those whose parents are bilingual or more as if you speak lots to a very young child, I have seen it work like osmosis!)

Best age is from birth, if possible.

And yes, whilst German or Dutch pupils start school later, their English at age 12/13 is IMO much better than an average English pupil's German or French.

But from birth is usually bilingualism from a parent speaking another language. It's not useful to OP. FWIW Hong Kong used to teach English as a second language from preschool, around 3 years old. So you can start early if you wish.

If you have three DCs, the best way to teach them a MFL would be to get an au pair from whichever country you are interested in and ask her to speak to them exclusively in her language. Plus holidays etc.

Bonsoir I would love an au pair but sadly way beyond our finances.

Both myself and husband regret our modern languages skills are so rubbish.

when I have ben on hols abroad-its been a while its so rewarding and very useful to speak a language.

Always remember honeymoon in paris us and small group english people on train platform desperatly trying to remember and speak french in order to get into paris. I surprised myself with how much i remembered.

We have a french freind with french kids locally
my cousins girllfreind french
I learned french.

hubby only knows german.

neither of us know spanish.
but my sister is practicaly fluent ad has degree in it.

both me and husband would love to learn latin.

french I guess would be easier for me
but spanish easier to learn and more widly spoken.

obviously they all different ages so would have to cater the learning for their age.

looked at muzzy
plus can get cartoons and films in different languages on you tube now.

I dont really anticipate getting them fluent

but thourght would provide building blocks for when they start secondry to hopefully be confident and choosing langauge as gcse or a level option.

Also spain/france doable on hols for them to put their new ability into action.

I guess english being our main language spoils us as we expect everyone else to learn.

remember being in israel and guide spoke 6different languages fluently cant work out hwo someone can do that its amazing.

Start now, with all of them. Bonsoir's au pair idea is great, but expensive.

Good idea to go with French, as its cheap(ish) and easy for holidays, and you already speak a bit. Check on Mumsnet for French-speaking playgroups near you. Are there any fun, nursery sort of classes you can find to do with them? Lot of singing, rhyming, counting, playing in the language with a native speaker. The best thing is to get them with a native speaker as much as possible.

Simple stuff like children's cartoons & tv in French, at a very basic level. Having the radio on in the background - in French. They won't understand it, but they'll be hearing the accent, and it may help.

Just keep it up - and make sure you're taking a French course, too! Then you'll all enjoy those holidays.

By the way, ANY modern foreign language will help with English, and bizarrely also with maths. Don't worry too much over which one. Also I'd say the beauty of them learning early is how well they pick up the accent, which isn't really an issue with Latin!

^looked at muzzy
plus can get cartoons and films in different languages on you tube now.

I dont really anticipate getting them fluent^

No idea what muzzy is, but wanted to say that you cannot pick up another language just from watching cartoons in it.

In Scotland, our pre-school kids have regular doses of Postman Pat and Fireman Sam in Gaelic, plus the Gaelic version of Playschool. They don't pick up any Gaelic - not one word.

I think any age really. But and it is a big but it really depends on the environment that your live in. If you and at least another person who you live with already speak the same second language then you can start from day one. So dcs can see and hear the language/s being used very frequently. Although myself and some of my friends can speak more than one language still we find very difficult to teach our children to speak a second language. This is due to the fact that everyone around us only speak English including our partners.

Like Cecily says you can't actually pick up a language watching tv. It's a well known fact because many parents have attempted to teach a second language from birth using a passive medium like CD or TV. They all fail. What we now know is that the learning has to be interactive. And probably very repetitive. It's like how many times have you told your LOs whos mummy? Or when he points to a car an you told him its a car?