Look everyone! a whole new topic on this

[marsup]

I only just spotted that this was here! Thanks AussieSimn and Mumsnet.

marsup - Yes, it's great, isn't it?!!!

Does anyone have experience of introducing a foreign language to their children when they don't speak it themselves? My ds (aged 10 and currently in Year 5) is interested in learning French and is likely to learn it in secondary school along with his current Welsh and English. I wasn't exactly an A student in French (I failed the O'level 3 times!) and dh is worse than me! A teenage girl living locally speaks French fluently. Would it be sensible for me to approach her and ask if she'd be interested in teaching ds and dd (9) during the summer hols when she hasn't the pressures of school? I know that she has done something similar previously. Any advice, anyone? We have, btw, holidayed in France several times and that's where ds' interest stems from.

Hi Tiamaria - I don't have much experience of this but IMO if your kids are interested and you put some effort into supporting them they can do quite a bit. I'd say definitely ask the tirl locally if she'd do a few hours with them during the hols, but in case she feels a bit intimidated you could say you are going to buy some 'support' stuff. Do you have a dvd player? French video cassettes don't work on UK players (they come out b+w) but dvds do (apparently, I don't even have one myself yet!) and you could order some from Amazon.fr. Maybe get a French version of something the kids already like and know, then they can listen to it with your teenage neighbour and learn bits. This might be easier than getting her to do full 'lessons', unless she is very confident about that. Just a suggestion, anyway!

I'm learning Italian with my dd (13) using the michel thomas course on CD. We haven't actually started yet though, but I'll be interested to see how she gets on with it and whether she finds it easier/more effective than traditional classroom teaching methods.

Sounds like a great idea to get the French-speaking teenager on board though!

marsup and spacemonkey - Thanks for your posts. We do plan to get a dvd player fairly soon and I'll take a look at Amazon.fr and other French learning websites and info. I'll have a chat with ds and dd and we'll look at the options together. Thanks for your help!

We're learning Spanish as a family using Muzzy (my kids are 4, 2 and 6 months) which is proving to work really well for us and also with Bear In The Big Blue House in Spanish!

We're planning 3 months of study abroad (Guatemala) next spring which is very lucky for us, as it will be pretty much total immersion for all of us.

Check your own DVDs subtitles/language options. A lot of DVDs have a huge range of alternative languages, and it helps to see something that you already know! We discovered we could watch Toy Story in Greek and now inflict it on DSs when we can get away with it

At what age should a child start to learn a second language. I am British but my husband speaks English, Arabic and French and although our daughter can count to 10 in English and Arabic at what age should he start to speak to her in Arabic for her to learn. She is almost 3.

NOW!!!
sorry, as seen in other threads I am desparate for dh to talk in his ownlanguage to ds (nearly 4)and dd.If your DH speaks Arabic start now!