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Large Family Homeschool Life

Lifestyle of Learning – Foreign Language {and a Giveaway!}

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Homeschooling

Congratulations, Sherri Yoder! You’re the winner!

What is a Lifestyle of Learning? Read about our homeschooling philosophy and the other posts in this series HERE!

I remember the summer I picked up a Berlitz French book that had been on the family bookshelf for years.  I was 11.  I devoured that book.  I still remember several of the words I learned from that book, and the epiphany I had years later when I took Spanish and realized how very similar the romance languages are.  I honestly believe that book is what initially sparked my interest in languages and the etymology of words.

Fast forward to today.

My 9 year old daughter is doing the same thing!  This time the language is Spanish and it isn’t a book, but a calendar and a pack of flashcards that hold her interest.

I didn’t hand these items to Megan and tell her she had to learn them.  I simply made them available.  That’s the beauty of a Lifestyle of Learning!  You make the information readily available to your child and their love for learning takes over!

Megan latched onto the calendar and went straight to her bed to color the pictures and read the daily words for each month.  She spent countless hours up there on her bed drilling herself, learning more and more Spanish.  She did the same with the cards…drilling over and over.  I was shocked by how dedicated she was.

I was even more shocked by how much she learned.

I took 3 years of Spanish.  While it is quite true that what you do not use you lose, I still pride myself in remembering quite a bit of what I learned during those 3 years.  However, the other day I noticed a sign with a Spanish word on it that I did not know.  My daughter quickly piped up with the correct pronunciation and meaning of that word!

That’s the beauty of Flip Flop Spanish!  The pronunciations are right there.  The calendar is engaging and builds on each word learned so that at the end of the week you have a sentence you can say.  The flashcards are bright and cheery and easy to use.  They are both perfect for exposing children to a foreign language in a gentle, delight-directed way.

This is what we aim to do in our homeschool.  We first offer our children exposure to foreign languages via videos, books, friends, and products like the ones created by Senora Gose.  Later, we offer more formal training in foreign language.  Currently, our oldest is studying Latin.  This was of his choosing.  From there, we will move onto a modern language.  Because their love for learning is at a high level and because they have already been introduced to foreign languages, moving into formal study of those languages is not nearly as daunting as it would be to simply jump in and hope you and your children don’t end up hating it.

All that said, I am thrilled to be able to offer all of you a chance to win a Flip Flop Spanish Calendar and Flash Cards!
(and don’t miss the coupon code at the end of this post!)

Here’s how to enter to win: (remember to leave separate comments for each entry!)

*Leave a comment telling me if you ever took a foreign language class and what that language was. (yeah, I’m just nosey like that!)

*Join Flip Flop Spanish’s Facebook Page (she offers daily phrases with phonetics and translations)

*Tweet this giveaway

*Facebook this giveaway

*Blog this giveaway

And in case you are curious…

Senora Gose is a homeschool mom of 5!  She created these materials with the homeschooler in mind.

AND…

She has generously offered a coupon code to my readers for 20% off!  So, use the coupon code

AMIGOS

for anything on her site through Friday
(October 29th)

to receive 20% off your entire order!

Giveaway ends Thursday, October 28th at midnight CST.

Disclosure: I received free of charge the Flip Flop Spanish Combo Set which included the above mentioned products.

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This sale is limited to the first 250 sales and will end at 12 am EST
Click on the above link to learn more about the ebook
or read my post on camping out!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dawn @ Olive Plants says

    I took French in high school and majored in it for one year in college. That’s when I met my hubby who was a Spanish major, so I started taking Spanish classes. I don’t use either and have lost it. Except I did retain enough so that if I try to speak either, both languages muddle together. Hola, je vais muy bien, merci. lol

    Great giveaway. Thanks for the entry.

  2. Nancy says

    Hi, thank you for this great opportunity. I learn a bit of spanish when I was about 16. It was for a trip to Cuba that I did as a volunteer, 2 years in a row. It has been while since I have practiced it, but now my 5 years old is asking to learn some of it. We are a french family and he learned english by him self and now want to learn more….this would be great for him!

  3. Erica says

    I took 2 years of Spanish in high school, and though I completed it, I have to say that languages are not my “thing!” We are doing a program called “La Clase Divertida” as a family (it is DVD based) this year, and the children all love it! This calendar seems like it would fit right in and be helpful.

  4. Julie says

    I took Spanish for about 4 years between high school and college but I remember almost nothing! As a mom of 6 and this being our first year homeschooling, I’m looking for lots of new things to try to see if it works for us, especially if it’s free. This sounds great! Thanks for the entry.
    Julie

  5. Nikki says

    I was homeschooled and did take Spanish in highschool but I did not really learn much and have forgotten what I did learn.One of my friends who went to the public school was taking Spanish too.We had fun sharing with each other what we were learning.I would love for my kids to have a chance at learning Spanish.Thanks for the chance.

  6. CharleneM says

    I took 2 years of Latin and 3 years of French in high school, but I know I couldn’t speak ANY right now!

    We’ve done Latin for about 6 months and just started Spanish about 3 weeks ago. I’d love to have more Spanish tools in my toolbox.

  8. Mistee says

    I took 2 years of Spanish in high school, then moved to a school that did not offer Spanish. I have loved the language since my fourth grade teacher taught us a few words we had to use every day in her class. I am now taking it again with my oldest daughter via a DVD course. 🙂 This sounds like it would help my little ones pick up more than the smattering of words I’ve taught them. Thanks for offering it!

  9. Valerie @ A Nation of Moms (aka the Village of Moms) says

    My first language was French, and then I quickly learned Portuguese (both languages were spoken at home – dad is French and mom is Portuguese). By the time I was 6, I was speaking 3 languages fluently (English was the 3rd). I lost the French shortly after, but continue speaking Portguese only with my maternal grandmother. I took French in 7th grade, Spanish in 9th-12th, placed out of Spanish in college but took Italian while I studied abroad in Florence, Italy for 3 months. And then I taught Spanish in HS for a year. But I am SOOO terrible at introducing it to our son.

  12. Grace Wheeler says

    I took Espanol in high school and college! I used to spend my summers in Mexico ministering…it’s still a desire of my heart, but now I have the privilege of passing on that passion to my kiddos–maybe someday they will minister there! I’d love these flashcards to help them learn the language!!!

  13. Beth says

    Hi, I took a class in German in high school but unfortunately our teacher resigned and we were left without a foreign language teacher! I went on two missions trips to Spain and went to a friend’s wedding in Mexico and so I picked up a lot of Spanish that way. Looks like a nice product you’re giving away. Beth

  15. Sara Louise says

    Hi, Amy!
    I took Spanish in high school and again in college. I wish that I would have taken more in college, because I love foreign languages.
    Thank you.

  16. Janet says

    No foreign language schooling for me Hallelujah!!!
    (my little brain just can’t handle it). I graduated the year before our state started requiring it, and also the year before my college required it.
    My high school graduates used library books and Rosetta stone.
    We do know a few Spanish words from pre-school shows.
    We learned a huge vocabulary of sign language with my daughter that had cleft lip/palate, and other issues making her non-verbal for several years.
    We also have a small vocabylary of words in Chinese from our 4 China adoptions, 2 of the kids can still speak Chinese.

  19. Rebecka says

    I learned Swedish by being an exchange student during high school. I spent a year living with a Swedish family, attending school and making friends. It was an incredible experience and more than 20 years later, I still understand quite a bit, mostly because I can watch swedish movies on netflix!

  22. Abigail says

    I was fortunate to be able to take a few classes in Spanish (my favorite language) when I was around 14. I have tried to teach what little I learned there and from a Spanish-English dictionary I was able to aquire to my 5 children. They have been as excited to discover the language as I was.

    Thank you! =)

  25. Julie M. says

    I took two years of Spanish in highschool and I regret I didn’t pay more attention. I think having products such as Flip Flop Learning, would have been so much more fun and an easier way to learn Spanish!! Thanks for the chance to win!!!

  26. clarissa says

    I took just a couple of weeks of spanish in 9th grade…
    would love to win this for my son who has a real interest in learning spanish! Thanks for the chance!

  29. CW says

    I studied Spanish for four years and French for three years. My husband is bilingual and very good with languages; I’m glad for all the lessons I learned.

  30. Maria (assistantcoach) says

    Hey Amy! Yes, I took Spanish for four years. It’s beneficial to know when you live in AZ.

    Maria (goodhues@msn.com)

  37. Amy says

    Tried French my freshman year dropped out after first quarter doing miserably, Spanish my sophmore year, did ok. Transfered schools, Spanish not offered. Took German my Junior & Senior years. Would love my children to do better with languages.

  40. Suanna says

    I took a class in Dutch when I was in High School. No, I don’t remember it, now.
    I also took American Sign Language, which I still use a small amount of and could get by if I had to.

  41. Julie C says

    I took Spanish for two semesters a very, very long time ago. Being able to see how to pronounce the words and phrases will be very beneficial in trying to learn and relearn Spanish.

  42. Serenity Summers says

    I would love to try this! I took Spanish in high school but have not retained ANY of it!

  43. valerie says

    I took Spanish for three years in high school. The first two years were a total loss, but the third year I had an amazing teacher and she taught me soooooooo much that third year. I think the teacher makes all the difference (well, that and environment.)
    I would love to offer this to my two children that I homeschool. 🙂

  44. Jennifer says

    I had two years of Latin in high school and three semesters of Spanish in college.
    We are currently homeschooling Latin in elementary grades.

  48. Mitzslagle says

    Hi Amy, I took 1 year of Spanish in High School and remember very little. Well, except for the fact my teacher never gave me a grade higher than a D……….because I couldn’t roll my R’s. I have said for many years that I would not teach my children Spanish but find that I must because of where we live.

  49. Stephanie says

    I tried to learn Italian off and on from elementary school through high school. And I minored in Latin in college. I loved every minute of it! 😀

  50. learn spanish free says

    Speaking a foreign language as often as possible. Do not hesitate to speak, because you do not know the language properly. The more you talk, the quicker you learn. When it comes, it is also possible to detect errors and then will be able to get it repaired as soon as possible.

  51. Nicole says

    I took a few years of Spanish but unfornately have not used it in quite sometime and could use a refresher. I want to teach my 4 girls Spanish.

  52. Kathy says

    I had two years of Spanish in high school. They couldn’t make my schedule work with the Spanish 2 class so they put me in Spanish 3. LOL!

  53. Jessica Payne says

    I took 3 years of Spanish and was also in the Spanish club. I would love to get this to really start working with our kids on Spanish. They love learning what I can remember but I don’t remember as much as I should. Thank you Amy!

  55. JenC says

    Oh my goodness! I took 9 years of Spanish (jr. high thru college) & struggle just to keep up with Dora the Explorer. This would be a lovely addition to our homeschool, and I may have to purchase if I don’t win. Thanks!

  56. Rebecca L. says

    I took 2 years of German, the only things offered in high school was German and French. I wish I had taken French now. I didn’t take any foreign language in college.

  58. TwinMom says

    I took 4 years of French in high school and 2 years of Italian in college. Don’t remember any of it!

  59. Stephania says

    I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, but have lost most of what I learned due to lack of practice 🙁 My boys and I have been trying to learn/re-learn the basics. Flash cards would be a huge help! Thanks.

  60. laura says

    i took spanish for 6 years. it was taught purely in a memorize-word-lists type of way, and i never reached the point that i could carry on a conversation. such a shame. i just started teaching spanish to my oldest 2, and i’m excited to re-learn along with them!

  64. Martine says

    I took some french classes, unfortunately do not remember anything past basic numbers and colours.

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