Language DVD for Kids

[MoeJoe]

My DS is still kinda young, only 5 1/2 mo!, but I really want him to learn a second language. We are at a disadvantage bec. my husband and I only speak English... So, I was looking into language DVDs for kids, but I wanted to know if anyone here has ever used any? And if they had any success?
TIA

[vludmilla]

I am a big proponent of learning more than one language. Many in my husband's family are multilingual and I hope to have DD in an elementary school that teaches language in 1st grade. Having said that, I would wait until my DC was older to introduce another language. IMO, an infant is still learning the sounds of the native language and I wouldn't want to make that more difficult.

[MoeJoe]

I figured that he was a bit too young, but wasn't sure how young to start. Thanks.
But, in any case- my original question still stands because I may as well be on the look out for good deals for good programs in the meanwhile!

[MacMacMoo]

until you find a language that works better how about try sign language?

[larig]

now is the time to expose to the sounds of a non-native language as infant brains are better able to hear subtle differences in sounds. Language acquisition is not my field of expertise (I am a Learning Sciences PhD candidate), but I'm familiar enough with the research to say fairly confidently that when babies hear a second language early their brains are able to make connections that may not be as easy to develop down the road. The best example I can give you is think about non-native english speakers who pronounce english words differently (like the "L" sounds). Some will never learn the difference because their brains do not hear the difference in what they are saying and how something is pronounced by a native speaker.

ETA:...because they did not hear/need to recognize those sounds as a child their brains did not come to distinguish that L sound from other sounds in their own native language.

[stefani]

See http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=285816

I believe that it is never too young or too old to learn another language, and younger is easier than older.

One thing though is that learning another language is a multi-year commitment if you are serious about it.

Do you have a particular language in mind?

Sign language is definitely a great one, but the parent(s) need to also learn it so it is not only 30 minutes or 1 hour per day watching the video.

Can you maybe have a baby sitter that will speak that language with the baby?

My DS is trilingual, he speaks English, Indonesian, and Mandarin Chinese. For Indonesian I get the VCDs from there because I find it difficult to find DVDs here in the US. For Mandarin Chinese, I have bought a few from ChineseSprout.com. Mostly, he gets Indonesian from me, and 5 hours per week of Mandarin Chinese from after school care, plus 2 hours per week (of Mandarin Chinese) from a week-end Chinese school.

Spanish seems to be an easy one to find materials for here in the US, the other languages seem to vary with the area you live in.

GL!

[goldenpig]

until you find a language that works better how about try sign language?

:yeahthat:

5-6 months is the perfect age to start teaching your baby sign language. I think we started showing just a few signs at 3-4 months and more at 6 months, and she started signing back at 7 months. It was really exciting to see her sign before she could even talk--we could understand what she was thinking about because she could sign. Like one time she was staring out the window and started patting her thigh, and I could hear a dog barking outside. And I think she started talking earlier and had a bigger vocabulary in large part because of signing...she would often sign and say the word at the same time. That helped me understand what she was saying even when her pronunciation wasn't that great. It really helped cut down on the tantrums because she could sign what she wanted instead of getting frustrated that we couldn't understand her. I am going to try harder again especially with my next baby coming, because I kind of slacked off when her talking took off. Plus it will be cute if they can sign to each other! Don't worry if you don't know ASL, you only have to learn a few signs at a time--you'll be learning them together!

The Signing Times video series is the best. In fact we are watching one together now. It makes it easy for you to learn the signs at the same time. They repeat the signs several times, there are catchy songs, and they have kids (of all ethnicities and abilities) signing the words. I think the series is on PBS so you can Tivo it. There's also a Baby Signing Times DVD series with the simplest signs.
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Signing-Time-1-DVD/dp/B000HKCSYO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1252378215&sr=8-1

As far as other languages, I am trying to teach her a few words in Spanish and have a couple of bilingual board books, but haven't done much else. I've heard of a series called Muzzy that focuses on teaching kids foreign languages, but I don't know much about it. Try signing...you won't regret it!

[littlebethany]

My DS is still kinda young, only 5 1/2 mo!, but I really want him to learn a second language. We are at a disadvantage bec. my husband and I only speak English... So, I was looking into language DVDs for kids, but I wanted to know if anyone here has ever used any? And if they had any success?
TIA

Sounds like a good idea, the earlier you get started the easier it is for them to pick up. :)

[mamicka]

I think that you can't start too early. There isn't any evidence (that I've found, & I've looked) that hearing another language confuses children/babies. If I were you & hadn't selected a language yet, I'd get some kids music CD's from the library & play them for your DS to get him familiar with the different sounds.

As far as what we've used - Muzzy Spanish & French are favorites for my kids, but I can't for sure say they've learned any language from them, at least not yet. They're pricey but I found both of them for <$10 from 2nd hand stores - VHS version. We also have this http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Einstein-Language-Nursery/dp/B00005YUPM which got a lot of play when they were younger. We signed as well & I'd highly recommend the Signing Time videos - they're also on PBS in some places so you might want to check that out.

HTH!

HTH.

[MoeJoe]

Thanks everyone! All the posts were really helpful bec. I don't know much about language development at all... I will talk to my husband about sign language. It definitely is an idea we didn't think of! Just wondering, though, is it not exclusively for the hearing impaired? That's what my impression always was.

[goldenpig]

Sign language is definitely not just for deaf/hearing impaired. It's become more and more widespread as people learn the benefits of signing with your babies and I'm pretty sure nowadays most babies that are learning sign language and their parents are hearing, given how popular it is now. There's tons of books and videos out there. Like another poster said, learning sign language also helps with learning a foreign language because you can sign the same sign with both English and Spanish/French/Mandarin etc. words so they understand it's the same word.

[MoeJoe]

Very interesting. I didn't catch that idea when I read the pp before. Then that will probably be what we'll start with.
As of right now we've been very diligent with teaching him his nose. We touch his and touch ours and say "nose" and s/t say Beep Beep! He loves it!:tongue5: We've started a little with ears- tugging on his. Eventually, we'll get to his whole face. Also, we go thru animal sounds- I usually do this two to three times a day. He cracks up for this too. So, I hope sign language will follow suit and he'll be interested!
Thanks all!

[edurnemk]

I'm reading "The Bilingual Edge", recommended by someone on this board. I think it's pretty good so far, but the authors aren't fans of teaching a language through DVD's, especially at such a young age. This book looks into every type of case, inlcuding families where neither parent is bilingual.