Word of the Day

So obviously when learning another language, vocabulary is one of the most important components. With that being said building vocabulary can be very simply if it something that you include in your regular activities; and what better way to do that than learning a new word a day! Courtesy of about.com, I attached a link below for the Spanish and French word of the day. Good luck! And remember, perfect practice makes perfect!

CLICK HERE for the French Word of the Day

CLICK HERE for the Spanish Word of the Day

My Amazing Teacher

On Facebook this morning, Teach for America promoted this competition, and if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me! My Amazing Teacher is a video contest for both adults and children, to tell a story of how a teacher changed their life. The winner's video will be shown at a conference of education and learning in Washington DC.

  Check it out here!

Research on Language Acquisition

So, I've been on this binge of researching how important and why it's important to learn languages at an early age as opposed to in High School, College or beyond. While doing so, I stumbled upon some work done by Laura-Ann Pettito. Dr. Pettito is a  cognitive neuroscientist and a developmental cognitive neuroscientist. 

The first video below, Dr. Pettito talks about how learning a secondary language is advantageous for children:

The Second video below, Dr. Pettito talks about how early language aquistion is important:

Enjoy!

French Speaking Countries

Since, I reported on Spanish speaking countries, I thought it was only fair to further confirm your decision to enroll your French speaking children as well! Courtesy of mapsofworld.com I found some interesting statistics!

According to the statistics, USA ranks among the top nations in the world with the largest French speaking population! I know...that's incredible! USA has 2.25 million people who speak French; also we have only a little less than a third amount of people who speak French in the USA as compared to Canada! So great job deciding to start those lil' French speakers now!

Spanish Speakers

So while doing some research looking for some things that I could share with you, I was exploring enchantedlearning.com and stumbled upon some interested statistics.

Countries with the most Spanish-language speakers:

Country	Number of Spanish Speakers (approximate; X=10,000,000 people)
Mexico	91 million	X X X X X X X X X
Colombia	41.9 million	X X X X
Argentina	35.6 million	X X X
Spain	29.9 million	X X X
Venezuela	23.3 million	X X
USA	20.7 million	X X
Peru	20.4 million	X X
Chile	13.6 million	X
Ecuador	11.8 million	X
Dominican Republic	8.2 million	X

USA is among the top 6 countries with the largest population of Spanish speaking people. Over 20 million people in the US speak Spanish today which is a huge number when you really think about it. Clearly knowing multiple languages is a great advantage and starting young is the best way to prepare your kids for our multilingual world!

Recipes!

Since food is a topic of this month, I though it appropriate to give you some recipes to try at home! CLICK HERE for a full site of French recipes courtesy of about.com. Explore the site and find some things you can educate your kids with about the French culture! CLICK HERE for a full site of Spanish recipes courtesy of about.com.

Just to give you a little taste of some good options check out Churros with Strawberries and Cream Cheese: May is the month for strawberries, so strawberry desserts are very popular for Mother’s Day and for graduations. Our own creation, this strawberry dessert is not a traditional Spanish recipe, but combines elements found in many Spanish desserts – custard, whipped cream and fruit with a favorite - churros. Be sure to allow enough time to chill the custard.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Chill Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

• egg custard recipe
• 16 oz heavy whipping cream or a can of whipped cream
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• churros – Spanish critters recipe
• 1 lb. sliced strawberries

Preparation:

Make the egg custard (recipe link below) and allow to cool. Once cool, chill in refrigerator.

• Egg Custard Recipe

To whip the cream, pour into a very clean medium-size mixing bowl. Sprinkle sugar into bowl. Using a hand mixer, whip cream until it forms stiff peaks. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Rinse the strawberries under cold water. Remove stems and slice. Place in a mixing bowl. Cover tightly and refrigerate until serving.

Just before you serve, make the churros (recipe link below) and allow to drain on paper towels.

• How to Make Churros – Spanish Fritters

Set out 6 individual bowls and spoon several tablespoons of custard in the bottom of each bowl. Cover with a thick layer of whipped cream, then sliced strawberries.

Sitters in the Area

Sooooo, I wanted to try something a little new for this post. Obviously it is our job at WL4K to teach your children French/Spanish and prepare them for a world that is full of language, culture, and information. On top of this we take pleasure in supplying you with the endless resources! And with resources in mind (a little off-topic), I wan't to share another website with you. We have no connection with this site, but I thought it might help some of you. Sittercity.com (already linked to Charleston) is a great site that allows individuals to post ads for themselves to babysit or nanny as well as families to find sitters. Anyways, I hope this is helpful to some of you! Maybe even try to find one who speaks French or Spanish :)

French E-Books!

Since you French folk patiently waited for your turn, I thought it was only fair to give you a website full of books that you can use. If you click on each book, it will link you to the pdf version for free. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE!