A study carried out not too long ago by the European Commission, described the only two native English speaking member states, namely the UK and Ireland, as “having moderate language skills” in comparison with other EU countries. About two thirds of the people in the UK and Ireland speak only English whereas the majority of […]
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – (Benjamin Franklin) The teacher is one of the single most important components of the language leanrning experience and their teaching style can make the difference between a successful learning outcome for the language student and one in which […]
Do people who speak different languages, whether it’s English, Spanish, Mandarin or any one of the 7000 odd languages in existence, end up remembering and understanding their respective life experiences differently simply by virtue of their mother tongue? An article in the Wall Street Journal explains how recent research suggests that the answer may be […]
Our first two days exhibiting at the 2013 NZPF Conference in Hamilton have underscored the fact that there is a growing need for Mandarin as an in-school language option for all New Zealand students with a genuine interest from school principals across the board. And with a talk on Friday by John McKinnon, executive director of […]
There is an important distinction made by linguists between ‘language acquisition’ and ‘language learning’. “Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication – in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.” Stephen Krashen (The Natural Approach) There is an […]
Free offer to all Australasian Primary and Intermediate Schools! An experience of a foreign country without the travelling! Based on 25 years of language teaching experience, LCF Fun Languages is pleased to offer a complimentary culture session (either French, Spanish or Mandarin) for your school. Our fun cultural experience will be 1-2 hours full of […]
It gets their children using the language quickly and naturally “As parents, we know that engaging pre-schoolers in any activity, particularly new activities, is a big challenge but I have found the Spanish group teacher has all the right tricks through song, dance and group activities to bring even the shyest toddler along and engaged […]
We conducted a “mini survey” at the recently held New Zealand Principal’s Federation Conference in Hamilton, NZ to get an idea of how principals felt about the importance of offering a second language at their school. The results confirmed what we already knew and the emerging trends with languages in New Zealand: 89% of principals […]
LCF Fun Languages is delighted to be partnering with Kids Planet in Albany, Auckland, to provide a bilingual program to the lucky children in their new transition room. This brand new area at Kids Planet will provide a perfect linguistic environment for the children to explore our play-based language programs. We were very excited that […]
Time Magazine recently published an article that once again illustrates the plethora of benefits that kids gain by being bilingual and stresses the importance of giving children the opportunity to learn a second language. And starting the langage learning journey as early as possible!! A move by state education officials to introduce an ambitious total […]