Educational research continues to point out that the best method for learning a second language is in early childhood, through immersion – the same way children learn their mother tongue. Living North America puts parents who seek to give their children a bilingual advantage in a difficult position. The vast majority of us are monolingual, speaking only English, the international language of trade and commerce.
So, what’s a mom to do who wants to equip her young children with a solid foundation in a second language when she only speaks one? The lack of high quality resource for Spanish immersion was just the catalyst needed for one mom to launch Whistlefritz and the Spanish for Beginners series in 2006.
The latest release in the series - Adentro y Afuera (Inside and Out) is designed to appeal to children from ages two through seven – and does it ever. Who would have thought that a 30-minute DVD, entirely in Spanish, would so captivate the hearts and attention of my one, three, and six-year-old?
I was a bit skeptical as I popped in the disc. My children are largely unfamiliar with Spanish. They’ve seen Dora, watched some educational DVDs that teach common phrases through English to Spanish translation and repetition, but have no formal language education under their belts. I was so surprised to find my children singing, dancing, and laughing throughout an entirely Spanish presentation of what could pass for cable television children’s programming.
The animated host “Maria” leads children through scenarios revolving around a small, animated mouse named Fritzi who whistles to communicate (hence the company name, Whistlefritz.) Similar in style to the popular television series Blues Clues, Maria and her gang of multi-cultural children in the target age ranges interact against a colourful, cartoon backdrop with the animated mouse, and a variety of entertaining hand puppets. Live action segments are also interspersed throughout the DVD, showing the children interacting and singing in real settings.
Maria communicates the meaning of the Spanish words she uses through repetition, exaggerated facial expressions, props, hand gestures, and body movements. Her level of enthusiasm is contagious, and she is an excellent teacher. Narrative teaching is broken up with songs from Horge Anya which include activity songs where children are prompted to perform certain hand movements in response to the lyrics, songs about food, songs about the directions (up and down) and so on.
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