Bon Jour, Hola, Hello!  Want the little ones to be asking directions when on vacation?  Check out some tips from our friends over at Little Pim on how your baby or toddler can be multilingual in weeks (and why it’s a great idea)!

Once you are convinced its a great idea, Order Little Pim here and get  15% off with code – BELL.

Fun/Cool Facts about Language Acquisition

• When babies first start to vocalize, they babble sounds from all of the languages of the world. Slowly, they begin to lose the sounds that they do not hear everyday.
• Under age 6, kids are naturally primed to learn up to 3 languages with perfect ease. After age 6, natural acquisition becomes much more difficult.
• Learning a second language has a positive impact on a child’s overall listening skills.
• When asked, “What can you do with a stick?” kids who learning a second language generally come up with more ideas than their monolingual peers.
• Studying a language can actually help you do better on tests! Kids who have studies a foreign language are likely to score up to 140 points higher than average on SAT Math and Critical Reading.
• Being bilingual can delay the onset of dementia by up to 4 years.
• 55 million Americans speak a language other than English at home.
• A child who can speak both English and Spanish can communicate with over 80% of the world’s population!

Tips for families who want to learn a new language

• Start by introducing your kids to the idea of foreign languages: map placemats work wonders for starting mealtime discussions about other parts of the world and how other people speak.
• Read stories either in the language or that come from the language you want your family to learn. Think folk tales and fairy tales, to start.
• Listen to music! Music is a great way to keep your family immersed in a language. Singing out the words will give kids a chance to practice new sounds, and often makes it easier to remember new words.
• Keep flashcards with you when you go to the doctor’s office or a restaurant or other places where you might have to wait for a while. Playing games and making up stories with the words on the cards can really help pass the time!
• Pick a specific time of day or activity that you will always do in the language your child is learning. For example, you could have breakfast in French, or watch an episode of Little Pim everyday before naptime. Once you pick your routine, though, make sure you stick to it!

About Little Pim

Little Pim is an award-winning foreign language learning program for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. With Little Pim, families can get their first introduction to a foreign language in a way that is easy, fun and effective. Little Pim’s unique Entertainment Immersion Method® was designed to engage young kids during the window in which the human brain is most receptive to language learning. Building on a child’s natural love of play, the videos blend real kids and animation to provide a captivating full-immersion experience for even the youngest learners. The program is the brainchild of Julia Pimsleur Levine, the daughter of Dr. Paul Pimsleur, creator of the Pimsleur Method, the popular language-learning program for adults.  She was inspired to create Little Pim based on her own bilingual childhood. Little Pim is available 11 languages including Spanish, French, Chinese and Italian via videos, music, books, flash cards, gift sets and more. To find out more visit Littlepim.com.