~ Afrikaans and/or Foreign Languages
Welcome to my first hosting of the South African Carnival of Home Schooling Blogs (or SACH-Blogs) & I trust you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed creating hosting it.
We are currently investigating our options for teaching our boys Afrikaans and German next year.
Having been born in Germany & recently reconciled with our remaining relatives in Germany, we thought it good to teach the boys German as a third language. We’re currently using the Learn to Speak German 8.0 software from The Learning Company for Jesse.
With Misha having had foundational issues at school, we didn’t subject him to a third language, so he’s only doing Afrikaans 2nd Language. Unlike his brother who did grade R in a playgroup with loads of Afrikaans speaking children & thus having been able to read & speak fluent Afrikaans by the time he wen to private school in Grade 1, Misha started grade R in private school without the exposure to hearing Afrikaans on a regular basis. He only started Afrikaans at school last year (Gr. 2), and I’ve found that he seems to be struggling a bit. I have subsequently discovered that his Afrikaans foundation is not solid and he doesn’t even know the alphabet & phonics in Afrikaans yet & hence he is struggling with reading & writing. I have decided to take him back to the basics & start from scratch, with lots of “hearing” exposure so he can get used to the sound of the language as the worksheets are just not working 100% for him at this stage.
Fortunately I have just received quite a few Afrikaans readers from a friend who is relocating to New Zealand to get us started as I was struggling to find good early readers to read to him at the library & the book stores.
During my searches I have come across quite a variety of material and software that could be use full for this purpose & decided I would dedicate a page at my blog for sharing all these links, so please be sure to check out my Foreign Languages page.
During our visit to the FudureEd Expo at the Dome in May, I saw a lady demonstrating some software to a child. Unfortunately hubby was a bit in a hurry & I couldn’t check it out properly, so instead I just left my details. Unfortunately by the time I got home, I had forgotten the company name so I couldn’t research it any further and subsequently forgot about it.
Much to my surprise, I received a phone call from the agent from Compu Connect Education this week reminding me of the visit at the Dome. After checking out the information on the website I realised this is probably the one most likely to fit both my sons’ learning styles. From what I’ve seen it is colourful, interactive & will help with:
- Reading exercises
- Comprehension
- Spelling and vocabulary building
- Correct pronunciation of Afrikaans words
I received the following information from the agent:
If you have a child that learns well with audio / visual material and loves interactive PC learning, then this is most definitely a worthwhile option to check out, and at R4000 for grades K-12 it would absolutely be worth the investment. For those living in Gauteng, they are willing to make appointments to come to your premises to demonstrate the software. I will definitely be arranging one of those demos for us to check out the software.
Misha Learning AfrikaansCommunity submissions…
- Taryn Hayes describes how with a little bit of coloured cardboard, cutting and creativity the Hayes kids had fun playing games and learning about colours in Afrikaans in her post Afrikaans Fun at the Hayes Family blog. ~ WoW, what an awesomely creative idea to teach colours in Afrikaans, thank you so much for sharing, Taryn.
- At her blog post They Missed School, Thandi describes how she wants her kids to learn two other languages - Afrikaans and isiXhosa and how her son knows more Afrikaans than the other.. and speaks it better. It’s not really about ‘how’ she teaches them because they’re not doing anything ‘formal.’ ~ I was absolutely amazed to hear how excited the kids can get over learning & how they missed “school”. I’m looking forward to the day when my boys’ love for learning has been restored to the extent that they too will be missing “school” when we skip a day or so.
- In her blog post called Finger Puppets at her Practical Pages blog, Nadine Esterhuizen shares how they used finger puppets to practice speaking Afrikaans! and she also has loads of other links and tips for oral narrations and different types of quick and easy puppets at her blog. ~ Awesome idea to get the kids communicating in a new language…
- Lulu van Rooy rambles about how she sees life and the blessings she finds in it. Check out her post Being Multi Lingual is a Blessing at her blog called The Life and the Ramblings of a life blessed where she shares how they learn various different languages. ~ From experience with my youngest, I must agree with her theory of learning to speak the language first, before worrying about grammar & reading.
Please stop by these blogs for inspiration & be sure to leave your comments.
Live today as if there were no tomorrow. We don’t get a second chance to say “good job” or “I am so proud of you” at the most important moment of accomplishment. Words of encouragement last a lifetime and then some. Share your legacy—your life—with your children.
This post features on the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers (SACH Bloggers) where South African home schoolers share experiences, ideas, philosophies and much more. You can join the carnival too by heading to the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers sign up page. We hope you enjoy the carnival as much as we have!
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