Have you heard of the Pimsleur approach to language? They have a version for kids - Little Pim. It's hosted by a cute little panda and is available in a variety of languages: Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian, German, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, English, and Portuguese. The videos are broken up into tiny little snippets that focus on a few words, showing kids examples of them. They're designed for kids from birth through age six.
As a language teacher, I think that early exposure is extremely helpful to second language development. Research shows that bilingual experiences strengthen the brain and help provide a verity of benefits, including verbal development in one's own native language long-term. Plus, learning another language helps foster cultural awareness. I am raising my own children bilingual German-English, and my daughter wants to learn Spanish, so I'm learning that with her this year.
She loves the Little Pim video we got to try out. It shows a lot of kids, so it's kid-friendly, but there are enough different words that it keeps her interest as a child on the upper age range of the target for this series. I am definitely going to look for more in this series - I'm learning phrases and useful words too along with her! Although it's targeted to kids, it isn't too cheesy and annoying for grown-ups to be able to sit down and watch with the kids too.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary digital version of Little Pim: Get Up and Go to facilitate this review.
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