For those of us who like the mentoring ideal of doing the very activities we expect of our children, learning the target language along with them is a must! But how?

When I give the seminar and workshop on these topics, I use sponges as my visual aid. For the youngest children (see article #1) I use a soft new sponge. The wates is easy in, but also easy out - however, the dampness always stays - just a touch of water, and you have a supple sponge again! As the sponges get older (and the students) we have trouble softening them up. Just like the language part of our brains. So, for the 25 and up age group, I use a sponge that has been dipped in paint. Hardened, crusty, no WAY water will penetrate. But wait! Don't throw that sponge out! We CAN get it nice an supple again. We just have to use a different method.

Best Method – Drill and Memorize with motivation, plus Complete Immersion.
I've mentioned in the previous articles NOT to use drills, because it detracts from our children's motivation. But for adults, our motivation is PROGRESS. We want to know that we REMEMBER the words we are learning. For us, drills work. lay things out categorically with flash cards, lists, and pictures. These things help us to keep our language lessons from getting all jumbled up with the weekly grocery list. After mastering 20 words (try to do them thematically) try them out! Go to a meat market, or a restaurant, or watch a movie, find a website, in your target language. The world is shrinking, so you CAN find it!

Good Method – Visual Impact with weekly practice.
This is similar to what works with younger students - It's like the water in the sponge. Will a sponge coated in paint eventually get soft by just using water? Sure... eventually. Does the dry paint disappear? Sure... more eventually.

So, this will work, but slowly. In this method, you do exactly what your child is doing. If he is watching a Spanish DVD, do that. If he is using a Spanish reader, read with him. Practice along with him. You will see that words you struggle with will be right at his finger tips. If you do no more practice than the student, you will see about half the result. Your brain simply has already been hard-wired for language at this point (exceptions are of course heard of, but few!) and is not accepting applications for new language systems at this time!

Don’t do it this way! – Sporadic Attempts
The problems with adults learning a language, is we’re adults. We have many other responsibilities. We also are susceptible to the same barriers and discouragements as younger students. So, if you try a couple of days, and then give it up, the next time you try, you have a little bigger mountain to climb. You’re overcoming a language barrier as well as the new failure you have seen in your own mind.

So - you want easy steps, don’t you? Well... I can give them to you!

Step 1: Don’t set your sites too high. Isn’t that a terrible thing to say? But this is about you, not your children. Give yourself a reasonable goal. One word a day, perhaps! And for... three weeks. Can you learn one word per day for three weeks? Write out your goal on a calendar. Then DO it! In the fear of plugging my own tools, you can choose to use Spanish Fun Activity Calendar and do it along with your child. TOS will be carrying it soon!

Step 2: Choose useful words. If you can say a few sentences, a few words will pop up that would make those sentences MORE useful. Write them down, look them up, and USE them!

Step 3: Choose a good curriculum. Be a little selfish and choose a curriculum that looks interesting to YOU when addressing your students’ needs. Yes, of course you want to think of their learning style. But you can adjust anything! Don’t you already do that? Your enthusiasm FAR outweighs any special book set-up.

Step 4: Find a stopping point. Yes, learning a language is a lifetime pursuit. But you need a short term goal. 3 weeks on, one week off, something like that. Perhaps a special treat like a festival, or authentic Mexican or German food, or a movie in the target language. Give yourself a planned break, and then start it again in small bursts, but not sporadic attempts with unplanned breaks.

Step 5: Have fun with it - Use some codes (meaning, use your new language!) with your children or spouse. Write notes in the target language to one another. Play secret agent! It’s fun to write, and fun to read, and will have you giggling all the way to the bilingual dicitonary!

Step 6: Track your progress.  Finally, be sure to keep some sort of personal dictionary, or check list of all you’ve accomplished, so when you get discouraged, you can see how much you’ve already learned. It WILL get easier. I promise.

If you have some books or systems you’ve tried, or would LIKE to try, post a comment! I’ve probably reviewed it, or can do a demo and give you pros and cons on it.... And remember, I LOVE this stuff, so don’t be shy!

Suzanne Gose (known by her students as Señora Gose) is a homeschooling mother of almost five children - baby number five is due this July.  A former public school teacher, she currently teaches over 80 homeschooling students in weekly Spanish classes at Key Curriculum in Bryan, Texas. She is also the author of the Flip Flop Spanish Workbooks and other language teaching tools. You can see them at www.flipfloplearning.com  and in the Schoolhouse Store.