Well, this is my first blog, ever. I was encouraged to start this, because foreign languages are something not every homeschooler knows well enough to teach (unless you are bilingual - you want your child to be hearing native speakers and learn properly from the beginning), but they know it is important.

Why should I talk about this subject? I am fluent (more or less) in French and Spanish and speak a little bit of German, Russian, Hebrew and Dutch. We have 3 boys, we did not homeschool them. We are fortunate to be in Atlanta, Georgia and have the Atlanta International School. This is a complete IB (International Baccalaureate) program - age 4 to 12th grade. Our oldest son graduated in 2004 with a bilingual (French and English) diploma. I started my business, World of Reading, in 1989, in order to be a resource for foreign language and ESL materials.

Enough about why I am writing, let me get to the subject. Start now!!!! I don't care how old your children are - start now!!! If they are younger than 3 - let them listen to CDs in the car, if you are bilingual, read to them at night - put on a video such as Baby Einstein or Bilingual Baby, etc. - just expose them to the language. If they are older, you have to take a more direct approach - but studies have shown the ideal time for learning a language is birth to age 6 - after that, the older you are, the harder it becomes.

Anyway, which language to start with, what is the most effective, will come in later blogs. I am curious to see what people want to know and respond to comments, not just talk myself.

Give your child the words of the world
| Regale a sus hijos las palabras del mundo que les rodea
| Ha'aniku le'yelade'ikhem et milot ha'olam
| Donnez ΰ votre enfant les mots du monde
| Donu via infano la vortojn de la mondo
| Regala a tuo figlio le parole del mondo
| Schenk deinem Kind die Sprachen der Welt!
| Sekai no kotoba wo, otaku no okosama ni dohzo
| Gee u kind die woorde van die wκreld