Little Pim review: an entertaining way to teach language

I speak enough of a couple languages to be a good tourist.  None of them are fluent, but I could order food, understand the numbers and get basic directions.  That leaves me with the question of how do you teach your child another language when you, yourself can barely speak a second one?    Little Pim has a series of DVDs, audio CDs, books and apps that make things learning another language possible for children.

“I want to watch the elephant movie”, Toddler Mojo told me on the way home this week.    He was talking about Pim the panda, who serves as the guide in the Little Pim DVDs.  When He said that I did feel happy because I know he’ll be better off for learning another language, but I want him to learn it.

I took Spanish in Jr. High school.  We were all scared that Ms. Blanca would be our teacher because she didn’t speak any English!!!!    Of course, she was capable of speaking English, but she conducted her class, supposedly in Spanish.

Fast forward 14 years from that point and I would be teaching English to a room full of Japanese students.  They probably didn’t want me to be their teacher because I conducted the class exclusively in English.  Another thing I learned from teaching ESL is that the younger you start teaching the easier it is for the language to be learned.

Language immersion is teaching the new language without telling the students you’re teaching them in their native tongue.  For my money language immersion is the best way to teach a foreign language.  It’s certainly confusing at first, but through repetition, it is better at teaching vocabulary, basic sentences and greetings.

Little Pim teaches via language immersion.  Each DVD is 35 minutes has no spoken English and teaches approximately 60 words relative to the disc’s theme.  There is an option to display the text in English, as well as, Spanish to the vocabulary that is being taught.

Little Pim (the panda) sets up each segment by demonstrating what vocabulary will be taught.  The segments show children of varying ages acting out or behaving in a normal way doing the new words that the children are learning in another language.  They’ll introduce a series of words and wrap up each segment by going over the words again.

The DVDs are broken up into several segments.  We have never watched the entire DVD in one sitting.   Toddler Mojo has seen the DVD several times though because he watches them a segment or two at a time, which last about 6 minutes each.    I watch the segments with him occasionally, repeat the words and use the rest of my Spanish whenever I can.

When we’re out in public I’ll use the vocabulary that he’s learning and try to make it as conversational as possible.  Even if you know nothing about a 2^nd language you can pick up words with your child watching Little Pim.  The slow pace of the DVDs is clearly aimed at children 0-5, but you can assist their learning by speaking it as well.  Monkey see, monkey do, especially when it comes to learning.

We were provided with a complimentary copy of Little Pim, Spanish Playtime for review purposes.  All thoughts are our own.  Todo los ideas es solemente des mios.   Soy un pelon hombre que hable poquito Espanol.