You may remember that a few weeks ago I wrote about Language Learning Resources, in which I shared how my love of languages has led to years of study and how I wished to introduce foreign languages to Little Man from a young age.
In that post, I mentioned FlashSticks as a potential language learning resource, however we had yet to try them out. Luckily, the team at FlashSticks are just as passionate about language learning as I am (in fact that are more passionate than I am by far!) and were more than happy to send us a beginner German pack to try as a family.
For those of you who haven’t heard about FlashSticks, they are colour coded sets of post-it notes which you can stick around the house (or anywhere else, for that matter) and learn new words in your target language through a combination of exposure (seeing them regularly) and context (seeing a word next to the item it relates to).
We’ve been using our FlashSticks for the past few weeks and you may have seen photos cropping up on our Twitter and Instagram feeds. I decided that the easiest way for us to give you a proper idea of how we’ve been getting on would be to create a video… except I forgot that three year olds don’t generally take direction for videos and mostly do their own thing! So Little Man and I had a rather interesting afternoon putting together a review for you and after several takes and a fair amount of editing, we managed to come up with this. Enjoy…
As you can see, we’ve been having a fair amount of fun sticking our FlashSticks everywhere (some are in context, like the numbers and the chair, others are completely random depending on where Little Man chose to stick them!)
We still have a long way to go in our language learning journey, but the FlashSticks have certainly helped get us started and given Little Man an interest in learning more, and that is the most exciting part for me.
If you want to know more about FlashSticks you can find a ton of information on their website. In particular, you may find their app of real interest. It works by providing you with a native speaker pronouncing the word, so that you can hear exactly how it should sound. We haven’t actually tried it, I must be honest, because having spent years studying German and several months working in the country, I don’t feel the need to check how to pronounce basic words. My pronunciation isn’t perfect, but I do know what they should sound like, even if I can’t quite get it right myself. However were I learning a new language, I would most certainly be using the app.
In addition to all of this, you might also like to follow them on instagram and twitter, where they interact with others regularly and provide some fun ways to get involved via social media. It’s through interacting with them on twitter that I have found other language lovers to connect with, such as Lingotastic who are great fun to chat with and really supportive of introducing foreign languages to children.
As I said in the video, we love connecting with others who are on a similar journey to us, so if you are learning a foreign language, especially with your kids, then please do get in touch with us and let us know how you’re getting on!
Fancy trying FlashSticks for yourself? They are offering 10% off to any Family Patch followers who use the code THEFAMILYPATCH at checkout… Go on, have a go!!
Disclaimer: we were sent a pack of FlashSticks for free, however all our opinions are our own!
2 Comments
Emma T
April 17, 2015 at 10:53 amI have to admit we’ve been very poor with the Spanish ones we’re doing. N knows a few words, and it’s kind of sparked a bit more of an interest in his french he does at nursery. But we don’t spend enough time in the house where they’re stuck up to walk round and learn them – the OH won’t have them stuck round the house so we’re limited to the fridge.
I was sticking them and rotating them round on my laptop at work, so they’ve stuck in my head better…many I remember from my fairly limited spanish at home.
We think the app’s good (similarly, I know spanish pronounciation), N thinks it’s hysterical the way the lady says the words, but it does the job when you’re stuck.
Amanda
April 17, 2015 at 11:05 amOh it’s great to hear how you’ve been getting on with yours! I love the fact N thinks the lady on the app is funny, perhaps I should use it with O and see what he thinks 😉
I’m lucky in that TJ is happy for me to stick ours anywhere. We already had my own versions stuck up with blu tack so the post it versions were even better for the walls!! I don’t think I’d have been doing so well if ours were all stuck on the fridge rather than dotted around. I have found, though, that they don’t always stick to some walls and surfaces so I’ve found them on the floor at times!
Keep going with them, I can imagine it is hard when you aren’t inside much (and why not be outdoors as much as possible?) Perhaps some simple children’s books in Spanish might be worth a try? You can read them anywhere 🙂