Bilingualism on the cheap
Arthur (counting the salad bowls he has just 'helpfully' brought to the supper table): One, two, three, four.
Me: Can you count them in French?
Arthur (pauses): Uno ... dos ... tres ... cuatro ... Just like Handy Manny!
So in conclusion, we have been sending Arthur to a French-only daycare for six months now, to no effect, but a few hours of watching a TV show (and its accompanying website) have taught him to count in Spanish.
In other news, his pre-literacy skills proceed apace. He now has pretty good whole word recognition for a wide variety of words and especially the names of his favourite web sites and shows, and words from his favourite stories, which he identifies even when out of context / not in their original font - e.g., on the satellite TV channel listing. He knows how to use Google well enough to type in the first letter of whatever site he wants and then pick the right one from the list that pops up, and then click the search button. I have no idea what else he can do ... should I be worried? :)
Me: Can you count them in French?
Arthur (pauses): Uno ... dos ... tres ... cuatro ... Just like Handy Manny!
So in conclusion, we have been sending Arthur to a French-only daycare for six months now, to no effect, but a few hours of watching a TV show (and its accompanying website) have taught him to count in Spanish.
In other news, his pre-literacy skills proceed apace. He now has pretty good whole word recognition for a wide variety of words and especially the names of his favourite web sites and shows, and words from his favourite stories, which he identifies even when out of context / not in their original font - e.g., on the satellite TV channel listing. He knows how to use Google well enough to type in the first letter of whatever site he wants and then pick the right one from the list that pops up, and then click the search button. I have no idea what else he can do ... should I be worried? :)