Hi,
I am very interested in increasing languages and cultures awareness for both my 4 year old child and myself. As my child is bilingual French / English and also is in contact with various people speaking a number of different languages, he already has some form of awareness of languages and I have noticed he is really interested to find out about other languages (for example when he hears other people speaking a language he doesn't speak or when he hears a song in a foreign language, he would often ask what language it is and then regularly he would say that he wants to learn this language).
I recently found out about the European Language Portfolio. The concept of language portfolio is born from a European initiative. I would describe the portfolio as a tool to encourage discovery of languages and cultures (all languages and cultures, not just the ones that are "high-profile" and not just European ones) and help assess ability / achievement in languages. There are languages portfolios for age groups ranging from young child to adult. The children portfolios are done in a very lively way and easily accessible by children.
I liked the concept very much and ordered the French version : "Mon premier Portfolio européen des langues" for my child (only 2.37 euros on Amazon, click if you might be interested in ordering it !).
I am very interested in increasing languages and cultures awareness for both my 4 year old child and myself. As my child is bilingual French / English and also is in contact with various people speaking a number of different languages, he already has some form of awareness of languages and I have noticed he is really interested to find out about other languages (for example when he hears other people speaking a language he doesn't speak or when he hears a song in a foreign language, he would often ask what language it is and then regularly he would say that he wants to learn this language).
I recently found out about the European Language Portfolio. The concept of language portfolio is born from a European initiative. I would describe the portfolio as a tool to encourage discovery of languages and cultures (all languages and cultures, not just the ones that are "high-profile" and not just European ones) and help assess ability / achievement in languages. There are languages portfolios for age groups ranging from young child to adult. The children portfolios are done in a very lively way and easily accessible by children.
I liked the concept very much and ordered the French version : "Mon premier Portfolio européen des langues" for my child (only 2.37 euros on Amazon, click if you might be interested in ordering it !).
You can find more information about the UK European Language Portfolio for primary school aged children (4 to 11 year old) here:
You can also download the junior portfolio and a teacher's guide from there or you can order from Amazon.
Enjoy your journey to discovering languages and cultures.
Next post, I will use my "French mum with an interest in language teaching to kids" knowledge and will share some ideas about how to help young children learn French (either bilingual children or non-native children learning some French) and in particular I will give some advice regarding a few resources (UK or authentic French) that are most appropriate to support French language exposition / learning.
Happy Learning !
Next post, I will use my "French mum with an interest in language teaching to kids" knowledge and will share some ideas about how to help young children learn French (either bilingual children or non-native children learning some French) and in particular I will give some advice regarding a few resources (UK or authentic French) that are most appropriate to support French language exposition / learning.
Happy Learning !
