Ana Miranda
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How to help our children with pronunciation in a playful way

3/3/2022

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A Tongue Twister is a sentence that has repeated sounds, which make it difficult to say without stumbling. 

Tongue twisters are good for improving pronunciation and speaking skills. They are like physical exercises, as we strengthen and stretch the muscles involved in speech when we try to articulate them. This muscle exercise leads to a clearer pronunciation, to clearer speech patterns and helps to rectify sounds that could be hard for us to articulate.

Tongue twisters challenge our capacity to enunciate the individual sounds in each word so we don't trip up, they force us to pay careful attention to the precise sounds in each word. 

They are not only a good exercise for beginners in the target language, but also for those whose articulation is affected, for example by retainers or tooth gaps.
Tongue Twisters are also a great warm up for actors, singers and public speakers!
When playing with Tongue Twisters, the aim is to enunciate the sentence as quickly as possible without making mistakes. 

The fun part is that it is a tricky exercise for everyone! Even proficient speakers! So it can help children be less afraid of making mistakes and just give it a go. 
  • Do you play tongue twisters with your children? 
  • Which tongue twisters do you remember from your childhood? 
  • What tongue twisters do you know in your other languages?

​In this video we share some easy and fun ways to use tongue twisters with your children in all their languages.

You can find tongue twisters in over 100 languages here: 
https://www.tongue-twister.net

Have fun with your languages!

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Multisensory activities in the multilingual home

8/11/2020

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We all learn and remember things in different ways. For some, hearing and seeing something is enough. Others might remember more easily when they do, touch or move. And we’ve all been transported into a memory by a sudden smell or taste…

Multisensory activities engage more than one sense at a time, and with that it creates more brain connections and stronger memory. 

Children are curious, playful and active by nature - they will be much more interested and engaged in activities that involve a mix of movement, touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. 

Fun and varied learning will certainly be more memorable - for the kids and for you - than worksheets. 

How can you apply multisensory techniques in your multilingual home? 

When learning a language we naturally use the listening and speaking skills the most. Try to use the other senses to help your children learn new words. Think cooking together, gardening,  going for a walk, doing crafts, listening to music or audiobooks, playing, all while talking about what you’re doing. 

Can specific tastes, smells, songs, dances, games or toys be connected to each different language? 


When children start learning to read and write, especially in different languages, all their senses can be engaged in developing those skills.

Imagine seeing letters and words on paper, then practicing writing them with a pencil. Now imagine singing a song about the alphabet or letter-sounds, with accompanying movements; listening to a story and doing a gesture whenever you hear a particular sound or word; making letters with dough, seeds, etc; writing words with movable letters, chalk, paint, stamps; baking cookies and writing about it. 


Which ones will create stronger brain connections? 

Here are some activities you can try for handwriting, reading and writing. 

And many more activities like these have been curated by Ute and I on our Toolbox for Multilingual Families!

I’d love to see what you and your children are engaged in!
If you’re on Instagram, please tag me: ana.elisa.miranda


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How do you talk to your newborn baby?

3/8/2020

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I've been a language teacher and enthusiast for half of my life. I've learned about foreign language learning and experienced it myself. 

For a couple of years now I've been immersed in everything multilingual children and how they acquire different languages at the same time. 

I've dreamed of the day my own children would be growing up multilingual. I would love to see them speaking to my family in Brazil, reading and writing in Portuguese. 

But then I had a baby… 

The most common advice out there is that you should talk to your baby even before they're born. I honestly found myself feeling quite awkward talking to my bump. I tried reading aloud, but I didn't have much material in Portuguese at the time. So yeah, during pregnancy my partner and I read a little bit and awkwardly talked to the bump a little bit.
 

When she was born I thought "No time to waste! She's here, she sees me, she hears me, she's watching and learning all the time! Let's dooooo this!" 

But then… postpartum exhaustion! And you know what newborns actually do most of the time? Eat, sleep, pee and poop. How am I supposed to talk to her? To give her that precious language input?
 

When I started feeling a bit more like myself and when she started staying more alert, I naturally incorporated "conversations" during: diaper changes, feeding and tummy time. I say good morning, ask how she slept, if she had good dreams, I describe what we're doing, talk about the day ahead, about the weather, etc. I do baby talk, which is slower, emphasizes vowel sounds and helps babies distinguish the sounds and words of a particular language. She started cooing and making cute sounds, so I reply - and so she learns how conversations work! 

We also add to the experience by singing and reading a lot to her - pretty much any time she's awake! I honestly like that better than talking, I feel like there’s a purpose and an end to it. 
​

As with any advice, we see what works for us. How do/did you talk to your babies?

★ ★ ★ 

Find support in our Facebook community. 
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    Hi!

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     I'm Ana - a teacher who loves reading, writing, traveling and nature. 

    Your Toolbox:

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