Introducing Ana Lomba’s “Spanish for Kids” Classic E-Storybooks. Ana is a Parents’ Choice Award winning author and nationally recognized leading educator teaching kids languages since 1997.
IT MAY BE counterintuitive – especially if you don’t speak Spanish – but one of the fastest ways to help your kids (and yourself) build fluency in Spanish is to read aloud in Spanish. Yes, you heard it right, IN Spanish! (With some help, of course.)
When you read aloud with your children you are setting in motion the four blades of a very powerful “Language Propeller” that will launch your fluency with rocket speed – whoosh!
The Language Propeller is one of the best-kept secrets in language learning, and reading aloud is a great starting point – This is true no matter if you are a native or a beginning level parent or teacher.
But my kids are too young…
EVEN IF your children are still too young to read on their own, they are not too young for YOU to read to them and for them to join in and pretend that they are reading.
When should I start reading aloud to my children in Spanish?
Frankly, from the womb. The earlier, the better.
Reading aloud to your children is one of the best things you can do in early childhood, AND the benefits apply to reading in more than one language as well.
So that’s one fun and easy fluency-building activity that you can do right away: reading aloud with/to your children or students.
Introducing my “Spanish for Kids” Stories to Build Fluency from Day One (For Children Ages 3 and Up)
And now, let me show you a collection of classic stories that I have designed with those of you who want to read aloud to your kids in Spanish in mind. Watch this video of one of the titles to see how the stories work:
BUT there is one more thing you can do while reading a good story together –
Combine Read Aloud with Storytelling and you have a most magical formula to fuel the language propeller.
Storytelling is a strategy that consists in presenting a story in a somewhat theatrical way. It can be as easy as just changing your voice according to the characters, or as fun and multisensory as acting out the story. I personally like experimenting and doing many different things when presenting stories.
So there you go, two fantastic strategies to get you started right-away on the road to high fluency in Spanish.
And now you can get the entire collection of classic bilingual Spanish-English storybooks specifically designed for young children learning Spanish through read aloud /storytelling techniques!
The subscription provides access to the following titles:
- The Red Hen / La gallina roja
- Cinderella / Cenicienta
- The Three Little Pigs / Los tres cerditos
- Jack and the Beanstalk / Juan y las habichuelas mágicas
- Thumbelina / Pulgarcita
- The Ugly Duckling / El patito feo
- The Goose Game / El juego de la oca / Le jeu d’oie
So after subscribing, what should you focus on?
- Personal interaction. Your kids will learn more Spanish by talking and playing with you. [Note: older children and adults can use the stories independently, but I still recommend to have a learning buddy]
- Animate your storytelling sessions. Make pretend voices, act out some parts, wear wigs and other props… make the sessions as animated and lively as possible!
- Use your Spanish! Make the point of using the Spanish that sticks with you (more each time) in your daily conversations with your child. Also, do NOT worry about speaking with perfect grammar and pronunciation. Actual usage is more important at this point.
For even greater results with your “Spanish for Kids” lessons:
- Play the stories frequently. This is both to train your ear to the flow of real Spanish in action and also to register Spanish grammar, intonation, cultural flair, etc., in your brain (a lot of this process will take place unconsciously!).
- Set personal learning goals. For example, “This week we will learn at least five new expressions.” Challenge yourself as you become more strategic in your learning. It’s a good idea to keep a language-learning journal and look back at all the progress that you have made—don’t forget to pat yourself on the back.
Key Features of Ana Lomba’s Classic Bilingual Stories:
- Voice-over by native actresses for captivating effect and to help you model animated speech.
- Easy toggle functionality between Spanish and English so you can quickly check the meaning if you get lost—you could also alternate reading in the two languages if you so please.
- “Pause” button so you can stop and replay shorter chunks of the text.
- Divided in scenes so that you can concentrate on one section at a time and for easier reenactment.
- Vibrant comic style illustrations, providing strong non-verbal cues to reinforce comprehension and make the experience very enjoyable.
- Tons of everyday language and dialogues at a kid’s level for easy transfer to daily parent-child interaction.
With my portfolio of Spanish-for-Kids e-storybooks, your children will be well on their way to learning fluent Spanish for just $7/month! That’s about the cost of one Starbucks capuccino or one movie rental!
All bilingual Spanish stories for just $7/month.
[Note: These stories are also available on the iPad; in order to get the iPad applications, click on the “App Store” icon on your iPad and search for “Ana Lomba”)
“I began trying to learn Spanish as a second language late in life and realize it would have been much easier if I had been exposed to it as a child. It is important to me that my grandchildren have that opportunity. One of the best means to achieve that goal I’ve discovered is the Ana Lomba Fairy Tales in Spanish series. Our 2 1/2 year old granddaughter loves them. She knows the stories and using the iPad, listens to them in Spanish. When she’s staying at our home, I read her stories and we act out the characters at night before going to bed. When traveling the hour between her house and our home, she can listen to the stories using the iPad in the back seat of the car. She can navigate well enough to move between Goldilocks, The Three Bears, Cinderella and the others as she chooses.
“The stories are well written and expose her to a wide variety of vocabulary words, but also to elements of grammar that are essential to understanding the present and past. No boring grammar or vocabulary lessons, but as she listens and repeats she begins to understand the context of the story. It’s just like she’s learning English. Often she unconsciously slips from English to Spanish and back again. She has some words that she only knows in Spanish.
“Her parents and I use these books in a larger context of going to Mexican restaurants where she can ‘practice’ and stay busy too. She also attends a Spanish class one day a week and sometimes listens to Dora or Diego in Spanish, all things to make it fun and interesting.
“Ana Lomba’s books are a cornerstone to our family bi-lingual goal. Not only well written, but beautifully illustrated, and “updated” with fun references to things in her world these books are a real delight to our little girl.
“In addition to that, there is another plus as I am also working on learning Spanish. The stories expose me to new vocabulary words, contextual grammar, proper pronunciation and they are simply fun to read. I learn while I’m helping my granddaughter learn and we get to share some time together. What could be better than that? We own all the iPad books and can’t wait for more to come out!”
-Dale Wilson, President, Kanorado Corporation
P.S.: Reading Aloud and Storytelling – What fun and easy ways to propel your kid’s fluency in Spanish from Day One!
P.S.S.: Each story has over 40 pages of conversational Spanish. Your child – and you – will learn to talk with the characters.
P.S.S.S.: Mmm… A Starbucks coffee or hours and hours of playing and having fun with my child in Spanish? Will this coffee bring us a life of adventures, as learning Spanish will?
All bilingual Spanish stories for just $7/month.
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Ana Lomba is changing the way people think about and interact with young children learning languages. Her Parents’ Choice award-winning books, lively songs, games, stories, and mobile applications are quickly becoming favorites with teachers and parents who want to nurture young children’ inborn language abilities. Key to the success of Ana’s break-through method is a focus on the family as the ideal environment for early language learning – even her signature curriculum for language programs is built with parents in mind. Ana has taught toddler, preschool, elementary school, and college-level Spanish courses, and held leadership positions with some of the most influential language organizations in the US, including ACTFL, NNELL and FLENJ. After graduating with a law degree from Spain, her native country, Ana pursued graduate studies at Binghamton University, Princeton University, and NYU.