Chile

[kj39]

We have taken our kids to Chile several times. This year, Jake, who is now 20 will be in a language immersion program in vina Del Mar for two weeks. He will be at a HOMESTAY and will have language classes in the morning and the afternoon. Vina is a great beach area and he will improve his Spanish skills. Chile is a great country to visit in Dec., Jan or February as their seasons are opposite ours. The people are friendly and it is easy to get around with kids!

[fuscofamily5]

What language program is your son using and did you investigate any of those for children under age 18? We'd love to do something like that with our kids. We just started them with Spanish tutoring recently.

My wife and I traveled to Chile (as part of a 6 week S.America backpacking trip) years ago and loved it, but we haven't taken our children to S. America yet.

[kj39]

Hi - The program we are using is called LATIN IMMERSION - ECELA . They have been great to work with. They are also very reasonably priced. I would not recommend it for anyone under eighteen as there is little supervision. Our "child" is tweny and very independent.

[HostColleen]

I *just* saw the TV commercial for this program called MUZZY (had to google to find name because as you can tell, the name is strange and I couldn't recall!) which has been developed by the BBC.

There are programs for various age levels, but the commercial was AMAZING to see even tiny ones speaking foreign languages! They had great accents too.....I was in shock but I think it is wonderful because I think all children should be taught a second language at the earliest possible time. It will help with travel, and since we live in such a global society, can only benefit them further on.

Some parents born speaking another language typically begin speaking that language to their baby once born, in addition to English. But for many, that is not an option so I think starting early with a program (or as soon as you find one you like) is brilliant.

I looked for Baby Einstein, thinking they might have one but didn't see anything. For some reason though, my inability to find it might mean nothing because I was sure they had it. The methods might be different, though.

MUZZY uses video, i.e. the television. Here's a link.........if you haven't yet seen them on TV, but I only first saw it maybe a week or two ago
http://www.early-advantage.com/
BBC seems to do things well it seems - mostly!

Buona Fortuna/Bonne Chance...........(I'm still working on Spanish and did poorly with German! ) but there's Good luck to all in Italian and French!

Funny story? Just spoke with a parent the other day who took his daughter to Paris twice when she Aced French studies. I said "well she must have had a blast and gotten you all around" and he told me she actually spoke very little as she felt shy about it so he spoke more than she did! Alternatively, my friend's son was studying Mandarin, took a trip to China with the class and did very well! Does he know characters? I don't know.........kids & adults - all unique and I find everyone reacts differently to languages.

Giving it a shot? Always wonderful and however it goes, it goes