I had the pleasure of meeting Bro Sultan Muhammad and his sweetheart of a wife, Sis Nadirah in Chicago this weekend. Bro Sultan teaching Arabic at the Muhammad University of Islam and also wrote the Muslim Daily Prayer book that comes with a cd. I asked him what is the best way to teach your children a language if you, as the teacher, are not a fluent speaker. He said to allow the children to hear the language daily. He suggested finding an Arab news radio station online and as the children listen they pick up the proper pronunciations. Then he said you could incorporate a language learning program like Berlitz or others. Sis Nadirah said you could incorporate a "language" time into your day. I thought that was a great idea. Soooo, in the Muhammad household, we will be listening to Arab news radio everyday between 3-4 pm. This is usually the time I'm cooking, so this will give the children a productive activity that doesn't involve me. Even though I'll be listening too. LOL. We live in an area that is largely Spanish speaking, so I'm going to look for an online program for that and make Spanish speaking friends!
I found this radio station.
You can also set your computer to play the Adhan at prayer times. Sis Nadirah said her oldest child learned to recite the Adhan perfectly this way.
I installed this one.
That's the best way to learn a language is to immerse the kids in it. You should have a good time doing this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this info and idea!
ReplyDeleteImmersion is the best! I just had trouble trying to figure out how to do it at home when I nor my hubby speak another language. This is going good though.
ReplyDelete