The Early Years: Oral Foreign Language

"Believing as we do now, that children should learn a foreign language as they learn their mother tongue -- they speak it long before they learn to read or write -- we endeavor to give the little ones while still in the nursery a joyous and interesting oral introduction, by means of games, songs, and stories to the future study of the language as read and written."
Nursery French by Frances Epps,
Parents Review, Volume 1, pg 269



"Picture lessons, songs and actions, and games (these last very sparingly, as children soon think it very much beneath them to play at lessons, they are quick to feel the pleasure of dignity of work) -- these all help to practice the ear and tongue, the eye unconsciously helping to bring about the association between the idea and the sounded word. "

"Picture lessons are very good for this oral work, but they want to be treated skillfully...For small classes the coloured plates of Christmas numbers of the illustrated papers often serve very well if judiciously selected -- scenes that illustrate home-life, with children, dollies, animals, and so on."

Clara L. Daniell

Parents Review, Volume 14, no 11. pg. 808-814




Charlotte Mason says in Volume 1, "The child should never see French words in print until he has learned to say them with as much ease and readiness as if they were English." She also wrote of starting out by learning two to six new foreign words daily - while still keeping up with the ones already learned. At the end of a year, "the child who has that number of words, and knows how to apply them, can speak French." 


A Few Resources to Help:



[I am constantly adding more resources, this entire endeavor is a work in progress. Be patient and check back often! Thanks!]

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