Bridging the Language Gap Using Bilingual Picture Books
There are more than 39 million Hispanics live in the United States making it the fifth largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world. It is estimated that within five years, only Mexico will have more Spanish-speakers than the U.S. Schools are offering bilingual courses and fully integrated bilingual curriculum. In some areas of the country , Spanish even exceeds English as the first language of the residents. Families are integrating languages into their neighborhoods regularly.
We propose bridging the language gap with bilingual picture books that both educate and entertain. The presence of both English and Spanish in the same book allows cross-cultural access and language development. Reading is a wonderful family experience which allows children to explore character development, expanding imagination and develop problem solving skills. The addition of another language educates and the illustrations in a picture book support the learning in an entertaining way.
Raven Tree Press offer bilingual books in a variety of styles and choices.
Full text translation-Full text translation means the text of the story is presented in English and then again in Spanish. Both texts are generally placed on the page with an icon separating the two for ease of reading. A different ink color is also generally used to further offset the two languages.
Embedded text-Take a story in English and sprinkle in a little Spanish. We call it embedded text. The word that will be embedded is usually first introduced in English and then reiterated in the sentence, or at least in the same paragraph in Spanish later. Once the word is introduced, it can be used again and again in context of the story. The context of the story and the illustrations are of utmost importance when using embedded text as they aid in making the leap from one language to another.
Wordless-Can a wordless book be effective in learning language? Definitely! Wordless picture books and picture books with limited words are both beautiful and educational. They help children develop language, creative thinking and enhance future reading and writing skills. Using wordless picture books, children learn that reading follows a left-to-right pattern. They learn that stories generally have a beginning, a middle section and an ending. They also learn to identify details, see cause and effect, make judgements and draw conclusions. We present an instruction page in both English and Spanish for creative uses of our books.
Concept Bilingual-In concept bilingual books, we take one concept of language and focus strictly on that. Counting, for example. The story is presented in English, but the concept (numbers in this case) are presented in both English and Spanish. Keywords are easily learned using this format.
Raven Tree Press includes an English/Spanish vocabulary page to help readers with keywords in either language.
Raven Tree Press children's bilingual picture books are available at favorite bookstores, online booksellers and at the publisher's web site www.raventreepress.com.
Publisher Note: Book excerpts and artwork can be imbedded in this article easily to clarify points if interested. Please contact me for further details.
Raven Tree Press is an independent book publisher specializing in bilingual picture books in English and Spanish.
Contact: Raven Tree Press
Dawn Jeffers, Publisher
www.raventreepress.com
dawn@raventreepress.com
920-438-1605 phone
920-438-1607 fax
MORE RESOURCES:
Language Watchdog Is Fed Up With ‘Green’ New York Times, United States - By James Kanter Lake Superior State University says environmental buzzwords were the scourge of the English language over the past year. ... WSU on quixotic quest to revive little-used words |
Tennessean Editorial, Opinion Piece Address Language Barriers in ... Kaiser network.org, DC - The Tennessean on Friday published an editorial and an opinion piece that addressed issues related to language barriers in health care. ... Health plans will have to offer translators New Law: Non English Speakers Have Right to Interpreter at the ... A new law to know |
Deputies learn second language WBXH, LA - It's cases like these that have Sheriff Sid Gautreaux pushing his deputies to learn the language. "Sheriff Gautreaux said he absolutely wanted us to be ... |
Spanish-language radio stations refocus their missions Yakima Herald-Republic, WA - This kind of "live garage sale" programing makes business sense for Spanish-language radio stations here -- even when it's offered for free. ... |
Recall language for Dartmouth "” an idea whose time has come? South Coast Today, MA - By Curt Brown DARTMOUTH — Has the time come for Dartmouth to have recall language in its Town Charter? Town Meeting members will decide that issue at a ... |
Full scholarships to aid language study Statesman Journal, OR - The National Security Language Initiative for Youth program is offering 550 full scholarships for high school students wanting to learn Arabic, Chinese, ... |
Opinion: Learning their language a challenge for Lakotas Daily Republic, SD - He said a few of his friends knew Lakota words, but most of them were too busy with computers, cell phones and other things to really get into the language. ... |
RE: language with time travel :-p Newmobilecomputing.com - It wasn't used just in the 1980s, but the most famous achievements of Lisp's date back to the 1980s. Actually, the best stuff Lisp was used for date back in ... |
 3 News NZ | Language test for nurses panned New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - New regulations requiring overseas-trained nurses, including those from English-speaking countries, to take a language test before registering will ... Union: language tests risk making nursing shortage worse |
Select Interface Language: Greek News, New York - By Michael Hill (AP) Johnstown, NY—The yogurt made by Fage here in upstate New York cow country is not your mother's yogurt. It's Greek-style yogurt, ... Select Interface Language: Select Interface Language: Select Interface Language: |
What Does an Interpreter Do?
Many people get confused as to the difference between an interpreter and a translator. There is a common tendency to think translators interpreter, or that interpreters translate.
English Language Sputtering Online Like an Old Ford!
Sad, but true. Just about everywhere you look online, the English language is suffering a fate worse than death.
Learning a Foreign Language: Why Should you Learn Words You Never Use in Your Mother Tongue?
Imagine a child sitting in front of a desk, his head in his hands, and mumbling various lists of words over and over. Does this child remind you of your own experience? If yes, I bet that "list of words" does not sound appealing to you.
Chinese Pinyin or Hanyu Pinyin Overview
Chinese Pinyin is the romanization of the Chinese "written sound". Romanization approximates Mandarin pronunciation with Western spellings and includes a tone mark to signify the pitch of a word.
Learn Italian in Italy
You can combine your love of the Italian language with an unforgettable experience in the country where the language is spoken by studying Italian in Italy! Hands-down, the best way to learn a foreign language is to live, work, or study in a native speaking environment. Studying Italian in Italy is the best possible experience you can have to learn the language.
Can You Understand English?
There is a lot of talk about making English the official language of the USA. That would stop the need to spend so much money printing out things like drivers license, tax, voter registration and other official forms in so many languages.
Whats In A Word? More Than You Realize
What's in a word?Apparently more than we might want.For others, the ability to express yourself in the most meaningful way.
English Has Come A Long, Long Way...
I often wonder what would happen if Shakespeare were to be transported in a time machine to our world today. What would he think? How would he react?Yes, Willie would probably tell me "thou hast too much time on thy hands if thou spendeth it wondering about such flights of fancy.
Learn Italian in Your Hometown
Are you interested in learning the Italian language right in your own hometown? There are several options that you can explore to find the Italian classes that are just perfect for you! First, you should consider whether you would you enjoy the interaction that takes place among students in group classes, or if you would prefer the one-on-one attention of a private instructor.1.
GROUSE ... GROUSE ... GROUSE!!!
I realize that we here in the United States consider ourselves at the top rung of the educational ladder, if only for the fact that so many foreign language students are breaking their necks to come here to both study and live English.But, on second glance, we should not deceive ourselves.
Second Language Competence Beneficial but often Misunderstood
Second language learning has associated with it many types of benefits. Among them include: social, economic, intellectual and linguistic.
Learning French in Paris
Nothing can be more frustrating than to be in France and not been able to speak their language. For, I remember the days when I was among people chanting around in a language totally alien to me, and me, trying to bring a smile in my face while shaking my head from north to south doing as if I am getting everything what they are speaking about, and waiting impatiently for my French wife to do the translation - and I can't deny, that that was not the most comfortable period of my life.
Show Me the Bunny: Language Acquisition
Some children are really funny about experimenting with speech. Nonetheless, the first intelligible words bring such a feeling of elation to a parent.
Mexican Living: Todays Obsession
I would like to talk about one of my many obsessions: learning Spanish. I have been thinking about this lately mostly because I am under the impression that, though I've lived in Mexico for two years, my Spanish sucks in a major way.
Don't Take The Romaji Short-Cut When Learning Japanese
This is an issue many Japanese learners come up against, particularly if they live outside Japan. After all, If you are not in the country, it seems difficult to justify the huge amount of time that learning Japanese characters seems to require.
7 Words Americans Should Stop Using Until Further Investigation
Relationship: Here is a word that is used to qualify, justify and honey coat just about every nefarious, sleazy or reprehensible union between almost anybody and anything. Recently on an edition of the Jerry Springer show a guest was about to be interviewed who was getting it on with a very close relative.
How Ronzoni Italian Foods Helped My Dad Learn English
My dad likes to say, he was made in Italy, but born in Brooklyn New York. You see his parents left Palermo, Sicily in February 1955 and sailed by boat to America.
Learn Korean: Part 1 - Asian Languages and Language Families
So, you have always been fascinated by Asian culture have you? Maybe you are someone who loves the martial arts; kung fu, tae-kwon-do, or karate. Perhaps you are interested in the cool oriental stores and like to buy many things from them to decorate your house.
Learning a Foreign Language: the Ventriloquists Lesson
The main feature you have to master, in order to call yourself a ventriloquist, is to speak without moving your lips. It is not that difficult.
Online IELTS Preparation - Why Does It Make Sense?
Because IELTS is a difficult test. While most agree that IELTS is a reasonable test, it is generally regarded as one of the most challenging tests of its type.
