Whether your summer adventures keep you close to home or sunning on a beach, a book is an easy way to keep boredom at bay! Summer reading is a great way to increase one’s knowledge of the world, discover new genres, learn a new language, or even brush up on a second one. …

Music Around The World – Spotlight on the Didgeridoo

Music, similar to sports, has the unique ability to transcend language barriers and connect people from different cultures and backgrounds. Music can influence how people think and feel and has been a part of our culture since the beginning of time. Let’s take a look at one of the instruments that was invented thousands of years ago and is still in use today!

KHMER LANGUAGE: INTERESTING FACTS & RESOURCES

Let’s learn about the Khmer language! We’ve gathered background information and interesting facts about the language. In addition, check out our newest children’s books available in Khmer.

New Bilingual Books Explore Emotions and City Life

New to Language Lizard are two bilingual books, RAAG, the Red Striped Zebra, and Walking in my City, What do you see? RAAG, the Red Striped Zebra is an imaginative story that helps children learn how to manage big emotions such as anger and frustration. Walking in my City, What do you see? allows early readers to learn vocabulary and share experiences on a colorful walk through a busy city.

RAAG, the Red Striped Zebra

Raag is a zebra who sometimes has feelings bigger than he can control. When he gets angry, which is often, his black stripes turn red! Raag wishes he could react differently, but how? Luckily, Raag has a very caring best friend. With the help of Rufus, Raag slowly learns how to manage his temper.

RAAG, the Red Striped Zebra is the newest addition to the ‘I Feel’ Collection which explores emotions and supports social and emotional learning. Also featured in the ‘I Feel’ Collection are When Nani, When?, Squirrel Monkey, Happy After All, and Biscuit Moon.

Written by Keely Athena Barnes and illustrated by Jill Newton, RAAG, the Red Striped Zebra is available in English with Arabic, Chinese, Dari, French, Malayalam, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

Walking in my City, What do you see?

Take a walk through a busy, bustling city! This beautifully illustrated book invites the reader to explore city life. Everyday scenes of the city engage children to share experiences, explore vocabulary, and discover their surroundings. Perfect for early readers, this book is designed to encourage discussion during shared reading.

Walking in my City, What do you see? is available in the following bilingual editions: Arabic, Chinese, Dari, French, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Ukrainian, and Urdu. This book was written by Enebor Attard with illustrations by Marcella Wylie.

Celebrate Idiom Week with a Special Giveaway

We are tickled pink because it’s almost Idiom Week (January 14-20, 2024). To celebrate, we are hosting a special giveaway and we do not want you to miss out on this golden opportunity!

BENGALI LANGUAGE: INTERESTING FACTS & RESOURCES

Let’s learn about the Bengali language! We’ve gathered background information and interesting facts about the language. In addition, check out our newest children’s books available in Bengali.

LanguageLizard.com Gets A New Look!

After many months of hard work, we are excited to share our newly updated website! Our redesigned website incorporates a fresh, fun, and colorful look with an enhanced format, providing our visitors with easy access to all our products and services. The site refresh reflects our position as a leading children’s publisher and distributor of bilingual books and products in over 60 languages.

Benefits of Bilingualism: Debunking 5 Common Myths and Misunderstandings

Since October is Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month, a month-long celebration of bilingualism and multiculturalism, we wanted to look at five common myths and misconceptions surrounding bilingualism. Let’s explore and debunk some of these commonly held beliefs and shed some light on the truth behind bilingualism and its benefits.

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VOCABULARY STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING ELL STUDENTS

Image from Who Are We?

One crucial aspect of teaching ELL (English Language Learner) students is vocabulary development, as language learners need a strong foundation of words and phrases to communicate effectively in English. No matter their proficiency level or age, having a solid vocabulary base is critical for improving reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

From context clues to word games, let’s look at different ways to teach vocabulary to ELL students so they can succeed in their language development journey!

Vocabulary Strategies

Vocabulary Exposure: Encourage extensive reading through bilingual books, newspapers, and magazines to expose learners to a variety of vocabulary in different contexts. For navigating figurative language, which can be challenging for ELL students, we offer an Idioms Book Set, which uses a straightforward and culturally relevant teaching approach.

Reinforcement through Activities: Engage students in vocabulary games, flashcards, puzzles, and word association exercises to reinforce learned vocabulary and increase retention. (Many of our books have fun extension activities such as word searches, memory games, crafts, and more!)

Image from We Can All Be Friends

Start with Cognates: Encourage students to compare and contrast cognates (pairs of words that sound alike and have similar meanings in two languages). This strategy facilitates vocabulary expansion, promotes language comprehension, and boosts confidence among ELL students.

Contextualized Learning: Teach vocabulary in context, using real-life examples, authentic materials, and situational conversations to enhance comprehension and retention. (Check out this blog post for oral language development activities.)

Utilize Technology: Incorporate interactive online tools, educational apps, and multimedia resources to engage learners and provide them with individualized vocabulary practice. Create a classroom media center or utilize an interactive learning tool such as the PENpal Audio Recorder Pen with recordable labels to allow users to build fluency.

Learn More

Read this article about Vocabulary Development by ¡Colorin Colorado! for even more strategies.

SPORTS AROUND THE WORLD – SPOTLIGHT ON SEPAK TAKRAW

Sports have a unique ability to serve as a universal language that transcends cultural, linguistic, and societal barriers. A perfect example of this is international competitions such as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is currently happening in Australia and New Zealand. The event has 32 countries participating and millions of people tuning in worldwide to cheer their nations to victory.

Sepak Takraw

While soccer/football may be one of the oldest and most popular sports played globally, another lesser-known sport, Sepak Takraw, is popular in Southeast Asia but gaining traction worldwide. Like soccer/football, Sepak Takraw is a sport that can be traced back to ancient civilizations and is also thought to have some ties to modern-day soccer/football. …