Category Archives: Dual Language

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! Continue reading Vocabulary Strategies for Teaching ELL Students

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. Continue reading Sports Around the World – Spotlight on Sepak Takraw

6 Easy Ways to Encourage Summer Reading

Image from Fresh As A Daisy: Nature Idioms

Let’s face it, keeping kids engaged in learning can often be challenging during the summer months! Whether busy with camps or friends, summertime reading can often fall by the wayside. However, with less scheduling and more time (hopefully!), it’s also the perfect opportunity to encourage kids to expand their knowledge through reading. There is an entire week, the National Summer Learning Week, created to celebrate the importance of keeping kids learning, safe and healthy every summer and ensuring they return to school ready to succeed!

Continue reading 6 Easy Ways to Encourage Summer Reading

New Bilingual Book Explores Patience and Sweet Rewards

Language Lizard is excited to announce our newest offering, When Nani, When? This bilingual book is a sweet tale in which a young girl learns that patience has delicious rewards.

Continue reading New Bilingual Book Explores Patience and Sweet Rewards

Bilingualism is a Superpower!

That’s right, being bilingual is a superpower!

In fact, Miguel Cardona, US Secretary of Education, stated that “bilingualism and biculturalism is a superpower” during his recent address at the National Association for Bilingual Education’s (NABE) 52nd Conference. Continue reading Bilingualism is a Superpower!

Engaging Bilingual Book Recommendations for Summer Reading

With the weather beginning to warm up and the end of the school year in sight, it’s a great time to start thinking about activities to keep the kids engaged and learning during the long summer days and prevent the dreaded “summer slide.”

                                                                           Image from The Three Little Howlers

Continue reading Engaging Bilingual Book Recommendations for Summer Reading

New Bilingual Books Help Readers Discover Earth’s Diverse Biomes

Dive into the ocean, trek through the desert, and journey to the jungle with Language Lizard’s new Habitat Series. Each book in the series explores one of our planet’s most diverse biomes: coral reefs, deserts, and tropical rainforests. These vibrantly illustrated and fact-filled books allow readers to “visit” these biomes found in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Sahara Desert in northern Africa, and the Tropical Rainforests in Central and South America, to name a few.

Continue reading New Bilingual Books Help Readers Discover Earth’s Diverse Biomes

Colors and Chinese Culture

January is the month of new beginnings, including the Chinese New Year! According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2023 marks the year of the Rabbit, symbolizing longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture. The most popular lucky colors for 2023 are green and blue, while pink and red are also very lucky. (Check out this Language Lizard blog post for ways to celebrate the Chinese New Year.)

In this guest post by Daniel Nalesnik, founder of Hack Chinese, we look at the symbolic meaning of colors in Chinese culture while delving into the connection between color and the Theory of the Five Elements. 

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Learning Chinese Language and Culture in Hong Kong

 

A firsthand account of raising expat kids in Hong Kong by Albie Ashbrook.

These days I am a librarian in northern New Jersey, with three children in college. But before this stage of life, our family lived all over the world with our children attending international schools and moving every couple of years. While we always spoke English at home and the kids’ primary language at school was English, all our kids studied multiple other languages at school every day, and we tried to incorporate cultural awareness into our daily life. Continue reading Learning Chinese Language and Culture in Hong Kong

October is Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month!

October is Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month, providing a unique opportunity to recognize and celebrate the wonderful aspects of bilingualism and multiculturalism. We are offering fun activities,  handouts and more to celebrate this special month!

Continue reading October is Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month!