Depending on what part of the country you live in, you will find knowing Spanish tremendously helpful – especially in business. My oldest son has become fairly fluent simply by managing several employees that speak ZERO English. At first it was pretty frustrating for him, and he’s said that he wished he had paid more attention to the 2 years we did during his junior high years.
Preparing your children for the business world involves learning many more skills than is on a typical scope and sequence, although languages are usually required for entrance into most colleges. I had a few good reasons to explain why we were learning Spanish in those days, if only I had thought to tell them that they would need it to communicate in their jobs. Duh. Spanish is almost a required second language in the southern half of the US. Granted, if you live in the northern edge of the US near Canada, French might be more useful.
So, I thought you might like a list of some free online Spanish resources for your homeschool. Some of these are more thorough than others, and I tried to avoid the ones that offer a few trial lessons only to entice you to buy their course. You’ll also find a wealth of FREE resources in other subjects if you return to ‘HOME’ and see their list of offerings.
The University of California Agriculture Labor Mgmt- Their philosophy is to learn by listening first to natives speaking the language. Audio files are free for the download.
123 Teach Me.com – offers beginning, intermediate and advanced Spanish lessons along with conversational Spanish, too.
Online Free Spanish.com – A great site for parents to learn with their kids (actually, I think this is the site my son went to when he needed to expand his vocabulary!) Fun, easy.
Home Education Resources.com - An amazing resource you will find more than just Spanish on! Lots of full color printables for younger children, too.
Ed Helper.com – has several different easy to learn approaches, fun printable worksheets, audios and more.
Multilingual Books.com/freelessons-spanish – This site sells the resource books, but this link will lead you to a list of a variety of online Spanish podcasts and online lessons done by people that just want to share what they know.
I Love Languages.com/IDP/IDPsearch – A handy translation tool you can use for Spanish as well as several other languages. You’ll want to book mark this!
If you are looking for a program to purchase, I’ve heard that the Rosetta Stone is the cadillac of computer programs. Anyone else have experience with a Spanish program they really liked? Or didn’t like?
You are certainly right that it is so useful to know Spanish. We live in the Washington, DC area and there are a lot of native Spanish speakers here – in schools, working in retail, the food business, looking for work, etc.
Thanks for all your suggestions of helpful programs and resources.
Congrats to your son that he can communicate in Spanish with the employees he manages.