Paperback Partners

Do you read more than one book at a time?  I do, and sometimes it works and sometimes it just doesn't.  Recently I coincidentally happened to pair two tomes perfectly.  

My rousing cries of 'Vive la France' could be heard for kilometers.  Or at least the dogs came running....London doesn't speak French, but Paris does, of course. (Yes, my dogs are named after European cities.  Next I want a sausage dog named Vienna.)


Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novel, Ripley Under Water (fiction) was a bit disturbing to me, but I couldn't stop reading.  It was like being stuck in a traffic jam you know was caused by an accident, and, when you finally draw even with it being unable to look away despite your best intentions.  


Set in France and francophone Magreb, the prose is lyrical, with references to  smirking camels and yellow silk sofas and Brahms and the pattern of light reflected from a pond.


Ripley is concerned about the domestic business of a beautiful life--sketching, cutting flowers from the garden, playing the harpsichord, planning dinner, preparing for house guests and discussing the neighbours' lack of taste.  To his elegant French wife he describes with a shudder the decor of Pritchards next door as 'Style rustique. From the supermarket. Truly heavy.' 


He's also concerned about getting blamed for an old murder he thought was long buried (punny, eh?).  And so he ruthlessly, coldly goes about protecting himself and his adored wife.


I read it at the same time as Pardon My French  (non-fiction) by Charles Timoney, who absolutely charmed me and even taught me a thing or two.  An Englishman in Paris, he works in a French firm and shares what he learns about the culture and language.  

Now, without blowing my own horn, my French is pretty good and I've spent quite a bit of time in a French family.  So I'm pretty confident (read smug) in these matters.  What a surprise when Timoney both entertained and enlightened me in great measure. 


So, wherever you live you can grab these two books, pour yourself a glass of red wine or brew a pot of tisane and loose yourself in a francophile world.

Bargain Book Bonanza (24): Bloggie Bonanza!

Welcome to Bargain Book Bonanza!

A book haul linky party for bargain loving bookworms!

Want to join the party? Just visit the Bargain Book Bonanza page for the particulars.

Leslie is hosting this week!

What is this? Blogs? Is that really fair? I mean, isn't this supposed to be about (air quotes) books?

Excellent question, kind sir and/or madam. Yes, this is fair. Books are involved, and it is my humble opinion that this would be a bonanza.

As none of you probably know, I am planning to home school my kids after fifth grade. If any of you have ever looked into homeschooling you know how expensive it is! Actually, if you are an educator, tutor or parent, you know that supplemental materials, educational games, and extra supplies are expensive!

So, I went researching. I got a book from the library about home schooling for free or very little money. I was contemplating buying it, but decided to check out the reviews of this one and similar titles. One of the reviews mentioned www.freelyeducate.com that provides free resources for a variety of subjects. There is a sister site www.frugallyeducate.com that lists great deals that come along.

Some examples of the neat-o finds are free classics that can be downloaded to your PC (and e-readers, of course), free worksheets, free or reduced magazine subscriptions (no catches), discount school supplies, and really cool downloadable educational crafts. 

What I like the most is the free or low cost curriculum! There are some fantastic free sources to legitimately teach K-12 - math, science, language arts, foreign languages, history, and more! These are age-appropriate lessons that can be used by a tutor, teacher, or home schooler.

One of my favorite finds from these sites is www.livemocha.com. It is free language website for just about any language - even ESL! Very similar to Rosetta Stone, a user can even record a few sentences and have a native speaker critique his pronunciation. So cool!


Anyway, I am super excited to find a place that has scoured the internet for real and safe sources and has compiled it into an easy to follow blog.

Do you have any great websites or blogs you are excited about? Dish please!

If you have a bargain book, please share. We love to brag on bargains!

Bargain Book Bonanza (23): Classics, sort-of

Welcome to Bargain Book Bonanza!

A book haul linky party for bargain loving bookworms!

Want to join the party? Just visit the Bargain Book Bonanza page for the particulars.


Leslie is hosting this week!

Good morning, all. I had intended to write this last night, but we ended up watching a movie - a SAD movie - and I was too tired after that to get this out. (Just FYI, Mars Needs Moms is very sad. No spoilers, but if you have sensitive kids, maybe pass on this one. One of ours ended up in the middle of our bed last night! If you have a bunch of ingrates, maybe this is a good one. Just saying.)

Anyway, at this pernt in time, when I go book shopping I look for children's books. I am interested in early readers for my two younger ones and fiction books that will get my older one interested in trying new subjects.

This week I found two little goodies - The Cat in the Hat and The Hardy Boys. Both are recent editions. 

99 cents each at Goodwill

I read all The Hardy Boys books when I was a kid and loved them (I never could get into Nancy Drew) so I thought this might be fun for my 10 year old. He hasn't opened it yet, but I may just read it with him.

And The Cat in the Hat has a lot of "sight words" that children need to know as well as rhyming. Plus it's fun! 

So, while not quite as much of a bargain as Lesa can find, me likey!

My second "find" is not really a bargain exactly, but it is a follow up of a previous bargain, and I am equally excited about it. I bought Corre, Perro. Corre, which is the full-sized version of Go, Dog. Go from another website. I won't say the name, but it starts with an "O" and rhymes with Cloverstock.

 

I absolutely adore these books. First the English book, the original, shows location and direction, opposites and contrasts. The vocabulary is fantastic for a kindergartner and first grader.  And the Spanish is exactly the same, but - get this - IN SPANISH! So again, learning all of the above, but IN SPANISH: 

My 6 year old reads the sentence, then we look at the picture and I ask, "Ok, what does perro mean? (DOG) Right! And what does grande mean? (looks at picture~BIG) Exactly and so what does perro grande mean? (BIG DOG!) YAY! You got it! See how easy Spanish is?"

I get such a big grin when he figures it out! LOVE. IT. 

Anyway, I paid about $7 for Corre, Perro. Corre. Not a bargain in the absolute sense of the word, but it is a great aid, so I think it's a good deal for what it is giving us!

So, what about you? What bargain books have you gotten? Maybe they are not at rock bottom prices, but they are a bargain for what they offer!

If you have a bargain book, please share. We love to brag on bargains!

Storytime Challenge:Oso Pardo, Oso Pardo, Que Ves Ahi? by Bill Martin

It's been awhile since I have contributed to the storybook challenge. I haven't stopped reading to my little ones, just haven't posted about it.

I actually have a little challenge of my own happening right now. I am trying to teach my middle son Spanish.The background on the whys will be in one of my next posts.

One of my biggest goals in this is to get my son reading the language. Reading is, in my opinion, the key to learning any language. More on that in the next post!

So, in search of books. Well, my mom asked if she could buy presents for my kids. Yes, but they have to be books. Buy Spanish books for Nico, please. (See? I said please.) After a little grumbling about trains and tea sets, she agreed, and set off for Barnes and Noble. 

Well, I don't know if you have perused B&N for Spanish books for children, but there just isn't a lot at these stores. She bought several, but they were either too difficult or too boring for my son. He's a beginning reader in English and more than, say, twenty Spanish words on a page is overwhelming. 

So, I returned quite a few and got a gift card. Then I got online. Now, there are a TON of books in Spanish for beginners!

I selected, among others, a few books by Bill Martin. He wrote Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? I purchased the Spanish version: Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí?

I must admit, I never looked at these books in English. My boys were interested in trains, specifically Thomas, so I never looked for other things to read to them. I am so glad I got these!

After I received the books, I flipped through them to see if these would help me, or I should just pass them on as pretty books to my 2 year old. 

They are perfect! The illustrations are very pretty (or as mi suegro me dijo, "Que lindo!", and then began yelling about the weather or something. Los Argentinos. They yell. A lot. Anywhere. We go to a restaurant with my in-laws. "This bread is good. My mother made bread like this." ~ "Your mother never made bread like this." ~ "Hey! I think I know what my mother made!" ~ "How do you know what she made??!! You were never home!!! Always off having fun!!" ~ "FINE, MY LOVE!! FINE!! <mumbling> I don't know what I am talking about?! This woman doesn't know anything!" Then they both look at me and roll their eyes at the other one...) Uhhh...where was I? Oh, yeah. Books. Yes. Pictures. Yes. The pictures are very pretty, but the good thing is they don't distract!

This is exactly what I need! These books help in several ways: building vocabulary, learning colors, verb conjugation (you see, I see, they see, we see), and the repetition allows Nico to get comfortable with sounds and the rhythm of reading. 

At first, I read these to him, only asking him to read one word on each page. Then I had him read the "Animal, animal" que ves ahi? parts alone. Last night he read the entire book ALONE! It took for. ever. But he did it. I was sooooo proud of him!

But did Nico enjoy reading it? Let's ask him.

Nico, do you like this book? Oh, yeah! Yeah!

What is your favorite part? The bear. It's so...so...so meat-eatery.

Do you want to read it again? Yeah.

What language are you reading? Spanish.

Are you happy that you can read in Spanish? Yes. Because... Because I want to talk in Spanish.

Yep, I think we are making progress! Whew!

How about you? Are you reading any good books? Do your in-laws yell in restaurants?

Language Learning Resources

Are you trying to learn a language? Don’t know where to start or need that extra boost to your studies? I have some hints and advice for you. For many years I have taught adults languages, and they often want advice on which resources to buy, which internet sites to use, etc.

Don’t get too carried away at first. Most classes are self contained, and you’ll have all the essentials if you’ve signed up. If you do want to build a language-learning resource center, take it slowly. Here are suggestions of books and CD’s that anyone can use to help their language studies. I will try to give general advice, with specific examples, so you can adapt these ideas for any language you’ve chosen. But let’s pretend you are learning French.

BOOKS

NOTEBOOK

When travelling you must carry a tiny notepad and a pen, and have it handy, in your pocket. I am afraid that sometimes students think they are saying words really well, but in fact their accent is unintelligible to native speakers. If you are having difficulty being understood, then whip out your little book and write down what you’re trying to say. Then, if you have found a friendly speaker, repeat after them to learn the correct pronunciation.

Also, there will be times when you don’t understand what someone is trying to tell you, and they can write it down for you to read. This is especially helpful with numbers.

GRAMMAR

The Idiot’s Guide series has ‘Learning the language on your own’ guides as well as phrase books available in pretty much any language you’d want to learn. They are the first book I recommend to my students. The ones I’ve used have explanations of grammar and vocabulary done in a snappy, easy-to-digest style. They also come with a CD rom, which in my experience is just a soft version of your book, so not exciting. The Dummies’ Guides would, I’m sure, offer a similar product, and none of my students have had anything bad to say about them.

Old grammar books are old. Teaching philosophy has changed remarkably over the years, and old books are out-dated. They are likely to be cheap, and your learning style might be compatible with them, though. I plowed through old exercise and drill books and felt I learned lots from them.

DICTIONARIES


Firstly, I’ve never really come across a BAD dictionary. My main advice would be to buy, if possible, a dictionary published by a company in that language. For example, use Larousse to study French, Mondadori for Italian, and Langenscheidt for German. You’ll want to consider size: are you going to carry it as you travel or keep it on your desk? Obviously smaller dictionaries won’t give you as many words as bigger ones, so it might be worth having two; a big one at your desk for study and one for carrying to class and in your bag as you travel.

PHRASE BOOKS

Essential if you travel, these pocket sized books are sorted by topic, so you just flip to your situation. For example, banking or restaurant will have all the basic vocabulary and phrases together for you. You can ask, ‘Do you have this in a smaller size?’

CHILDREN’S DICTIONARIES


These picture books have an image with text in both languages, sometimes with a fair bit of culture, too. They are a fun way to study with your kids, if you have them. You might pick up a hundred words with one of these, while releasing your inner child.

VERB BOOKS


These are for the pedantic, detail-minded learner, or the more advanced student. Verbs are the skeleton that language hangs on, and it’s worth having a book dedicated solely to them if you want to move beyond survival phrases (Don’t think I’m knocking survival language—it’s essential!). They contain a list of verbs with all their possible conjugations, and I find mine essential.

CD’S

Audio resources are essential. You can listen to them over and over,
parroting until you’ve got it right. They range from the massive, expensive and highly respected Rosetta Stone to this perfectly adequate $10 cheapie I picked up at my post office. I recommend my students buy a cheap one to start, and master that before investing more money.

NOVELS/READERS

Once you’re ready to attack a ‘real’ text, you’ll just have to shop around. You have to find something challenging that’s not going to frustrate you. Here’s where there’s not that much available, in my experience. If you are in a university town, check out the second-hand book shops students frequent. I’ve found some treasures in my small town bookshop even though we have no higher learning institution here.

One under-utilized resource is romance novels. Don’t laugh! They have a predictable plot, few characters, limited vocabulary (some new words here!), and a reasonable length. See if you can find the site for a major romance publisher in your target language, and you might get free online reads.

Summary

Learning a second language can be an incredibly rewarding experience, just make sure you are kind to yourself and have fun as you go along.