Dear Readers,

I came across this info through another list serve and I thought it would bring an interesting discussion here on this blog.

The Portuguese Government recently approved changes on the spelling of European Portuguese to change the spelling of many words into the Brazilian Portuguese spelling. I personally think the European Portuguese was lost in time, changes were past due, but changes which would reflect their own reality, not converting to the spelling of another country.

We linguists know that there’s no better or worse version of a language, just diversity and different dialects which are products of environment, space, time, people.

Variables which are specific to each country where the language is spoken. You might say this is orthography only. Regardless, apparently this is a major reform which will, in my opinion, bring confusion to language professionals who work with European Portuguese.

What do you think? Does anybody else have any information on this topic?

I would be interested in learning more.

Any readers work in Europe?

Here is the link posted on the other list:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7405985.stm

Regards,

Claudia Krusch
CK Translations LLC

I was pleasantly surprised today when my youngest student, 12 months old, said her first word, uno!

Many articles published discuss the effects of Early Foreign Language Learning on the child’s native language development and other skills, such as early reading, better test taking skills, math and reasoning skills highly improved and the list goes on and on.

If your goal is to improve or boost one of those areas or just bring  a joyful experience to your child, early foreign language learning is definitely an educational and fun experience I would recommend!

If you wish to read some of the articles on studies published about Early Foreign Language learning and their effects on children’s development, please log on http://www.easylearnlanguages.com/resources.html

Saludos!

Claudia Krusch

CK Translations LLC

My own son is the topic of this post. I took him to take the kindergarten test last week and I must admit I was more nervous than he was. He has that cute way of saying I’m here, pay attention to me! When the teacher who was testing him asked: Could you please tell me the ABCs? He answered: Would you like to hear it in English, Portuguese or Spanish? She was speechless in a good way! He did the three versions of letters and numbers and passed the test with flying colors! When I heard the report from the teacher,  that he not only did that but that his language skills are way above normal for his age, I suddenly realized something I have been talking about for years! My “AHA” moment came and I was moved to see my son’s skills blossom and amazed by the impact of foreign languages in his life.

I’m extremely proud and happy to give you this report because I have been a strong advocate for early age foreign language teaching and I had only studies and some students to bring the knowledge of the effects of introducing a foreign language at early age. Now I have a much stronger sense of what can be accomplished and I wish to share my experience and expertise to moms all over the world and encourage them to start!

Contact me, if you wish to have some free materials and links to start or give me your e-mail address if you wish to be on our news list. We will be giving away copies of my highly anticipated Mommy and Me Little Red Riding Hood – Come and have fun using Spanish!

Regards,

Claudia Krusch
CK Translations LLC