Learning Conversational Foreign Language in Your Homeschool
If you’re like me, all those high school French or Spanish classes have long since vacated your homeschool parent brain. And the thought of trying to teach a foreign language to my children seems a bit daunting. Where do I start? Which program is best? How many different kinds of language learning software are there? What if I want to learn, too?
*Disclosure: I received this product for free and was compensated for my time. All opinions are honest and my own and I was not required to give a positive review.*
I think Mango Languages is a fantastic program that will put your homeschool parent mind at ease! After you check out the review and see why Mango is a great fit for your homeschool, be sure to enter to win the Kindle Fire and get your Mango Languages free trial and subscription discount code!
How Does Mango Language Work?
Here is a short video of Mr. T using Mango. He’s picked up some new words, and it is actually unusual for a child with Apraxia to do well with a foreign language, but because he looked at the lessons as a “game”, he repeated the words several times each and was thrilled when a new word clicked! For reference, he is 4 and a half. An older child would most likely view it as a fun and fast way to learn conversational French, in this case.
Here are a few of the reasons I think Mango Languages works so well.
- The background is simple and easy to navigate.
- The narrator is easy to understand and you can replay the pronunciation over and over again.
- For children, learning the spoken language is much easier that learning the written language first. By the time younger learners are ready to begin studying their favorite foreign languages in written form, the grammar will already be intuitive for them.
- The lessons make it fun to learn and there is a great feeling of accomplishment when you understand the conversation and can reply.
- There is a microphone option that allows the student to record if they choose. It’s a perfect way for your child to check their pronunciation and correct it if needed without you needing to know the language. Awesome!
- Mango lessons cover both the understood meanings of the phrase and the literal meanings. If you have a child that sometimes takes things literally, this is very helpful!
I also used Mango Languages Homeschool to see how much French I remembered from the 4+ years I had a little over a decade ago. Madame Muller would not be impressed! However, after just a few short lessons, I was remembering more and more and I feel confident with Mango as our spine, I could help both boys navigate not only French, but any language they take an interest in. It really is that simple!
What does Mango Languages Homeschool version include?
- Access to Mango’s site and over 60 languages including the basics like Spanish and French, English as a second language, and Latin! (And all the Classical mom’s yelled Yay!)
- Access to specialized languages courses like Medical Latin American Spanish, French cheese and wine, and Hebrew for scholars.
- Interest-led languages like Scottish Gaelic and Pirate are a fun option for your learners to explore.
- The dashboard makes it easy to keep track of which lessons have been completed and how many hours have been logged.
- The language lessons include cultural tidbits that are interesting, informative, and could easily lead to more in-depth research of language and culture stemming from piqued curiosity.
Mango Monthly Language Learning Savings
Lara’s Place readers may use the code HS5PM for $5 off the monthly subscription rate! Sign up for your 14 day free trial here to begin learning any of the 60+ languages Mango offers.
Find Mango Languages Online
Enter to win a Kindle Fire fully loaded with Mango Languages software!
Yes! There’s an App for That! Mango Languages Goes Where You Do!
The Mango Languages Library app has 40 of the languages Mango offers. So you can learn wherever your family’s travels take you!
I know this is an older thread that I picked up off my twitter, retweeted by Meredith, but I’d like to know if you know how much the Mango membership is monthly after the trial offer? I’m just not seeing pricing. And it’s for individual use, right? I see one for an instructor & several students also. Interested in individual use. Thank you for this piece, very helpful. You can email privately if you’d like, thank you. Denise
Question for you: Do you encourage the learning of foreign languages for Mr. T even with the apraxia? Both of my boys have apraxia, the oldest’s is severe, youngest’s mild, but I haven’t even wanted to try a foreign language until they made a lot more improvement in their speech and language in English. But then I don’t want to keep them from learning a foreign language when their brains are best suited for picking up a new language, if that makes sense. Just curious your thoughts, and when you felt your boys were ready to learn a new language. Thanks!!
Hi, Jenn! Mr. T loves online learning and while we aren’t “studying” in depth any language right now, anytime he works to get his mouth to make new sounds is something I try to encourage, the same for Mr. F. Technically, ASL was their “first” second language but it reiterates the English. We have dabbled in French, Spanish, and Latin now and have only had positive results. Mr. T is 5.5 now and doing very well with his speech. I think challenging his mouth and brain with the different sounds has helped, but I’m not a professional so I can’t say that for sure, but I think if you’re thinking of trying a second language, it won’t hurt 🙂
Have you ever looked into sign language?
I would love to brush up on my Swahili and Spanish…and have my kids study, too!
Would like to have ASL!
Danish
Hungarian and Spanish
Spanish
Would love to try this we have been learning Japanese.
Would love to try this we have been learning ja
Spanish
Spanish!!!
I have children who want to learn French, Spanish and Russian.
My children would enjoy Spanish!
French!