I have been reading more children's books than ever lately with my 16 month old son, Gulliver. It is one of the best things you can do for children to develop their language skills. I've been teaching Gulliver to speak multiple languages since he was born since we speak English, Polish, and Croatian at home. The top three resources we use everyday to practice using our languages are: 1. Books 2. Music 3. Video calling speakers of the target languages We absolutely love to read around here and you can always find us re-reading our favorite books. Re-reading the same books is proven to have many benefits since we pick up on new information each time we listen to a story. It helps people make connections between their lives and the stories they read. I was so excited and proud of my polyglot friend Victor D. O. Santos for publishing the first book in his series Little Polyglot Adventures. We have been reading Dylan's Birthday Present over and over around here. Dylan's Birthday Present is a lovely story that language lovers all over the world will enjoy. It highlights the magic of multilingualism through the adventure that Dylan goes on. This book makes it easy for little ones to understand why it is so important to learn to speak other languages and learn about other cultures. Elementary school children everywhere will enjoy re-reading this story over and over again and discovering new elements that they didn't pick up on the first time. Plus, which child doesn't love to celebrate their birthday? I know my nieces and nephews are always talking about their next birthday and how they celebrated their last birthday.
We know you all will enjoy reading about Dylan's adventures along with his best friend Emma and you'll learn some Ukrainian, Portuguese, and Zulu along the way!
You can purchase the English version here. There is also a bilingual version available in Spanish/English which you can find here. Dylan's Birthday Present will also be released in several other languages AND book #2 of the series is already in the works! Check out the Linguacious website to see more info to follow along for availability.
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The Best, Thoughtful Gifts As we approach the end of the year, we have a lot of occasions coming up where we get together and celebrate with friends and family. Today, I'm rounding up my absolute favorite maps and globes which make the absolute PERFECT gift for everyone. I'm talking as a hostess gift, I'm talking for your boyfriend, I'm talking for your father-in-law who is difficult to shop for or for your mother-in-law who has everything. Or as a thoughtful, personalized gift for your bridal party. Or even for nieces, nephews, Godchildren, or any of the kids in your life! I own every single one of these items and love them enough to keep them in my tiny home (in which I have very limited space). When you love to travel, you can never have enough maps. It is so much fun to study geography by looking at a huge map on your wall rather than watch TV. SERIOUSLY. Learning is cool :) Without further ado, here are my favs: For your Partner: This to scale National Geographic world map makes the perfect gift for your partner (this make a great 1st anniversary present as well since it is made out of paper that is laminated). It's under $50 and looks so much more luxe. When we lived in Slovenia and didn't have a TV, we used to just "watch" this map. I absolutely love it and you can see it as my background in most of my lessons and videos! For the children in your life: (This also makes a great gender-neutral baby shower gift!) This colorful map is educational, beautiful, under $50 and kids love the animal paintings. For your bestie/sister/brother/friends who you will most definitely go to Paris with one day :) This vintage Paris map in a simple black frame is such a chic gift for anyone in your life. The map itself is less than $10 and that is including shipping! It looks completely authentic and helps you get to know all of the arrondissement so you can prepare for your next trip! For Your In-Laws/Aunts/Uncles/Teachers/Babysitters/Hostesses/Bridal Party: Personalized globes from my friend Cassie’s small business Blush Design Company! Each globe is gorgeously hand lettered which makes such a great gift that is beautiful to display (and inspirational too!) Each personalized globe is $49. For anyone headed to Zagreb, Croatia Town Tales Zagreb which is a super fun game for tourists and travellers to explore Zagreb in a fun, interesting and challenging way. You get a handy map of Zagreb with a recommended walking tour and a deck of 54 illustrated cards. Your goal is to follow the cards around Zagreb, complete challenges and have a huge amount of fun while interacting with locals. The game is EUR 18.50. This was 100% created by our best man, Lovro, who is just the greatest. He drew each of the drawings on the cards! Incredible :) For your boss babe, freelancing, entrepreneur friends: Support small business owners by purchasing a personalized cuff or necklace featuring the name of a favorite city, their business, or a hashtag they can relate to from Carolyn at Simply Southern Baubles. This is not sponsored - I just love supporting my fellow small business owners! A personalized cuff is $28.
Speak at Home Tonight
Finally, I have to mention Speak at Home Tonight's New Student Special that will only be available until Dec. 31st, 2017. Get a gift certificate before prices go up. They are valid for 1 year. What is the best, most thoughtful material gift you've ever received? Let me know below and remember to stay in touch with me here, over on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and check out the secret videos over at Patreon! For Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, Speak at Home Tonight is running a new student special for online language lessons! What This Includes: * Expert teacher who will get you fluent, comfortable, and confident speaking in the language you want * All materials are provided (you don't have to buy any additional textbooks!) * You will have SO much fun! Two Packages Available: * $49 gift certificate can be redeemed for two 40-minute lessons * $99 gift certificate can be redeemed for three 1-hour lessons (*Onegift certificate per new student) We are committed to providing high quality services with proven results. Gift certificates valid for new students and must be used within 1 year of the date of purchase. Individual hourly rates following the promotional period begin at $40.00/hour. We accept payments made by all major credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, Dwolla, cash, or check. Payment for ongoing lessons can be made after services are rendered. If you have any questions regarding payments, corporate invoicing, group rates, or any other requests, please email us! Give the Gift of the Ultimate Language Learning Experience Nikki is currently offering German, Croatian, Polish, and English lessons. Please contact us if you have any questions or are interested in learning another language. So, why is this the perfect gift for everyone? 1.) It's SO MUCH FUN. 2.) It's good for you - keeps your brain SHARP 3.) It is for ALL AGES - absolutely anyone can do it 4.) You can do it from home in your PJ's, on a road trip, at the office, or in a cafe! 5.) It's an e x p e r i e n c e 6.) It's an easy yet thoughtful gift to buy, you can get it at the very last-minute, and it arrives immediately! Have you ever tried to learn another language? Did you take a semester in high school or college or enjoy learning a few phrases while on vacation in another country? Are you dating someone Polish and want to be able to impress them with learning their native tongue? Maybe your partner is Croatian and you want to be able to communicate with their family and friends? Does the idea of learning to speak another language seem impossible to you? I have taught people from all over the world, all ages (literally from 2 - 92 years old) and it is possible to learn another language. By working directly with an expert foreign language instructor, one-on-one, you will learn and you'll have so much fun doing it! Everyone starts somewhere. You have to start at the beginning. All you have to do is get over that one scary moment of beginning something new to open up your world! That one scary moment might be taking the step to email me and ask me a question about what it is that makes Speak at Home Tonight so special, or maybe the scary moment is actually installing Skype and showing up for your first lesson. Just take a deep breath, maybe a sip of water, or coffee, or even wine, and go for it. The one scary moment will pass, and you will have the most incredible lesson with your teacher who really cares about you. You'll get fluent faster & have fun doing it. In the first lesson, I will assess your level and figure out the way you learn best. We'll talk about your goals, and set some, and I promise - you will LOVE it! Does your Mom or Dad or Uncle have an accent that bothers them? Is anybody else here a first generation American? I have proven methods to reduce and improve clarity of speech and understanding. I will teach your parents to speak better English! I have spent my entire life surrounded by native and non-native speakers of English, Polish, German, Croatian, Arabic + many other languages and cultures. I studied linguistics, advanced foreign language education, and all of the above mentioned languages and have continued myy education since finishing my Master's Degree at Temple University. I have tried every method, every software, and every program because I genuinely love learning other languages and I want you to love the process too. I also love to help others and I have the greatest joy watching my students succeed with their language goals Don't just take my word for it, see what some of our current students have to say. We never do this. We never do this but as the Speak at Home Tonight team is growing, we want to be able to help even more people improve their accents, learn to speak another language, and be successful communicators. We thrive on our students' success! We want you to be able to communicate! We love helping you figure out how you learn best and see you become fluent in a second, third, or fourth + language! So, we're really doing it! We are offering a Mother's Day special! For you, for your Mom, for your grandma, or anyone else in your life who loves to have a great, enriching, fun experience. We'll even help them with setting up Skype ;) If you have any questions, please feel free to email us or leave a comment below. We absolutely love to hear from you! P.S. The special is open to all new students. You don't have to be a Mom. See terms & conditions as follows: Terms & Conditions: $49 gift certificate can be redeemed for two 40-minute lessons for language learning (includes all languages currently offered and levels), dialect coaching, or accent reduction/improvement. Dates and times can be scheduled by emailing us. $99 gift certificate can be redeemed for three 1-hour lessons for language learning (includes all languages currently offered and levels), dialect coaching, or accent reduction/improvement. Dates and times can be scheduled by emailing us. We are committed to providing high quality services with proven results. You will love having your own language expert, right at your fingertips! We would love to work with you, so please feel free to contact us if you have any questions! Gift certificates valid for new students and must be used within 1 year of the date of purchase. Individual hourly rates following the promotional period begin at $40.00/hour. |
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Nikki PršaPolish-American Polyglot, Language Expert, German Teacher, M.Ed., married to my dream guy, the Croatian Sensation. Let's connect! Archives
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DISCLOSUREI aim to provide as much free content as possible to help teach others around the world how to speak another language. I am trying out using affiliate links, which means that I may earn a tiny commission if you click on a link or make a purchase through a link posted here. All opinions and materials are my own, unless otherwise stated. If you use and like my materials, let me know! :)
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