By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
December 8, 2015
There’s a Turkish saying that goes, “One language one person, two languages two persons,” says Dino Lingo founder, Serdar Acar. “Before I moved to the United States, I did some backpacking in India and Nepal. My English was not as good then as it is now, but English was the only language I could communicate with when I was traveling. I made lots of friends and gained a great experience from it. That same year, I went to Morocco for business where Arabic is the official language. Everybody also spoke French. I realized that being able to communicate in those two languages opened new doors and opportunities for me.”
There are many language programs on the market geared for adults. But, scientists agree that the best time for anyone to learn a foreign language is when they are young — preferably before puberty hits. I’m really fortunate because my son can attend a local Korean school on the weekends to hone his language skills. But many of my friends who live in rural areas say they don’t have those kinds of options for their children.
Enter: Dino Lingo. A no-frills language program geared towards pre-school to elementary school children, the series is based on the theory that kids are sponges who can soak up new things without being able to read or write. As they watch cute animated animals talking in Spanish, Croatian, Hindi etc.–there are about 50 languages to choose from–they learn to associate the foreign word for, say, “cat” as they watch a cat walk through.
We tried out the Korean program. Again, my son had a head start already from Korean school (and me). My niece and nephew (aged 1 and 4), loved the Croatian DVD and began repeating the words.
Programs start at around $80. Note: The site often offers 20% discounts, so be sure to look for those promo codes prior to finalizing your purchase.
CHECK THIS OUT: dinolingo.com
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