Cultural Bytes Online Spanish Courses

A lot of parents are looking for online courses as part of their homeschool lesson plans for this fall... especially first-time homeschoolers and those whose children were in immersion programs last year.

So I'm excited to share that Cultural Bytes has offered one of their foreign language courses to be part of the Back-to-School Fiesta!

Cultural Bytes is based in Southern California. It provides immersion classes for Spanish, French, and Mandarin. In addition to teaching the language, they also focus on cultural awareness. And the classes also focus on four skills:

1. reading
2. writing
3. listening
4. speaking

Their classes are fun and engaging thanks to their differentiated learning approach and game-based environment.

The Giveaway

Cultural Bytes is offering 1 FREE online class (35 minutes) of the language of your choice! The options are: Spanish or French or Mandarin.

Try it out and see if it is a good fit for your family!

To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter below.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bilingual App Review: Talk in 3

I am always on the search for bilingual apps! My kids love the ones we have, but they are always asking for more. Here is a recent find for parents who want to introduce a third language to their children.

Name: Talk in 3
Subject(s): Math, Languages, Vocabulary
Available on: iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
Brief description: Put together a small puzzle to reveal the word in Mandarin, English or Spanish. Listen for the prompt at the end and follow directions to go to the next puzzle.
Price: $2.99
Language(s): Mandarin, English, and Spanish
Ages: Recommended for 4 and up.

What my kids like: My 3 year-old and 7 year-old like vocabulary apps that do more than give them a word in a different language. Talk in 3 is engaging. The language app has kids put together puzzles before revealing the word, which is different compared to other vocabulary and foreign language apps. They also liked that after receiving their word in their chosen language, there was still one more step to follow. My oldest appreciated the added Mandarin language option. When we find bilingual apps, they are usually Spanish and English. He has been curious about Chinese languages, so for him, this was an added bonus.

What I like: I loved that there was a little bit of math included in this language app! The puzzles are age appropriate for my three year-old who is a year younger than the recommended age. My oldest benefits as well when the voice command asks children to count in the designated language. The children are hearing whole sentences in three languages and that was what sold me. I am constantly looking for bilingual apps that offer more than just vocabulary. Talk in 3 is worth the $2.99 for me because of the basic introduction of Chinese Mandarin, the math concepts for all ages and the basic English and Spanish intro or review for bilingual kids.

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Betty Galvan, is writing "for smart and stylish moms" over
at My Friend Betty Says... She is a teacher and mother to three fun little boys.