LCF Clubs Australia - Fun Languages Blog

Manly Xmas Holiday Program is a big hit for little linguists.

Angie Epstein — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:35:22 +0000

Our LCF Fun Language Holiday programs are becoming more and more popular and provide a fantastic opportunity for the kids to really immerse themselves in the language. Some of our Sydney club members had great fun on the northern beaches, Manly, French for Kids Xmas holiday program last year.

Creating Xmas style chef hats before making crepes - after all, looking the part is "key" when cooking; "packing up and going on a camping trip"; and playing card games to practice numbers were just a few of the activities enjoyed by all!

Practising our numbers and the "tent"we made for our summer holidays camping trip!

Celebrating cultural diversity this Australia Day

Angie Epstein — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:53:23 +0000

On 26 January 1788, the First Fleet of 11 ships carrying 1,500 people arrived in Sydney Harbour. Since then Australia has grown to a population of almost 23 million people, with immigrants from 200 different countries and more than 270 nationalities.

Today, more than 20 per cent of Australians are foreign born and more than 40 per cent are of mixed cultural origin. Australians speak 226 languages - after English, the most popular are Italian, Greek, Cantonese and Arabic.

This rich cultural diversity is reflected in it's food encompassing Mediterranean flavours,the tantalising spices of Asia, Africa and the Middle East and Bush Tucker from Australia's own backyard on offer. This melting pot of cultures is also evident in the many colourful festivals held throughout the year, from Samba and Capoeira at Bondi’s Brazilian South American festival, to the dragon parade during Chinese New Year or the lively Piazza during the annual Italian celebrations. As a nation, Australians embrace a rainbow of religious belief and one can find Catholic and Anglican churches, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist temples, mosques and synagogues lining the streets.

Australia is shaped by these cultures, the languages spoken and customs practiced and each community makes a valuable contribution to the nation, enhancing and sustaining the diverse way of life and life's balance.

Young Children Show Gift for Multiple Languages

Nickie — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:42:13 +0000

One of the calls we received to the Auckland office yesterday was from a mum whose preschool daughter is fluent in Italian and English and is learning French. Would enroling her in Mandarin for Kids too confuse her?

We have many children at our Fun Language clubs who are bilingual or trilingual - they LOVE it. Children have a language-making capacity during brain maturation during which they can effortlessly learn two or three languages.

Multilingual parents needn’t worry about confusing their children with multiple languages spoken at home, as new research ....reveals children can acquire and switch between languages effortlessly as long as they start young and interact regularly in those tongues." This is according to this article in the Calgary Herald yesterday. And we agree!

IF you are interested in a FREE trial of one of our Fun Language clubs check out our sites in Australia and New Zealand

The Importance and Advantages of Learning a Second Language

Angie Epstein — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:50:09 +0000

Here is an extract from an online article outlining some of the advantages of learning a second language.

"The importance of learning a second language is not merely limited to the ability of communicating with people who speak different languages.

According to studies, it has been shown that learning a second language results in students achieving greater divergent thinking, creativity, and cognitive development compared to monolingual children. A number of studies have also shown that when students learn a second language they have a tendency of outscoring those who are proficient in only a single language, on tests of nonverbal and verbal intelligence.

Still other studies have shown that the academic skills of students learning a second language are enhanced by in improving their abilities in mathematics, writing, and reading."

Read the full article here.

Mystical Mont Saint-Michel

Angie Epstein — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:01:08 +0000

We'll be continuing our "exploration" of the great European castles in 2012 with the beautiful and mysterious Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. Although not strictly a castle in terms of usage, it certainly warrants a mention in terms of architecture and a somewhat fairy tale image!

Situated on a rocky tidal island, Mont Saint Michel has been a monastery since the 8th century AD and was nicknamed "St Michael in peril of the sea" by early pilgrims because of the quickly and dramatically changing tides (at roughly 46ft between high and low tide!) Mont Saint-Michel is connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which, before modernization, was covered at high tide and revealed at low tide, giving the mount a mystical quality.

Visit this Fotopedia website for some really beautiful photographs of Mont Saint-Michel.