“A father carries pictures where his money used to be”

Dads are special! They are providers, role models, caregivers, friends and disciplinarians. They are a Mr Fix-it who can mend anything from a leaking tap to a broken heart, and a Superhero who can save the day.

Surprise Dad this Father’s Day with a wonderful handmade little gift. This FUN French craft activity, “Une boite à bonbons pour Papa”, is sure to delight him not least because it’s been made by you especially for him! 

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE FRENCH CRAFT ACTIVITY

Once you’ve made your little box, fill it with yummy treats for Dad to let him know how much you love him and appreciate everything he does for you!

How to say Happy Father’s Day in different languages

Happy Father’s Day to all the superhero dads out there, from all of us at Fun Languages.

Learning a new language takes time, commitment and a long-term approach. Especially for parents of the children who do our language lessons. 

Results are not necessarily immediate, especially with a language like Mandarin Chinese for Australian children. There is a silent period where the kids may not say much in the target language and it is easy to get disheartened and want to quit.

This is exactly what happened to one of our parents Kathryn, who at the end of last year decided to start a Mandarin Chinese home tutoring group in Melbourne for her two boys. By the end of term 2, the other friends that had started with Kathryn’s children had decided to drop out and Kathryn was becoming disheartened. Results were not meeting her expectations! 

Then the unexpected happened.

One evening at a recent function, one of the boys found himself sitting next to a pretty Chinese girl …

A couple of months ago, one of our Manly students’ family returned from a holiday in France with their children. The kids, Max and Milly, have been going to our French Fun Language clubs on the Northern Beaches for the last couple of years.

The mum approached me after school to tell her story about what had happened on their recent trip to Paris.

“Every time we ate out in France, the kids insisted on ordering their meals in French”. Apparently, whether ordering LA GLACE to DES CROISSANTS AVEC UN CHOCOLAT CHAUD or UN STEAK FRITES, the children proudly and confidently showcased their new language skills!

The mum was delighted: “The waiters or ice-cream vendors were all very friendly and encouraging and were delighted to hear these Aussie kids ordering in French. Not only that, the children, became our tour guides and helped us around Paris!”

Imagine your child being your TOUR GUIDE on your next overseas holiday!

We love watching Aussie kids blossom with their language learning skills and it was this story that inspired our new French bookmarks.

By Teresa Ferrer, LCF Fun Languages Manager, Northern Beaches, Sydney

Our children all learn French, Mandarin and Dutch.  A few weeks ago, while the family were were sitting around our kitchen table having lunch, one of them started randomly humming a little tune while we were eating. It was the tune to the Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Miss 5 proceeded to sing the song in French

La tête, les épaules et les genoux, les doigts de pieds
La tête, les épaules et les genoux, les doigts de pieds
Les yeux, le nez, la bouche et les oreilles
La tête, les épaules  et les genoux, les doigts de pied

Watch a French for Kids club in action singing Head, shoulders, knees and toes

Miss 7 joined in and there was a chorus as little Mr 3 started with the actions and a few of the words that he could remember.

“No,no,no!” Miss 7 suddenly says. Let’s do it in Chinese and the three of them launched into the song in Mandarin!

Dreams really DO come true! 

The great things about children is that they dream BIG. Anything is possible in a young brain and that is why teaching languages to Australian children is so exciting.

When it comes to learning another language, kids are simply UNSTOPPABLE and that is certainly the case with my student, Zara, who has been taking French lessons in Newcastle with me for 3 years.

Like most girls her age, Zara keeps a diary and shares her wishes in her journal. 

At the top of the list of WISHES THAT HAVE TO COME TRUE, Zara wrote:

“I want to go and visit Paris with my friends and live in the same house with a room for each of us.”

Luckily for Zara, her parents made her dream come true with a family trip to Paris. She was able to put her French lessons to the test while visiting all the amazing sights and landmarks of Paris that she has dreamt of seeing.

I was thrilled for Zara, who had been so inspired by her Fun Languages French class, and I am delighted that, as her teacher, I was able to help her make her FRENCH DREAM a truly memorable one!

For more information about my language lessons for children in Newcaslte and to view a timetable of classes in the area, please visit my web page by following the link below 

Sandra Peachey, LCF Fun Languages Club Manager – Newcastle & Port Stephens