Example of a Foreign Language Lesson

From Arabic and French to Korean and Hebrew, this is a great template for an excellent foreign language lesson in song. Let's try 산 토끼 (mountain rabbit).

In the video below, the teacher provides a perfect lesson in song. Her clear pronunciation is aided by her strong technical skills in modulating her breath as she uses movement to this classic song.

Even if you have not studied French, you and your child can use this occasion to learn the song here.

Here’s a direct translation:

Tap tap little hands
Turn turn little windmill
Fly fly little bird
Swim swim little fish

Little hands have tapped well
Little windmill has turned well
Little bird has flown well
Little fish has swum well

Songs are extremely useful because the key thing for young children is to absorb the pronunciation and cadence of a language, providing an easy path to fluency later.

Her teaching demeanor is truly exceptional; she doesn't rely on silly voices or tricks to grab the children's attention, nor does she giggle or make funny faces.

For those of you who speak a foreign language fluently, I’d love to see a video like this for other languages!

Let’s say you are teaching Korean. You could use a song like “mountain rabbit” (산 토끼):

One popular version of Mountain Rabbit:

산토끼 토끼야 어디 가느냐
귀여운 토끼야 어디 가느냐
산도 가고 들도 가고
간척 간척 뛰면서

English translation:

Mountain rabbit, rabbit, where are you going?
Cute little rabbit, where are you going?
You go to the mountains, you go to the fields,
Hopping, hopping, as you go along!

In this version, "간척 간척" (ganchuk ganchuk) imitates the sound of hopping or jumping, adding rhythmic movement with hands, feet, or the whole body.

If you are starting with new students, try truncating the song:

산토끼 토끼야 어디 가느냐

간척 간척 뛰면서

I usually translate it literally as mountain rabbit, though the animal is likely a hare or jackrabbit, because it helps early Korean learners read and understand the word.

On YouTube, I wasn’t really keen on the current videos for most other foreign languages. There is lots of room for good material!

Tip: Writing in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, and Korean is really nice on an iPad. The repetition in the auto-suggest function is very helpful when one is learning the words.

Tape tape petites mains!