Lingotot

Here at Lingotot we constantly listen to our customers. That's why we launched our LingoTunes Songbook and CD last year after mums and dads requested easy access to the music we use in classes.

We're now proud to announce the launch of our very first LingoTunes karaoke track, the popular "Peux-tu marcher comme un canard?" (Can you walk like a duck). We hope it helps you deepen your language learning journey with your little ones. More videos on their way soon!

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook for our latest special offers. We're currently offering a 20% discount on all of our classes - wohooo! www.facebook.com/lingotot

Hope to see you at a class very soon :)

Wow! What a week! Our free taster sessions started off in style in Wide Open this week thanks to Susanna! It was lovely to meet some wonderful Lingotots and their parents on Thursday morning. We all had great fun singing and jumping about. Susanna's collection of new bilingual toys was a great hit :)

We'd love to see you all at a free taster near you....why not get in touch and book your place today?

We've got lots more dates coming up, in French and Spanish, all across the North East. Please phone 0845 680 8148 to book or click on the date you'd like to attend to contact us by email. All spaces must be booked in advance. Here are the details:

Monday 6th February
St Andrew's United Reformed Church
Eastfield Avenue, Monkseaton, Whitley Bay NE25 8LU
09.30  - 10.15 French - ages 0+
10.30  - 11.15 Spanish - ages 0+

Wednesday 8th February
Runamokka
221-223 Whitley Road, Whitley Bay NE26 2SY
14.15 - 15:00 Spanish - ages 0+

Thursday 9th February
Woodlands Hall Community Centre
Blanchland Avenue, Wide Open, Newcastle upon Tyne NE13 6JR
09.45 - 10.30 Spanish - ages 0+

Friday 10th February
Linskill Centre
Linskill Terrace, North Shields NE30 2AY
09.30 - 10.15 French - ages 0-3              
10.25 - 11.10 French - ages 3+

Tuesday 14th February
Craghead Village Hall
Standerton Terrace, Craghead, Stanley, Durham DH9 6AN
10.30 - 11.30 French - ages 0+
*Please note that this session will be video-recorded and Lingotot will seek your permission to film*

I get asked this a LOT! The press especially love to ask this question as they can't seem to get their heads around it.

Why wouldn't we want to introduce a language at such a young age? Our children spend their first two years of their life listening closely to us before talking themselves. Why shouldn't we use this amazing capability to introduce a new language at the same time?

Previously many experts were concerned that exposing very young children and babies to more than one language would have a detrimental effect on their speech development. It's actually been proven that the opposite is true.

From a study reported in the Journal of Phonetics, babies exposed to more than one language before the age of ten months can distinguish between even subtle different sounds in language, which in turn means that they will have a greater aptitude to be fluent in those languages. Their accents in particular are much better as older language learners.

However, here at Lingotot we don't want to appear pushy or that we're trying to "hothouse" your little one. Our sessions are designed to be fun and interactive, full of activities children enjoy in any language! If they pick up some of the language at the same time (which they always do!) so much the better!

One very important part of our sessions is to help parents use the language at home with their children whether they are native speakers or complete beginners. Learning will be much more powerful if your little one shares the experience with you :)

Please contact us if you'd like to try one of our sessions for free. Either by email or by calling 0845 680 8148

Here at Lingotot HQ we are super excited about our new classes we have planned for 2012!

We'll be starting sessions in Northumberland South (Whitley Bay, Cramlington, Blyth) & North Tyne (Heaton, North Shields, Tynemouth). We can't give you dates and times yet, but we will let you know as soon as we can. In the meantime, if you're interested in coming along you can register your interest by clicking here.

Following popular demand we will also be introducing Spanish sessions for all age groups. So now our little Lingotots will be saying Hola as well as Bonjour to a new language!

Don't forget that you can still book for Durham sessions with free sibling places. Click here to find out more.

Lingotot is proud to announce our special offers for Christmas. The following offers are available throughout December.

Recommend a friend and receive a free copy of LingoTunes!

A must-have collection of French action songs and rhymes for young children. It is the ideal accompaniment to Lingotot language sessions. You will receive your free copy when you and your friend have both booked. Please write "recommended (name of friend)" on your booking form.

Win a Bilingual French / English toy

How about a bilingual toy under the Christmas tree? Write a lovely comment on our Facebook page and you will automatically be entered into the prize draw which will take place on 14th December so we can get your gift to you in time for the big day.

Celebrate a special day with Lingotot at your child's school or nursery

Lingotot has various dates available in 2012 where we could go along to your child's school or nursery to deliver a fantastic Lingotot session for free! We could help their school celebrate National Storytelling Week, Mother Language Day, European Day of Languages, World Book Day and many more. All you need to do is fill out this form with your request and we'll contact the school or nursery asking when they'd like us to go along - simple!

We're pleased to announce that we're ready to take bookings for classes in 2012 in Durham. All classes take place in Newton Hall Community Centre (opposite the Arnison Centre). The centre is lovely. Parking is easy and free, it has lovely facilities such as places to park your buggy and a baby change. There's also a little park outside to play in if you arrive a little early or want to run off steam after class.

We have availability for 0-3 year olds at 14:15 and for over 3s at 15:30. To book online, please visit: http://www.lingotot.com/lingotot-durham.html

In other news, please don't forget our special Christmas offer on out LingoTunes Songbook and CD. This is a great way to practise our most popular songs at home. Until the end of November you can own your copy for only £9.99 with free P&P (usual price £13.49 + P&P). To take advantage of this very special offer please visit: http://www.lingotot.com/shop.html

Hope to see you at a class in 2012!

Lingotot is expanding! We're looking for linguists to join us as Lingotot moves into franchising. How would you like to run your own Lingotot business in French, Spanish or both? Please contact us to find out more.

Here's what The Journal has to say about it. Click here to read the article online

Durham mum aiming for national roll-out of Lingotot

Angela Sterling's long-term ambition has been to teach foreign languages to young children and she has just been named Business Person of the Year in County Durham’s Star Radio awards. She said: “To win the award has been wonderful. I am delighted to have been recognised in such a short space of time.”

Ms Sterling now wants to expand Lingotot across the UK as a franchise and has been encouraged by comments from education minister Michael Gove, who recently insisted that schools should be teaching children languages from the age of five.

He vowed to “pull every lever” in order to make it happen.

Ms Sterling is keen to exploit the ability that young children have to speak any language, which is gradually lost as they get older when their brains become attuned to their mother tongue.

LingoTunes is a Songbook and CD full of action rhymes and songs young children love. The songs are beautifully recorded at an pace ideally suited for children to listen and sing along to. The CD comes with an accompanying songbook with simple to use instructions for parents, carers and non specialist teachers.

Our Christmas special offer means you can own this lovely collection for only £9.99 instead of the usual price of £13.49 with no P&P to pay. Click here to place your order. 

Here is a little article about the link between music and languages as well as practical tips on how you can use music toThose of us who work in education or have children of our own know how much they enjoy music. In fact, a love of music seems to be an inherent characteristic of babies all over the world. As children we listen, dance, sing, wiggle and jiggle to music. As parents, we instinctively sing to our children from birth. As teachers we use song for a range of tasks from forming good classroom routines to delivering a curriculum.

Music is a fantastic educational tool. Scientists say that children who are exposed to music, or those who play an instrument, do better in school than those who don't. Recent research suggests exposure to music may benefit a child's reading age, IQ and the development of certain parts of the brain. In fact, researchers say exactly the same things about language learning.

In my own experience as a languages teacher, I certainly have noticed a link between languages and music; children who are good at languages often have a talent for music. I believe that this important link should be developed and encouraged.

But how can we develop that link? When we think about language learning, most of us conjure up images of sitting in a stuffy classroom conjugating French verbs or listening to an old cassette tape and understanding nothing! The good news is that bringing languages to life with young children is easy to do and its foundations are in a shared love of music.

Very young children learn languages best when it is fun, natural and repetitive. Here are my top tips for using music with very young children.

1. Build up positive associations with the language by singing, dancing to silly songs and generally having fun! Children will be more enthusiastic about the language if they see you having fun with it too.
2. Link the language to actions. Mixing sound with kinesthetic tasks will enrich the learning experience and help the children pinpoint and learn specific vocabulary. This is why I developed my French songs to be “action” songs.
   
3. Have fun using the language as part of your daily routines. For example, sing songs in the language at the same time every day. I sing French songs with my children after naptime as it cheers up my particularly grumpy eldest daughter! Sing a numbers song as you walk up the stairs or sing a French lullaby at bedtime.
   
4. Read stories in the foreign language. Children’s books often have a singsong rhythm, which aids language learning.
   
5. Encourage family, friends, childminders, babysitter, siblings and other visitors to join in with a foreign language song. Not only is it fun, but young children value the language more when they use it with a wide range of people. A song will make adults more comfortable with a language they may otherwise find difficult or embarrassing.
6. Find opportunities for children to share the language with other youngsters. Children learn a lot from each other and singing together will boost the language’s prestige and make it more enjoyable for all!
   
7. As well as listening to music at home, play foreign language songs on long car journeys or through headphones on public transport.
   
8. We know that children love watching themselves in the mirror or looking at photographs. They also love technology. Why not mix the two together by shooting a short video of a foreign language singing performance and sharing it with family, friends and their peers? Perhaps make an audio recording and use it as your ringtone!
   
   

Did you know that we have a special Achievement Log in all sessions? Here at Lingotot we believe that every child should be rewarded for using to responding to the language. But we don't do pre-determined certificates as everyone's learning journey is different. Instead we have an Achievement Log in class for mums, dads and grannies to fill in to let us know what our lovely Lingotots have been up to. Maybe they've used a French word while they've been playing or responded to a foreign language instruction (remember that many of our Lingotots can't yet talk!). Here are some examples of what out lovely children achieved only last week.

Under 3s:

• George can count to 7 in French (he sometimes misses out 6!) He also uses the words bouche, bavardez and voici.
• Amelia pointed to the following in a French picture book: gâteau, banane, orange, petits-pois, nounours.
• Hannah played “où est le bébé?” with her little brother Oliver at Lingotot today. She pulled the scarf from his head when mummy said “Coucou!”.

Over 3s:

• Violet can count up to ten in French. She knows the parts of her face in French and uses lots of colour words too.
• Arnaud is a little translator! He heard the song “Savez-vous planter les choux?” on the TV and said “I do that in French class.”
• Camille can count from 1 to 10 in French. She can say the parts of her face and uses lots of colour words in French.
• Jessica says the names of her colours in French when she colours in at home.

Félicitations! Bravo! What clever Lingotots!

If you'd like to know more about Lingotot classes please click here. If you'd like to purchase a copy of our songbook and CD, LingoTunes, please click here. Or perhaps you'd like to run sessions of your own? Please email for more details.

Angela Sterling, who founded Lingotot in 2010 to help babies, toddlers, young children and their families to learn languages received a prestigious award last night at a wonderful gala dinner. She was named Business Person of the Year 2011 at the Star Radio Business Awards, sponsored by Durham County Council and Proctor's Coaches.

She initially set up Lingotot to provide lessons to schools, playgroups and nurseries – but then launched a CD and book to allow parents and teachers to continue learning languages outside her classes. Angela, who spent 12 years as a language teacher, said: “It’s phenominal to be named winner in this category, I really can't believe it! I’ve been in business for less than two years, so to be named the winner in such a pretigious category is a real honour."

She won the award for the inspirational way she runs her business, juggling the roles of businesswoman, educator and mum to two very young children. "The last two years have seen dramatic changes in my life. I have had three babies in those two years; Annalise, Eleanor and Lingotot! And they're all hard work but wonderful."

She plans to grow Lingotot next year by offering Spanish classes and is currently looking for franchisees across the UK, offering teaching in languages as well as the Lingotot resources.

For Angela, it has been a lifelong ambition to start teaching children languages at a young age. She explained: “I went to Paris to be an au pair when I was 18 and I noticed that all the children could speak another language. In this country we tend not to start teaching languages until children reached secondary school, and we should really be starting it earlier than that, preferably from birth but certainly from Key Stage 1.”

Angela, from Stanley, always believed the UK should also start teaching young children languages and decided that while taking time out from teaching to have her two daughters she would set up Lingotot. And her feelings have been backed up by Education Minister Michael Gove, who recently insisted that schools should be teaching children different languages from the age of five. Earlier this month he said that every child from that age should be learning a foreign language, and promised to "pull every lever", including encouraging longer school days, to make it happen.

To find out more about Lingotot, classes or franchising opportunities, please visit www.lingotot.com, email info@lingotot.com or telephone 0845 680 8148