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Multicultural Idiom Learning Fun: A Language Lizard Giveaway

December 5, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

{Guest Post from Language Lizard}

Congratulations to Mindy R. from Rachel Kohl Community Library in Glen Mills, PA who won a  set of Language Lizard Idiom Books in English and Simplified Chinese!

These colorful books come with free teaching resources are a great way to teach English idioms in a multicultural context. Use them during Idiom Week (Jan 24-30)!

Multicultural Idiom Learning Fun

 

Language Lizard is kicking off the holiday season with a special December giveaway, just for Multicultural Children’s Book Day readers! Read on to learn about the Language Lizard Idiom Book Series, and how to enter for a chance to win a FREE set of your own.

What is an Idiom?

An idiom is a phrase with an underlying meaning that’s generally agreed upon by a large group of people. The meaning of the phrase can’t be understood by understanding the words alone.

Some common English language idioms in the US are:

  • A breath of fresh air
  • A piece of cake
  • Over the moon
  • When pigs fly

Thanks to familiarity, these phrases are easily understood by a native English speaker in the US. But we can see they are indeed idioms, because their meanings are more than the sum of their words.

Look up idioms from other cultures, and you can see their meanings are not immediately discernible. For example, it wouldn’t be obvious that the Russian phrase “to hang noodles on someone’s ears” means that you are fooling them.

Multicultural Learning With Idioms

Learning idioms is a great way to celebrate diversity and bring multicultural learning to students. It’s also a great way to enhance the school-home connection. Students can ask their parents for strange or funny idioms in their home languages to share with the class. Classmates can try to guess the meanings, or compare idioms from different languages. Some examples:

In English, a sad person may “have the blues,” but in French, that person would “have the cockroach.” Or, in English, a practical person is “down to earth,” and in Spanish, that person would be described as having their “feet on the earth”.

Idioms Are Especially Important For Language Learners

Idioms are an important part of language learning, too. Every language and culture has thousands (maybe even tens of thousands) of them, so there’s a significant amount of casual communication conducted by way of idioms.

Without lessons in local idioms, communicating effectively is going to be more difficult. Plus, learning idioms is one of the most fun parts of learning a new language!

Remember to have students practice how to use each idiom properly since this type of communication can be very nuanced. It’s best to teach idioms verbally, and have students practice by role-playing.

Language Lizard Idiom Books Support Virtual & In-Person Learning

Language Lizard Idiom Books are a great resource for teachers in virtual, in-person, or blended classrooms, as well as homeschooling families. They are available in English and 9 language editions, offering literal translations and meanings in a second language. Illustrations show characters and settings from around the world, providing an opportunity to teach children about other cultures and communities.

Free Multicultural Lesson Plans

Language Lizard Idiom Books come with links to 3 free lesson plans:

  • Understanding Idioms and Figurative Language
  • Learning Color, Nature, Food, and Animal related Idioms
  • Understanding the History and Context of Idioms

The lesson plans include an exploration of idioms in a multicultural context and provide exercises that students can do with their families, even those that speak a language other than English at home.

Idiom Activities & Resources

Language Lizard Idiom Books come with many fun, free activities. Here are just a few of them:

  • Animals in Mexico: fill-in-the-blank short story using animal idioms
  • Hindu Holi Festival: fill-in-the-blank short story using color idioms
  • Hanami “Flower Viewing” in Japan: fill-in-the-blank short story using nature idioms
  • Guess the National Animal Activity
  • Animal Idiom Games Video
  • Multicultural Street Foods Activity
  • Favorite Foods Activity

Each Idiom Book also includes resources and links to learn the in-depth history and background information about all the idioms that are featured in the books.

Perfect for Take-Home Learning Packs

Teachers can create “learning packs” for students to take home that include idiom books in their home language, along with the free included activities. It’s a great way to strengthen school-home connections, and non-English speaking parents will appreciate being included in their child’s learning.

eBook versions of Language Lizard Idioms Books are also available, to make sharing online even easier. They are available through most major eBook platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Overdrive.

Enter to Win a Set of Language Lizard Idiom Books

Enter for a chance to win a FREE set of Language Lizard Idiom Books! Head to our Giveaway Page and include “MCBD” in the comments section. A winner will be selected at the end of December. (As a bonus, you will be included in our other Language Lizard book giveaways, too!)

Free Bonus: Idiom Word Searches

To help jump-start the Idiom learning fun, MCBD readers can access our FREE Idiom Word Searches now!

What are the strangest or most amusing idioms you’ve heard in any language? Share them here, or on social media and tell us why #IdiomsRock!

Filed Under: Giveaway, Guest Posts, Multicultural Booklist Tagged With: Language Lizard, Language Lizard giveaway, Language Lizard Idiom Books, multicultural learning

Language Lizard: Inspiring Language Learners and Promoting Multiculturalism

May 31, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

MCBD has been blessed with an amazing connection and relationship with Language Lizard for several years. We are also honored they continue to be a reoccurring Medallion Level Sponsor for our Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebrations. This company always presents a high level of professionalism while providing much need products in a huge variety of languages. We are lucky to be able to continue to work with them and share their wisdom. Enjoy.

Inspiring Language Learners

“Bilingual is in my blood,” shared Anneke Forzani, company president and founder of Language Lizard; a woman-owned business that offers award-winning bilingual children’s products in over 50 languages. “My passion for bilingualism started when I was a child and that thread runs through all parts of my life. My parents immigrated from Belgium so the European lifestyle was part of my childhood. My father was also a college professor so I have fond memories of him inviting students who couldn’t go home for the holidays to our house. Our Thanksgiving table was often surrounded by a variety of languages and cultures.”

Forzani went on to share that this love of language stayed with her well into adulthood and was instrumental in the creation of her company, Language Lizard. The mission of the company is comprised of Two Pillars:

Pillar #1: To facilitate the celebration of diversity and multicultural education with bilingual (dual-language) children’s books, audio resources, multicultural posters, and culturally responsive teaching support. Language Lizard is also committed to supporting the academic and social development of English language learners while promoting the maintenance of home or heritage languages.

Pillar #2: To continually give back to the community.

“Language Lizard is pleased to support any companies that are interested in providing a unique charitable giving program to the communities in which they work, or to educational programs that they support,” Forzani noted. “We also participate in the Pledge 1% Program. It’s a global initiative that strives to change the world by inspiring early-stage corporate philanthropy. Pledge 1% is an easy way to leverage a portion of our future success to support nonprofits in our community. It’s a small commitment today that can make a huge impact tomorrow.”

Dual-language Children’s Books

The company supports dual language learners and promotes multicultural education and the maintenance of heritage languages by offering many products in hard-to-find languages like Hmong, Somali, Farsi, and many more.

Inspire kids to learn languages and understand diverse cultures
with our creative, award-winning multilingual products!

BOOKS: All of their books are dual-language (bilingual) and include English as well as the language you select. Each page (or facing page) contains both languages. Please click on any language below to find the products available in that language.

ALBANIAN
ARABIC
BENGALI
BULGARIAN
BURMESE
CHINESE
CROATIAN
CZECH
DARI
DUTCH
ENGLISH-ONLY
FARSI
FRENCH
GERMAN
GREEK
GUJARATI
HAITIAN-CREOLE
HEBREW
HINDI
HMONG
HUNGARIAN
IRISH
ITALIAN
JAPANESE
KAREN
KHMER
KOREAN
KURDISH
LATVIAN
LITHUANIAN
MALAY
MALAYALAM
MULTILINGUAL
NEPALI
NORWEGIAN
PANJABI/PUNJABI
PASHTO/PASHTU
PATOIS
POLISH
PORTUGUESE
ROMANIAN
RUSSIAN
SCOTTISH GAELIC
SHONA
SLOVAKIAN
SOMALI
SPANISH
SWAHILI
SWEDISH
TAGALOG
TAMIL
THAI
TIGRINYA
TURKISH
TWI
URDU
VIETNAMESE
WELSH
YORUBA

“The need to establish an awareness of and respect for other cultures in the next generation is clear,” Forzani shared. “We are living in a global community. In the US, over 20% of the population is either foreign-born or has a foreign-born parent. The Census Bureau estimates that by the end of the 21st century, minorities will represent more than half of the total population. In addition, with the expansion of the Internet and inexpensive international communications, the world is becoming increasingly interdependent.”

Expanding Minds and Worlds

With a constant eye on providing the tools and resources for adults as well as kids, Forzani and her team pooled their knowledge and expertise to create their wildly popular book Building Bridges with Bilingual Books and Multicultural Resources.  Published in 2019, this robust book is a practical manual of lesson plans, literacy games, and fun activities from around the world to celebrate diversity in the classroom and at home. This resource gives educators the tools to build culturally responsive classrooms that embrace multiculturalism.

Building Bridges with Bilingual Books and Multicultural Resources

Building Bridges with Bilingual Books and Multicultural Resources

“Our children must be comfortable working and playing with people of other backgrounds and ethnicities in order to succeed. As teachers and parents, we have a responsibility as well as a terrific opportunity to develop young people who are tolerant of other cultures and comfortable working in a diverse environment. We also have the ability to help children maintain existing home language skills and encourage parental involvement in education while at the same time promoting literacy and a love of reading. Language Lizard aims to give you the tools to do so.”

Exceptional Resources from Language Lizard

Their BLOG is filled with articles that support the education of dual-language children and promote literacy.

Parents, teachers, and librarians can also download free multicultural lesson plans that teach all students to appreciate and understand the diversity in our communities.

Fun Facts about Language Lizard

Language Lizard is a longtime sponsor of Multicultural Children’s Book Day and a current 2020 Platinum Sponsor.

The Company is located in Basking Ridge, NJ, and can be reached at 1-888-LLIZARD (888-554-9273) or info@LanguageLizard.com . For address information and to contact Language Lizard using their online form, click here.

Their products have been well-reviewed by critics, families, and teachers. Click here to read reviews and awards on specific products. Click here to read Testimonials by Language Lizard’s customers.

Language Lizard giveaway!

Language Lizard is excited to announce an epic giveaway to promote reading to celebrate 15 YEARS of supporting language learners!

Language Lizard giveaway

Win packages of bilingual books in over 50 languages! Extra winners selected during the pandemic. All entrants receive a free diversity lesson plan.

Enter for a chance to win throughout the year by doing 2 easy steps:
(1) Fill out and submit the giveaway form and (2) Sign up for our newsletter.

Sign up at www.LanguageLizard.com/win-bilingual-books

Filed Under: Author Visits, diversity in children’s books, Multicultural Booklist, Spotlight on a Sponsor, Teacher Tools Tagged With: bilingual books for children, Building Bridges with Bilingual Books and Multicultural Resources, Burmese language books, dual-language children's books, Farsi language books, foreign language for kids, Hindi language books, Hmong language books, Language Lizard, Language Lizard giveaway, Promoting Multiculturalism

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