Guest post from Language Lizard
Historically, fables often feature talking animals in a short story format that teaches a simple lesson. The most well-known creator of fables is Aesop, a Greek slave believed to have lived around 560 BC. Some of his most popular fables are “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg,” and “The Lion and the Mouse.” There are also more modern-day fables, like Dr. Seuss‘s The Lorax. [Read more…]
{Guest post by Language Lizard}
Migration, immigration, refugee: these words are familiar to us all. But how does it feel for a child to leave behind family, friends, and everything loved and familiar that comprise the word home? While immigrant children enjoy the many benefits of their new countries, it’s hard to forget the faces of loved ones, and the memories that follow them into their new lives.
The Language Lizard team is very excited to announce the release of a new (and much-needed) book that shares the story of the immigration experience through the eyes of a child. In Happy After All, the young narrator must adapt to her changed circumstances—while feeling the sad pangs of homesickness. Through her father’s encouragement, and her own willingness to enjoy new things, the girl learns that she can find pleasure again, and begins to thrive. [Read more…]
{Guest post by Language Lizard}
The Language Lizard team is very excited to announce the release of a new series of children’s books in many languages that Celebrates Diversity, Kindness, and Friendship!
Language Lizard Living in Harmony Books use colorful multicultural illustrations and simple text to explain concepts of diversity, kindness, and friendship. The books come with free multicultural lessons and activities to support diversity education. [Read more…]
{Guest Post from Language Lizard}
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.
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:
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.
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 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 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.
Language Lizard Idiom Books come with links to 3 free lesson plans:
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.
Language Lizard Idiom Books come with many fun, free activities. Here are just a few of them:
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.
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 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!)
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!
“The sun beats down relentlessly on a scorched landscape where nothing is growing. Buffalo is listless and desperately looking around for something to eat. Then, one evening he finds a white biscuit in a small pool of water. But, he is not the only animal to see it and a great fight begins… But all is not what it seems.”
Language Lizard’s newest bilingual storybook offering, The Biscuit Moon, is an engaging bilingual story about a distressed traveler.
THE BISCUIT MOON (BILINGUAL CHILDREN’S BOOK)
As we follow Buffalo’s journey, we explore the concepts of climate change, scarcity, and the need to share precious resources.
In The Biscuit Moon readers meet Buffalo and Lion, and the delicious biscuit that never was. This is a discussion-provoking story about scarcity and greed, and ultimately the wisdom of cooperation.
The Biscuit Moon is available in English with Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese-Traditional, Farsi, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Karen (Sgaw), Korean, Kurmanji Kurdish, Sorani Kurdish, Lithuanian, Oromo (their newest language offering), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yoruba.
Teachers can use this engaging story to spark discussions about climate change, its effects on wildlife, and why it’s important to conserve and share precious resources. The story can also be read as a metaphor for communities making a new life far away from home.
Teachers and homeschooling families can access extensive teacher’s notes and activities that use The Biscuit Moon, along with links to child-friendly resources about climate change, on Language Lizard’s Free Multicultural Lesson Plans page.
Language Lizard is a longtime sponsor of Multicultural Children’s Book Day and a current 2021 Platinum Sponsor.
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