no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . september 2010 music lingua llc any child can learn a second language type private llc industry education founded bozeman montana 2000 founder gigi swenson and ellen guettler headquarters bozeman montana u.s. area served united states and canada products second language education website music lingua foreign language for kids french german spanish music lingua is a program for teaching second language french german or spanish to english speaking children . it combines original music along with aspects of various methodologies endorsed by leading researchers in language acquisition to teach second language to children from newborn up to age 6 or so . contents 1 aspects of the music lingua method 2 the importance of starting early with second language acquisition 3 second language and brain development 4 music and language 5 incorporation of other methodologies 6 music lingua classes 7 music lingua business model 8 references 9 external links aspects of the music lingua method edit among the key aspects that distinguish this method are the strong integration of music into the teaching method a focus on very young children at an age when they are most able to absorb a second language 1 2 the use of thematically based units the pragmatic combination of a variety teaching methods endorsed by leading researchers in language acquisition an emphasis on a fun low stress environment lowering the child s affective filter which is believed to be key to successful early language acquisition integrated take home materials for every student including music cds which encourage practice of the target vocabulary between classes the importance of starting early with second language acquisition edit a fundamental premise for the music lingua method is that young children learn language in a different manner than older children or adults . young children are said to acquire language naturally while older children must learn the language by rote a method that is less effective and more work . 3 4 furthermore early exposure to the sounds of a second language is key to acquiring a good accent in that language . 5 second language and brain development edit research has shown that when young children are exposed to multiple languages they form unique neural connections and additional dense gray matter for each language . 6 this increase in brain capacity could explain why bilingual children statistically do better than mono lingual children in other topics such as math and logic and tend to generally outperform their mono lingual classmates academically . 7 8 9 music and language edit like language early exposure to music seems to promote an increase in brain structure resulting in increased math and logic skills for the child . although music and language stimulate different portions of the brain there seems to be a synergy between them . 10 by combining music and language music lingua attempts to capitalize on this synergy . the music makes the classes more fun and interesting for the child and also provide a vehicle for practice of the language between classes . while the musical aspect offers its own separate benefits music lingua s primary goal in combining the two is to make language acquisition more effective . incorporation of other methodologies edit music lingua also pragmatically incorporates portions of other methodologies endorsed by the leading researchers in language acquisition . these include dr. stephen krashen s theory of language acquisition vs learning dr. tulare s facilitative language approach dr asher s total physical response tpr and dr. tracy terrell s natural approach 11 to language acquisition which focuses on the use of mother ese language see baby talk . forced choice questioning techniques are also highly utilized in which the target vocabulary is modeled for the child before he or she is expected to respond greatly reducing the stress level and encouraging participation from the child . music lingua classes edit music lingua classes are usually conducted as drop off or parent child classes or are conducted in day cares and pre schools such as montessori schools . the classes are structured around thematically based units designed to be covered in approximately 10 to 12 weeks of classes each meeting once a week for 45 to 60 minutes . each unit has a theme e.g. life on the pond life at home life on the farm etc. . the music activity books props and class activities of a unit are all related to the common theme of that unit allowing the repetition of key vocabulary in different context from class to class . children receive take home materials including a music cd and activity book which cover the songs used in class . parents are encouraged to play the cd as much as possible between classes giving the children daily exposure to the target vocabulary . by the second class session most children are already singing along with the songs although they may not yet understand the words . during subsequent class time the teacher engages the children in singing and hands on activities that put context to the new vocabulary from the song lyrics . 12 music lingua business model edit music lingua is a limited liability partnership based in bozeman montana . it offers a training program to train qualified people in the music lingua method and equips them to teach classes in their area . 13 although it resembles a franchise or business opportunity it is technically neither music lingua teachers operate independently under a licensing agreement . there are currently music lingua teachers in california colorado florida idaho louisiana maryland montana michigan north dakota ohio utah virginia and the district of columbia . 14 references edit mechelli a. nature october 2004 better homes and gardens january 1998 techknowlogia september october 2001 brain mechanisms and early learning . curtiss s. speaker . 1995 . gray matters the developing brain . final script of radio broadcast . madison wi wisconsin public radio association . harley b. 1986 . age in second language acquisition . san diego ca college hill press . miranda hitti webmd medical news oct. 13 2004 bruck m. w. e. lambert and r. tucker . 1974 . bilingual schooling through the elementary grades the st. lambert project at grade seven . language learning 24 2 183 204 . weatherford h. j. 1986 . personal benefits of foreign language study . eric digest . washington dc eric clearinghouse on languages and linguistics . eric document reproduction service no. 276 305 . bamford and mizokawa 1991 ardene shafer menc the natural approach . sil international . retrieved july 5 2010 . music lingua classes . music lingua company web site . retrieved july 5 2010 . music lingua teach language . music lingua company web site . retrieved july 5 2010 . music lingua class locations . music lingua company web site . retrieved july 5 2010 . external links edit music lingua foreign language classes for kids french german spanish retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title music lingua & oldid 684292669 categories language education in the united stateslanguage education publishing companiesmusic education in the united stateslearning methodsafter school programshidden categories orphaned articles from september 2010all orphaned articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this 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