"Fun with Languages" partners with Murray State's Waterfield Library to offer Saturday morning language clubs for children in preschool to 8th grade. Participants may choose to learn French, Spanish, German, Japanese or Chinese. On Sounds Good, Tracy Ross speaks with Valerie Hendley about she has expanded this language learning program across the region.
Valerie Hendley is the Director at the International Language Centre, working with Murray State University. She began her program "Fun with Languages" in 2012 at Calloway County High School with French and Spanish clubs. She has since expanded her program to other schools in Calloway, Graves, Fulton, Carlisle, Hickman and McCracken Counties. She decided to partner with Murray State to teach a course at Waterfield Library in 2014.
Why should we wait for students to learn languages at a university? Why not start them earlier when they're excited to learn and can learn pretty much anything, she says. Her sessions at the library feature children's books in five languages - French, Spanish, German, Chinese and Japanese. Lessons are taught through songs, books, stories and games.
Raised in Morocco, Hendley's parents spoke French and grandparents spoke Spanish. Staff spoke Arabic and she often heard Hebrew prayers. Later in her education, she learned English, Italian and Russian. She says English was difficult to learn because the 'sound and music' is different. With English, you can generally speak the words clearly with your teeth held together. You can't speak French this way, she says. This was hard for her to learn, speaking with her teeth closer together. She says you don't know a language until you dream in that language.
To register or for more information please contact Fun with Languages director Valerie Hendley at 270-226-0198."
