Ana Lomba – The Ugly Duckling (Bilingual French-Spanish Story)

Are you trying to get your child started in a new language? Can’t find the right materials? As a leading educator I can tell you that storytelling is a fantastic strategy to advance quickly. Why? Because in the process of learning to do lively readings or act out stories you are intensifying the development of oral and literacy skills at the same time. Combining language skills makes a huge difference—and boy, is it fun!

However, not all story-based materials are created equal. I have designed this collection of classic stories specifically for parents and children learning languages together. I understand that your needs are quite different than those of teachers (although the books will be very useful for them too).

The Classic Stories series is one piece of the Ana Lomba method. Here are a few strategies that will help you as you begin using the stories with your children:

- Think about the stories as a condensed program. It may seem difficult when you first read them, but you will grow to the challenge.
- Use the language button to go back and forth between languages until you understand the page you are working on. It is okay if your child prefers to continue reading the books in two languages.
- Focus on picking up the dialogue and don’t worry too much about the narration. It is the dialogue that will help you jumpstart speaking at this early stage.
- Don’t worry about speaking with a perfect pronunciation. It is more important that you go ahead and use your new language!
- Read the stories many times with your children. The more you read them the more you’ll learn!

About Ana Lomba:

Ana Lomba is changing the way people think about and interact with young children learning languages. Her Parents’ Choice award-winning books, lively songs, games, stories, and mobile applications are quickly becoming favorites with teachers and parents who want to nurture young children’ inborn language abilities. Ana has taught parent-child, preschool, elementary, and college-level Spanish courses, and held leadership positions with some of the most influential language organizations in the USA. She is a graduate of Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Binghamton University, and Princeton University. For more information about her products and services, visit Ana Lomba Early Languages LLC website at: www.analomba.com.