Bulgarian

[David Burrous]

Unfortunately, I don't have any CD-Rom teaching programs or flash cards
in Bulgarian.  But, I work in a school district that has 89,500 students, many
of whom do not speak English as their native language.  We have students who
speak over 90 different languages, other than English, when they arrive in our
classrooms.

Krashen says that to learn a new language, a person needs comprehensible input.
For
example, tell all the kids in the room to stand up and get in line for lunch.
The little girl
notices what the other kids do, she does it, and within a couple of days she
has learned
"stand up and get in line for lunch."  I suggest that this young lady will soon
be totally
bilingual, in Bulgarian and English.  I'd give her about 6-9 months to just
"listen" and take
in comprehensible input, and then it will start spewing out.  I would just
treat her like the
other students and soon she'll be up to speed.  Suggestion: "don't panic".  (I
have had
elementary school teachers call me on the phone and ask me to tell "Sasha" to
stop kicking
the other kids, because they (the teachers) were afraid that if they
disciplined "Sasha" for
kicking, he wouldn't understand what he was doing wrong.  I suggested that
"Sasha" had
them figured out much better than they had him figured out.  Once they 'gently'
started to
treat Sasha like the other kids, Sasha straightened up.

Good luck.
db

>
>
> >Dear Sir/Madam,
> >>
> >My sister is an elementary teacher in Houston and has a new challenge.
> >A Bulgarian child (6 years old ) who speaks very little English has been
> >placed in her class.
> >
> >Do you know of any English audio or CD-ROM teaching programs in
> >Bulgarian - or even flash cards?  Any information at all would be
> >greatly appreciated.
> >
>
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