¡HOLA! Let’s Learn Spanish Visit New Places and Make New Friends! introduces children to Spanish. The purpose of the book is to give children an enjoyable experience learning the language as well as to teach them a useful skill. The age range of children is roughly 6-10, although it should include the largest age range possible. It is especially useful for parents and children who reside in the many districts where foreign language is not offered in elementary school. My hope is that kids and their parents will be inspired to continue their study of Spanish throughout school, so that they can truly communicate to the millions of Spanish speakers throughout the world. The book can be used by older children themselves. It can be adapted for use in Foreign Language in Elementary School , FLES, programs and in Foreign Language Experience, FLEX, programs. It can be used by librarians. It would make a great gift for grandparents, relatives or anyone who has a child in his or her life and would like to give that child the beginning of a truly world class education. It can be used by parents, whether or not they speak Spanish, and their children. There is an audio version of the book on http://polyglotkidz.com. Children and parents should follow along with book and audio so that they learn the best pronunciation. The book begins with an introduction, where Pete the Pilot invites children aboard his magic plane for an imaginary trip to Mexico. On board, children are given some basic words and expressions to learn. Parents and children will have best results when learning the Spanish when they repeat often, and use the Spanish in everyday life situations. The book is designed to help them do that. When the children arrive in Mexico, they meet Panchito, the jumping bean, and they follow his adventures while learning Spanish, and becoming acquainted with the culture of Mexico. When they return, they bring their Spanish back home with them. In the activities section, they are encouraged to use Spanish in every day situations. For example, they have a treasure hunt of people and objects around their house. They can have fun putting on a skit with their friends. In the Culture Corner, kids learn more about the different customs that they meet during the story, and they get more ideas on how to use their Spanish. They can sing the traditional song for breaking the piñata. In the craft section, children can make a mask with frijoles, beans that they encountered in the story. There are more opportunities for using Spanish. With the vocabulary section, they can hear again how each word or phrase is pronounced. With ¡HOLA! Let’s Learn Spanish, children engage in a variety of activities designed to accommodate a variety of learning styles, and enjoy communicating in Spanish.

My Review

I received a free ecopy of this book from the author.

¡HOLA! Let’s Learn Spanish is a children’s book that starts to teach Spanish to children. It begins with a few words that are going to be in the story and then the story is about children being taken to Mexico by Pilot Pete to learn about Mexico as well as the Spanish language. The children meet a jumping bean and follow his adventure. After the story, are more words, many activities, and customs of Mexico.

Included in the book is a link to an audio version. It is narrated by the author, who speaks the English parts, and another lady, who speaks the Spanish parts. It’s a great addition to the book to help parents and children know the correct pronunciation of the Spanish words. 

¡HOLA! Let’s Learn Spanish is a great resource for parents and teachers to help children learn Spanish.

About the Author

Judy Martialay was born in Mount Vernon, New York, and received a BA from Mount Holyoke College and MA from Columbia University. She taught Foreign Language in elementary school, middle and high school.
During and after retirement, she devoted time to public advocacy for foreign language education with the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers.
Her dream is to give all children the opportunity to experience a foreign language, as early as possible.
Judy has traveled to Mexico, France, Spain, Italy, Algeria, China, Ethiopia, Greece, Israel and other countries. She loves guitar, oil painting, and gardening. She is currently studying Japanese. She lives in Sea Cliff, N.Y. with husband Javier, has two daughters and one granddaughter.