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Maybe you want to take advantage of all this extra time you’re spending at home with your child and want them to learn something totally new. Or maybe you want your kid to be able to (finally) communicate with their abuelita (grandma). If you’ve been thinking about sprucing up your child’s Spanish language skills, these 8 free online Spanish language courses for kids will have them fairly fluent in no time.
If you want to boost your kiddo’s bilingual capabilities, there’s no better language to choose than Spanish. It’s spoken by an estimated 43 million people in the U.S as a first language, reported Babbel. So it’s no wonder that Spanish is the second most popular language in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. But lessons with a private tutor can be very pricey, and many online classes can be costly, too. So learning Spanish (or any other foreign language for that matter) might seem like something that will, sadly, have to wait. Thing is, studies show that early exposure to a second language can help fluency, as the BBC reported. That’s why free online courses (like the ones below, most of which include options for beginners and beyond for Kindergarteners and up) will have your child speaking el español like a native. Qué bien!
1
Learn Spanish for Kids – Bilingual Kidspot
This free online Spanish language series has six lessons for early learners. Your child will master greetings, be able to identify body parts and objects, learn how to count, know the difference between family members such as la tia and la prima, and be able to tell you his favorite colores. Each lesson has a goal for your child to work towards.
2
Online Free Spanish
In the Online Free Spanish learning platform, there are various levels that your child can choose from. Each level is pretty substantial (Level 1, for example, has 21 lessons ranging from seasons to songs, to seasons and school supplies). There are coloring pages and worksheets to make the learning experience muy divertido (a lot of fun)!
3
DuoLingo
DuoLingo doesn’t just want to teach your child Spanish; it wants to find out why they're learning (i.e. for school, to converse with friends and familia, or because you’re hoping to soak up some culture) and tailor their lessons accordingly. You’ll choose a daily goal (think 5-20 minutes per day), and take a test to see how your skills rank. Cute little illustrations accompany each lesson.
4
121 Spanish
Aimed at the 5 year-old and above set, 121 Spanish offers online classes to instruct your child. But unlike some other online classes, you’ll work with a real live tutor to spruce up your child’s Spanish skills. You can sign up for a free trial class class (prices start at $12 per 50-minute sesh after that), but 121 Spanish also offers free learning materials for kids, too.
5
Rockalingua
Using music as a method for teaching children, Rockalingua offers many free online classes for kiddos. They can read along with a very hungry dinosaur, sing songs about traveling (and even download the song lyrics and print out coloring pages that go along with the music), and so much more with this site that makes learning Spanish simple — and fun.
6
123 Teach Me
From worksheets and flashcards to reading comprehension and videos, there is so much Spanish content to choose from at 123 Teach Me. Your child can brush up on their reading comprehension, learn the alphabet, and even play cute video games when they’re done with their lesson.
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Spanish For You!
Your child can master Spanish with these mini lessons from Spanish for You!, including fun games like “Fill Your Backpack” or “Day of the Dead.” There’s also a Prayers lesson where your child can learn the “Our Father.”
8
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors offers a wide range of classes in everything from computer science to social studies. But they also offer Spanish classes for kids, consisting of 1-hour live sessions that can run 3-4 weeks. Your child will learn Spanish conversation basics, how to count, and animal names, among other topics.
Learning Spanish can be a fun activity that you and your child do together. And with so many free online options, you'll be able to communicate with each other in a whole new and exciting way.
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