¡Hola Mis Amigos!  Today I am writing a sponsored post about a London based company called ‘Bilingual Beats‘.  They run bilingual music classes for under 5s in 3 different venues across London.

Bilingual Beats is an early childhood bilingual music programme that involves teaching little ones (0-5 years) to love music and to start learning Spanish. The classes allow the children to have fun and to learn to speak a second language in a very dynamic and creative way.

Sadly I don’t live anywhere near London but if I did I would most definitely love my daughter to have attended the classes. It is such a unique concept to combine music classes with language learning and I think it is a fantastic idea! It is vital to give children a head-start on the language learning ladder and by them being exposed to the Spanish language in the classes they will soon start to pick up key vocabulary and learn the rhythm of the spoken Spanish word.

I don’t think I have mentioned it on the blog before but I actually speak Spanish quite fluently. I studied it at school and college – so for about 7 years of my life I had the pleasure of getting to learn such a beautiful language. Sitting here writing this now, I can say to you quite honestly that I really wish I had taken my Spanish learning further. Sadly I didn’t and instead finished my learning with an A-Level in it but even to this day I can still rememebr so much of the language.  It is ingrained in my mind! The words are no longer on the tip of my tongue as I haven’t practiced speaking the language for years…….but when I see Spanish written down I can read so much of it. I really do encourage you to give your children the gift of a second language.

It is because of my past history as a Spanish language learner that I can say that I think the Bilingual Beats Spanish language and music classes are such a wonderful idea. I personally started learning Spanish at age 11 but imagine how much more I would know now if I had started to learn it at the age 1 or 2!  I think it’s important not to force a child to try and learn a language but to instead make the act of acquiring new language skills a fun, enjoyable process….exactly what Bilingual Beats are doing!

The classes are run by Almudena, Claudia and other native Spanish speaking teachers. I have been in contact Claudia whilst I was writing this post and I can truly say she is a very patient and friendly person. I have been delayed writing this post because of moving home and the Bilibgual Beats team have been so understanding about having to wait longer than I planned for the post to be published. Thank you for your patience , señoras :o)

The methodology of Bilingual Beats classes has been developed in accordance with CLIL, the Content and Language Integrated Learning approach. This educational approach involves teaching a subject through a foreign language. Your children are sure to enjoy themselves at the classes as they are 30 minutes long and according to the website they are “carried out in a fun and interactive way so that no one would ever have the feeling that they are receiving formal instruction.” Kids will love that!

The classes involve lots of music that is specifically composed to reach language and musical objectives.Your child will also be able to listen and get involved with singing traditional songs from the countries where the language is spoken. This gives children the opportunity to also learn about some important aspects of that language’s cultural origins.

You can see an example of a class and hear some more information about Bilingual Beats by watching this video :-

You can read a fantastic article about the journey of ‘Bilingual Beats’ becoming a company by clicking this link and visiting the Lifestyle Planet website.  It so interesting to read about how childhood friends Almudena and Claudia went about starting their children’s music and language classes and to undertstand the reasons behind them wanting to teach kids Spanish.

The curriculum followed in the Bilingual Beats classes is a combination of a carefully balanced mix of linguistic content, such as theme words, phonemes, common sentences and basic structures; and musical content, such as songs, tonal and rhythm patterns, rhythmic rhymes, and instrumental play-alongs, in a wide variety of tonalities, meters, and music styles. Almudena , co-founder of the company, is a classically-trained musician so you can trust that she knows her music and her Spanish!

Before I go, can I please ask a favour of you all. Could you pop over and ‘Like’ Bilingual Beats on Facebook. They are getting very close to their 300 fan milestone – I’d love it if you could all help get them there. :o)  You can also follow them on twitter.

Don’t forget that according to the British Council, Spanish is the most important language for your child to learn – so if you would like to get them started on their bilingual journey stop by the Bilingual Beats website and think about enrolling your child in their classes.

¡Hasta Luego, mis amigos!