Doesn’t Monday feel like New Year’s Day every week? Monday is a fresh start, an opportunity to set a new goal for the week ahead.
What better day of the week to inspire a new project or goal than on a Monday. That’s how Motrin’s #MakeitHappenMonday challenge encouraged me to turn an “I wish” into an “I will.”
My #MakeitHappenMonday challenge was to teach my children the Greek language while on vacation in Greece. My parents and I spoke to them mostly in Greek, and in English to translate.
Young children are natural language learners; they are better at mimicking new sounds and adopting pronunciation. Speaking a language other than your native tongue helps their cognitive development positively.
When I travelled to Greece as a child, I was hesitant to speak the language, especially in front of Greek relatives. I guess I was nervous about my accent, and afraid to make a mistake and say the wrong words. My relatives would call me “ntropali,” which means shy.
My kids, on the other hand, are a different story! They were up for the challenge, and soaked up as much Greek as they possibly could. I’m proud of my kids for not feeling embarrassed to speak the Greek words and phrases they’ve learned so far. In fact, they would speak back with “tharos” – courage.
While my kids are far from being fluent, I’m happy that they’ve made a great start to learning Greek. Although they may speak Grenglish – Greek and English together – it’s fantastic progress! Whenever we make it back to Greece again, my kids will be older and they can hopefully spend even more time fully immersed in the language and culture.
The #MakeitHappenMonday challenge has inspired me to continue teaching my children Greek at home. I feel like I’ve given my children an experience to learn a language first-hand in the country where their grandparents were born and raised – an opportunity of a lifetime.
Motrin is taking the Make It Happen Monday movement further by donating to Dress for Success in Canada for every tweet shared using the #MakeitHappenMonday hashtag! Every time you use #MakeItHappenMonday #MIHM, @MotrinCA will donate $1 to Dress for Success in Canada @DFSToronto
I hope you’ll be inspired to turn one of your wishes into an “I will.” Are you hoping to cook a new cuisine? Learn a new language yourself? Take guitar lessons, or try kickboxing? Whatever your goal may be, I hope you’ll be motivated to make that goal a reality.
Share your #MakeitHappenMonday challenge on your own social media with the hashtag #MakeItHappenMonday, and turn that “I wish” into an “I will”!
Motrin works fast to stop pain where it starts, so that you can keep being the unstoppable woman that you are. Follow them on Twitter @MotrinCA for help and motivation through the aches and pains of improvement, or pass it on with hashtag #MakeitHappenMonday.
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Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Motrin via Mode Media Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of McNeil Consumer Healthcare or its parent company Johnson & Johnson Inc.
17 Comments
I would love to learn another language, I think it’s best to start when your younger though – I’m trying to teach my daughter some basic French phrases and she is doing really well xxx
I saw somewhere years ago, that a woman in order to teach herself Spanish would write herself notes and reminders in Spanish. This may help your sons. Like write your grocery list in Greek?
I have always wished I had learned a new language – I have basic GCSE (high school) level French and can count to ten in French, Spanish and German, but that’s about it. I just don’t have the time to learn now. Luckily, schools in the UK are really pushing learning languages from a younger age so hopefully my kids will learn one!
Oh how I wish I was one of your kids and you could teach me! It is so important to teach children your family’s culture–and language, too!
I love learning languages and think it is great you are teaching your kids Greek. Will help them in their lives to communicate.
This is great motivation. I think it’s awesome that you are teaching your kids Greek. I’d love to brush up on my French and Spanish.
Kids learn so fast and I wish I could be like them. I would love to be fluent in another language.
Just a bit of trivia here, did you know that women learn a new language easier than men? I don’t know how that works, but I did read about that somewhere. So, I guess it is never to late to try!
I’ve always wanted to learn MANDARIN CHINESE, since i hate to admit it but they are now a powerful country, and it might come in pretty handy.
This is very nice. Good job with your kids! It’s not that easy to teach them a whole new language while also balancing school work and play. This is such an inspiring and motivating challenge. I’ll come up with one soon.
I wish I remembered all of the Spanish and French that I learned in school. I’ve been trying to teach my toddler sign language and she thinks it is fun! I haven’t tried to teach her any foreign language basics though because she is still learning the English language and I don’t want to confuse her. <3 Christine, The Choosy Mommy, http://www.choosykids.blogspot.com
I am about to enter into violin lessons with my three year old. That is kind of like learning another language? isn’t it?
Sounds interesting to teach your kids with a new language, this is really amazing challenge.
I’m hoping to teach my youngest another language. His older brother has speech problems so him talking was just a blessing.
I speak Portuguese. I’ve started this year teaching my kids and wife some of the language. Great challenge!
This is awesome! I would love to learn another language along with my kids. This may be the I wish that I turn into an I will instead.
Being multi lingual is very important in today’s global economy. I am so glad you are helping your children learn another language!