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What Is Your Language?
Music and language notes turn a multicultural picture book into a song, as a young traveler meets children in other countries and learns to say "yes" and "no" at every stop.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 8, 2011
What Is Your Language, is appropriate for 4 and 5 year children. The story does not have a lot of meat to it and is actually very simple. However it is great multi-cultural children's book that celebrates several different cultures. Great for encouraging students to be open to others that are different from themselves. This is shown when a young boy boards an airplane and travels to nine different countries and learns how the children in these countries say hello in their individual languages. Wonderful story about making friends with people all around the world.
December 10, 2017
This book is great for young children to understand how other people live around the world. A young boy travels around the world asking other children about their language. Components of their cultures are shown, as well as the names of the languages they speak, and how to say "yes" and "no" in those languages. It would be nice if there were other words taught from those languages as well, but the message about making friends with those who are different than you is great. I also liked how kids can begin to understand that the word yes still means the same thing around the world, even if the words sound different. The illustrations were detailed in portraying different areas of the world, and were done in gouache, watercolor, and colored pencils. The book is also written as a song, and while reading it may include using repetitive phrases, the incorporation of a song is unique and makes it more interactive. This book would be great for any age from 3-6.
November 18, 2019
This book is for early readers. My favorite part about this book, and the reason I picked it up, was the cover. It immediately drew me in due to the various cultures represented on the cover. I can see that this book is going to be one that celebrates cultures. The end of the book even includes a note about different languages - where they are spoken and how they were adopted. This book would be fun to share in a very early elementary grade to get them thinking about cultures unlike their own.
Read
February 9, 2021"What is your language?" is an amazing book that has beautiful visuals that go along with the song of the same name. Throughout the book the children answer questions and speak in languages relative to their country. The visuals vary and show amazing aspects of each different country. There are a bunch of languages represented and it is a great start up book to show diversity!
Grade-PreK-2
Lexile-N/A
Grade-PreK-2
Lexile-N/A
October 14, 2017
This book is a good book to read to children, to teach them about diversity and different languages. In this book, the little boy goes to different countries, learning about different languages people speak. This book shows where they are and what are some things that they do in those countries.
December 25, 2018
This is a cute and effective book for teaching kids about different cultures and languages. The illustrations could be a little more realistic but they also are very kid-friendly. This book would be great for using in a geography lesson for younger kids.
April 10, 2020
The book is filled with old and tired stereotypes. It was probably progressive in the 1960s but doesn’t hold up to today’s standards. I bought it used and literally threw it away to hopefully keep it out of circulation.
November 5, 2017
6.5 year old says: “I liked it because it shows me how people in different countries look like and how they say yes. I wish it would also teach hello and some other words”
March 13, 2018
A book of song of how to say yes and no in eight different languages: German, French, Russian, Inuktitut, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and Swahili.
June 20, 2018
A good story to introduce the concept of different languages being spoken around the world. Features how to say "yes" in different languages.
December 5, 2022
Very simple, yet this would expand a child's mind and help them think globally. Perfect for PYP or any endeavor encouraging international-mindedness.
August 25, 2016
"What is Your Language?” was written by Debra Leventhal. This bilingual children’s book is about a young boy that travels across the world. As he goes from one country to the next the main character asks what language they speak. The book teaches the reader how to say yes and no in ten different languages.
I feel that this is a great book for young readers, probably ages 3-6. The book is very repetitive, and says almost the exact same phrase on every page except the first and last. The repetition would make it easier for children to follow along. It also helps the new country and the language stand out more because it is the only thing that changes. Not only does the book help children learn yes and no in multiple languages but the illustrations help them get a broad sense of what each country is about. The pictures help children who have most likely never traveled to another country gain a basic background knowledge of larger countries around the world. It shows things such as how people would dress, the typical weather, foods they eat, and things they do. The illustrations are vibrant and colorful, and their also appears to be mainly children so young readers could connect to it better.
Something I found very interesting was that in the back of this book there is a song that goes along with the book. A parent or teacher could read this book with their children and singing it instead of reading it could not only keep their interest better but it could help them follow along with the words more proficiently.
Overall I think “What is Your Language?” is a fantastic book for young readers to expand their knowledge about different countries and languages, allowing them to realize there is more places in the world than just America. I think the book could be used as a good teaching tool to for literacy and social studies. Although I think this book could be beneficial to older readers because it allows them to learn new languages, I feel that it is too repetitive and the sentence structure is too short for it to be in an upper elementary school classroom.
I feel that this is a great book for young readers, probably ages 3-6. The book is very repetitive, and says almost the exact same phrase on every page except the first and last. The repetition would make it easier for children to follow along. It also helps the new country and the language stand out more because it is the only thing that changes. Not only does the book help children learn yes and no in multiple languages but the illustrations help them get a broad sense of what each country is about. The pictures help children who have most likely never traveled to another country gain a basic background knowledge of larger countries around the world. It shows things such as how people would dress, the typical weather, foods they eat, and things they do. The illustrations are vibrant and colorful, and their also appears to be mainly children so young readers could connect to it better.
Something I found very interesting was that in the back of this book there is a song that goes along with the book. A parent or teacher could read this book with their children and singing it instead of reading it could not only keep their interest better but it could help them follow along with the words more proficiently.
Overall I think “What is Your Language?” is a fantastic book for young readers to expand their knowledge about different countries and languages, allowing them to realize there is more places in the world than just America. I think the book could be used as a good teaching tool to for literacy and social studies. Although I think this book could be beneficial to older readers because it allows them to learn new languages, I feel that it is too repetitive and the sentence structure is too short for it to be in an upper elementary school classroom.
November 8, 2009
PreK-2nd
Leventhal & Wellington show many great examples of different areas of the world through the many illustrations throughout the book. Each different country has examples of what one would see while visiting there. For example, while visiting Inuktitut it is possible you may see a dog sledding team or while in Mexico/Spain you may encounter a mariachi or man playing a guitar. The art was very well incorporated to the place being visited. The text has many reoccurring context words like the phrase, "What is your language?" and "Please tell me now." They reoccurring in each location. The text in the book is largely printed while having easier words for lower level grades. The book will appeal to smaller children to show a world outside of their own. Many children around the suggested age level probably have not done much traveling outside the United States and this will give them a great exposure to other cultures throughout the world.
Geography/Art
Each place visited/located in the book could be marked on a large world map and shown in relation to one another.
Leventhal & Wellington show many great examples of different areas of the world through the many illustrations throughout the book. Each different country has examples of what one would see while visiting there. For example, while visiting Inuktitut it is possible you may see a dog sledding team or while in Mexico/Spain you may encounter a mariachi or man playing a guitar. The art was very well incorporated to the place being visited. The text has many reoccurring context words like the phrase, "What is your language?" and "Please tell me now." They reoccurring in each location. The text in the book is largely printed while having easier words for lower level grades. The book will appeal to smaller children to show a world outside of their own. Many children around the suggested age level probably have not done much traveling outside the United States and this will give them a great exposure to other cultures throughout the world.
Geography/Art
Each place visited/located in the book could be marked on a large world map and shown in relation to one another.
April 26, 2012
"...There is a basic map with oceans and continents labeled on both the front and back inside covers, and the back pages of the book also have the following resources: the words and sheet music for the song AND a page of information about language, including a little information about each of the languages featured in the book and a basic pronunciation guide for the non-English words.
I think this book is a cute and fun way to get a young child interested in other languages and cultures; it's no Dora the Explorer, but when I tried it out with some preschoolers at the childcare facility where I used to work, they really enjoyed the song and had a lot of fun saying the foreign words. ..."
For full review, please visit me at Here Be Bookwyrms on Blogger!
http://herebebookwyrms.blogspot.com/2...
I think this book is a cute and fun way to get a young child interested in other languages and cultures; it's no Dora the Explorer, but when I tried it out with some preschoolers at the childcare facility where I used to work, they really enjoyed the song and had a lot of fun saying the foreign words. ..."
For full review, please visit me at Here Be Bookwyrms on Blogger!
http://herebebookwyrms.blogspot.com/2...
January 16, 2010
This is a nonfiction songbook where a young boy travels the world and learns how to say the word "yes" in a total of 12 languages. This is comforting for those children who primarily speak another language other than English. It also is a fun interactive book to share various cultures and languages from around the world. There is a song that accompanies this book so it would be a great morning meeting book and for the theme “All About Me” or just to use throughout the school year. This is fabulous and it really is a fun way to start the day and introduce new languages to young children... the song is a fun way to introduce this and it would be great to have the students use a different word for "yes" each week- throughout the week which is what my pre-k placement class did.
March 5, 2014
"What Is Your Language?" By Debra Leventhal
APA citation:
Characters: n/a
Setting: n/a
Plot: introduction of how to say yes and no in ten different languages
Theme/Lesson:
Use in the classroom:
-elementary: for each class day for two weeks have students try answering "yes/no" questions with the language that you assign them.
-ESL: an activity for ESL English practice in which students have to listen carefully to the yes/no questions, but respond in a designated language. (Requires them to comprehend the question in English but still have fun learning new words in other languages too.)
-Early elementary: learn and sing the song
-use alongside study of specific countries (in geography or social studies)
APA citation:
Characters: n/a
Setting: n/a
Plot: introduction of how to say yes and no in ten different languages
Theme/Lesson:
Use in the classroom:
-elementary: for each class day for two weeks have students try answering "yes/no" questions with the language that you assign them.
-ESL: an activity for ESL English practice in which students have to listen carefully to the yes/no questions, but respond in a designated language. (Requires them to comprehend the question in English but still have fun learning new words in other languages too.)
-Early elementary: learn and sing the song
-use alongside study of specific countries (in geography or social studies)
May 2, 2015
This book teaches children the words for yes and no in many different languages. The illustrations show scenes from daily life in the country that the language is spoken. This book should be awesome, but falls flat. The repetitive line is "My language is ---. This is the way it sounds:" and then doesn't give a guide to pronounce "ja" or "oui" or "ndiyo" on the page where it's encountered. It is supposed to be a song that parents sing to their children. But the pronunciation guide is the very last page, very small letters, on the bottom. I feel that the book could have been put together better.
June 26, 2009
This is more like a social studies book than a language book, but I do like that it teaches kids that different languages are spoken in different places. One thing I don't like is that some of the kids are wearing more traditional clothing. I guess if that's something you want to teach, that is fine, but it isn't necessarily what is wore on a day to day basis. For example, the Japan page has a kid wearing a kimono. Kimonos are primarily worn for special occasions and not every day. Some people might think that books like these create stereotypes.
July 13, 2013
This is a short children’s story of a boy taking a journey around the world. He explores about 10 different countries and learns to say hello in each home language there.
The author uses repetition so the book could be easily followed by younger children. The author also uses colorful illustrations that depicts the culture of the country where they are visiting. This book was effective for its intended purpose; to introduce different languages.
Exploring different languages is an idea future writers could use.
The author uses repetition so the book could be easily followed by younger children. The author also uses colorful illustrations that depicts the culture of the country where they are visiting. This book was effective for its intended purpose; to introduce different languages.
Exploring different languages is an idea future writers could use.
January 27, 2014
This is a fun sing-along book that has a basic tune that can be used to sing along with the book. While it does not teach much about a language, it introduces nine different languages from around the world. The illustrations are very colorful, showing something from different cultures where the language of that page is spoken. I think it would be a great book to use with primary students when doing social studies, when teaching a unit on cultures, or simply as a way to encourage cultural awareness and acceptance.
November 2, 2016
This book is amazing. It's a multi cultural book that talks about different languages in different countries. This book is suitable for K-2 grades. It helps the students to be open to and interested more about other languages .This book is about a young boy boards an airplane and travels to nine different countries and learns how the children in these countries say yes in their individual languages. Teachers can read this book for the students, let the students read it by themselves, and make a multicultural project with it.
March 8, 2010
This is a nonfiction songbook where a young boy travels the world and learns how to say the word "yes" in a total of 12 languages. This is comforting for those chldrne who primarily speak another language other than English. It also is a fun interactive book to share various cultures and languages from around the world. There is a song that accompanies this book so it would be a great morning meeting book and for the theme "All About Me" or just to use throughout the school year.
March 22, 2013
This book introduces various languages. New cultures are demonstrated in illustrations. The story teaches children to say yes In different tongues (ex. Da-Russian, oui-French, etc). It opens each language with a boy asking, "What is your language? Please tell me now." This method allows the story (with all these new words in different languages) to flow a little easier for the students. This is a great tool to add some culture to the classroom.
June 2, 2014
At first I found this book too repetitive but that was before I realized it was intended to be a song. Also, I don't know how to accurately pronounce all of the different languages (different ways of saying simple things like "hi" and "don't go".) Other than that, the illustrations are simple and fun, and the book tries to take you around the world. It's a favorite.
August 17, 2009
I really liked the simple way this helped me teach the concept of different languages to my kids. They loved reading it. The general cadence of the book was a little awkward, but good on the subject matter.
August 1, 2014
A great introduction to the concept of different languages for little ones. A child asks"What is your language?" That question led me to living abroad for a year on the other side of the globe and really, a career in international software. But I digress. Great book for expanding little horizons.
June 11, 2011
A boy is traveling to different countries and finds out how everyone else says yes in their own language. It is based on a song and the notes are in the back.
Read
February 13, 2012On the hardcover shelf
August 7, 2010
How to say "yes" in many different languages.
April 5, 2015
Cute and sweet.
A bit superficial. A bit stereotypical. But okay.
A bit superficial. A bit stereotypical. But okay.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews