FAQcamps

Who is Savoir Faire Language Institute?

Progressive, boutique style foreign language institute providing up-to-date, comprehensive and effective foreign language training and cultural understanding to adults and children

Owned, operated, designed and refined by two trained, language acquisition experts and award-winning teachers with 30 years experience between them

In our 13th proud year serving the beach communities and beyond

Offer complete fluency and literacy program for children in Italian, Spanish and French including Mommy and Me classes, an immersion preschool, and a 6 year articulated after school program.

In addition, Savoir Faire offers cultural and language opportunities in the summer in the form of cultural and foreign language rich summer camps and “Cook and Learn” classes in French or Spanish.

Provide language services both on our Redondo Beach campus and in the greater Los Angeles area to the corporate community, private and public schools and preschools and English language training to international groups

Located in sunny south Redondo Beach, California, steps from the sand and surf.

Where are the camps located?

On our Redondo Beach campus at 306 Vista Del Mar (near trader Joes)

Camp activities headquarters is in 3 of our children’s classrooms

Much of the camp is designed to get kids practicing their foreign language outside in the sunny summer weather; at the park, at the beach, at local cafes, gelato/ice-cream shops, and on neighborhood walks (all supervised by SF staff - parents welcome)

Cooking camps are in 3 of our classrooms and utilize stove tops, microwave and convection ovens with the teacher and an assistant.

This camp is not the most inexpensive out there. What am I paying for?

Recipe book or Camp Passport (collection of camp learning and experiences)

Cultural “take-home” artwork

Foreign Language “practice at home” pages

Hands-on cooking activities

Daily yummy “cultural” snack

Close-by walking field-trips

Small group size of 10 students or less

Last day mini-presentation (come and share together what your child has learned)

FREE t-shirt saying, “I like Spanish, French and Italian” in these languages

Behind the Scenes:

A daily cultural adventure achieved by immersing kids in foreign language by bringing alive the cultures that speak the language.

Everyday your kid’s curiosity is awakened when he “experiences” another country’s, customs, history, traditions or daily life through such activities as reproducing a typical French breakfast or building a Mayan temple, or marching with maracas or painting costumes and dressing up like the Italian trickster, Arlecchino

The Spanish, French and Italian languages are “taught” through these engaging activities. Your kids will care more about the language and so remember it better because in class they have built a step pyramid with their own hands but were required to use numbers to 50 in Spanish or have had to ask for the jam in French for their daily croissant. We know kids come home and tell their parents about these events and so the learning continues and deepens when they describe and share with you. You see, we really know what we are doing!

Every minute of every camp has been planned by foreign language experts and award winning teachers who have considered your child’s age, gender, learning style, capacity for wonder and natural interest in the world.

Nowhere else does such a summer experience exist for your kid – every camp including the crafts, recipes, take-home resource sheets and engaging lesson experiences has been designed by our experts at SF

Our teachers are native or near-native speakers who are trained in foreign language methods and working with children. Oh, and passion is a pre-requisite to employment at Savoir Faire!

HEADACHE FREE mornings … your kids will LOVE to attend. No moaning and whining to deal with!

Future Benefits:

When your kid works at the UN and credits you because you sent her to a summer language class when she was eight!

Everyone has a moment they can remember when they were significantly influenced as a child, “My dad gave me skates for Christmas”, or “My uncle let me watch him cook in his restaurant”. Sometimes these moments lead to great achievement and/or great passion for people. What if a foreign language camp inspired your child and set her on a global path?

Anyone who becomes a teacher, lawyer, doctor, financial planner, manufacturer or supervisor - just about any profession in the next 20 years would certainly contribute to their success if they spoke Spanish. Let’s start the ball rolling now - it takes a while to become fluent!

How much foreign language are the kids really going to learn?

Your child will not become fluent in a week long camp. What she will become is excited, curious, interested and motivated to know more about foreign language, other foods, customs, beliefs and ideas. Parents tell us that their children ask more questions about places around the world are more interested in different foods and express interest in going to the countries we introduce them to. How cool is that?

In addition, kids should be able to ask and answer questions about themselves, sing songs and use vocabulary words connected with their fun experiences.

What is the curriculum?

The curriculum introduces basic conversational language “about me” such as;

My name, my age, my family, I live in ___, etc. plus some of the following beginning vocabulary: colors, numbers, clothing, classroom objects, food, animals, sports, house, and more.

Each camp is unique and topics will vary. There are also many activities that explore and present culture. We believe strongly that, to understand a language at a high level, we must understand the people and the culture. Besides, it is so fascinating!

What is the method?

Savoir Faire believes in the immersion approach as the best method in the long run. It requires a high skill level from the teacher and works best when applied over time so the teacher is able to help students build a solid receptive language foundation. In our fluency and literacy programs that run on our campus during the school year, we subscribe to a 100% immersion classroom. In our summer camps, teachers speak between 65% and 90% in a foreign language depending on the activity. For example, if the teacher has a great practice game but the instructions for the game are a little complicated, the teacher will give the instructions in English in order to meet our objective of getting your kids to speak and practice in a foreign language as much as possible. If on the other hand the teacher calls the students to a circle to make introductions this can so easily be done with comprehension in a foreign language. Virtually no English would be used.

Why should I choose a Savoir Faire Summer Language Camp versus a language class elsewhere?

Savoir Faire has designed their summer camps as a complete immersion experience, language and cultural.

Our goal is to reach kids, We really WANT kids to be jazzed by a foreign language and the richness of other cultures and customs. We want to be responsible for their life long pursuit of fabulous cuisines and exotic adventures and for motivating kids to study and reap the benefits of speaking one, two, three or more languages.

We WANT your kids to drag you to an Argentinean churassco style restaurant and make crêpes on Saturday mornings instead of pancakes. Our passion is for life and language and our camps reflect this.

We don’t think passion for anything happens in a clinical class that divorces foreign language from its roots - even a class where pretty toys are strewn about. How long does your child remain interested in any of her toys? There is nothing wrong with toys, we use them, but it is not the toys that inspire kids to be self motivated learners!

Most kids are curious about other languages but they don’t get passionate until they have drunk chocolat chaud from bowls or dressed up like Arlecchino or strummed a mariachi guitar or reconstructed a tile fresco from a ruined villa in Pompeii . Now we’ve got them wanting to know more!

At Savoir Faire programs, we give your kid back to you interested in the world!

How will my daughter learn a foreign language in the camp?

Through a conversation /immersion model rich in meaningful interaction with the teacher. This is not just a “list of vocabulary class”. Kids play game activities where they must use phrases and new vocabulary to be successful, such as relay races, hot potato, “hot and cold” and many more. Students engage in “experience activities” such as buying tacos from a taco stand reproduced in the classroom with music and costumes and craft activities such as sculpting Rodin’s, “The Thinker” to practice body parts.

Students listen to culturally rich stories which combine the language learned with an interesting cultural context. Every camp is loaded with songs and music. Students apply the learning when they buy ice-cream in a foreign language at the shop around the corner and do hands-on cooking. Older kids do fun crosswords and word searches to round out the learning with print. There is plenty of drill and practice repetition too; the kids just don’t know it. They think they are playing the “microphone game” or the “silly voices game”!

I really want my kid to take a camp. How do I convince him to take this class?

(Print out this page as cheat sheet when you talk to your kid)

Tip #1

Don’t mention Spanish (or French) first

Unless your kid has said to you, “Mom I want to learn Spanish”, DO NOT begin by saying, “Do you want to learn Spanish this summer? ”Most older kids think, “I’d rather eat glass!” They think, “school”.

Try this instead…

“What do you think of building a giant castle on the beach this summer (Castles in Spain ) with flags and draw bridges?” And then you make Castilian hot chocolate and wow, you go to the park and play a water pistol game!” Now it is safe to mention, “And you learn some Spanish words, too!”

“How about an art camp, honey?” You get to paint some watercolors like real French artists and do some tissue paper crafts like Matisse and, cool, you even get to make a sculpture with clay like Rodin (Fabulous French Artists). And you get to eat yummy snacks everyday like madeleine cookies and bread and nutella (a chocolate spread). Hey and there is even field trips to the park! Oh, and you learn some French at the same time.”

Pumpkin, don’t you love to cook with mommy? We have so much fun making cookies. There is a class where you can cook some yummy things like birthday cakes (from Argentina ) and rice (from Spain ); you love rice, and even quesadillas. You can make them for mommy after you learn! And you get to try what you make everyday! And I get to come and taste some of your cooking one day. And your teacher will tell you some Spanish words, too.

Tip #2

Friends

My daughter would sit on a fence all day if her friend was. Get a friend to attend with your child. This makes your kid immediately comfortable, they relax and learn more. Parents tell us they practice what they have learned when they are playing together after the camp. Now that is a good thing! Oh, bill of and you can carpool.

Tip #3

The List - what kids want to know:

Kids want to know the highlights. What are they going to do all day? Give them the list and the specifics. In our list we give familiar foods and games because these are meaningful to your kids. In the camp we introduce these and many more from around the world.

Walking field trips to beach (soccer) and park (picnic and games)

Ice-cream shop purchase and eat

Restaurant for tasting

Crafts, Mayan masks paper castles and Eiffel towers, maracas, Pinocchio puppet

Cooking and eating like crêpes, enchiladas, chocolate mousse, tacos, pizza

Daily snacks like taquitos, chips and salsa, biscotti cookies, pastries,

Games like relay races, snakes and ladders, hide and seek, red light/green light

How are your camps supervised?

Of course your child’s safety is our highest concern. To this end the following procedures and policies are in place:

12 years of experience providing safe activities for kids

Field trips include two SF staff plus parents are welcome

Field trip rules are discussed before each trip

Children never go in the water

Hands are washed before all coking and eating activities

Safe cooking and food preparation rules are posted and discussed each class

Each cooking class has a teacher and an assistant

The doors remain locked during camp hours

Students are signed in and out of camp each day

What more can I do to encourage my child’s interest after the camps?

Leave the immersion to us – you do the fun stuff. Here is a partial list of ideas to feed your child’s new found curiosity.

Vacation in another country

Continue language classes at SF in the fall. Info on our website.

Purchase foreign language posters from a teacher’s store or on-line

Cook at home

Watch familiar DVDs set on the foreign language setting

Buy décor for your home with foreign language on it

1 time a month do a country! For example; cook Japanese, Mexican, Spanish, Italian or Chinese. Include music, clothing, and some new words and phrases.

Rate your new foreign favorite foods as you introduce them

Read your kid story books with some foreign language in them.

Collect souvenirs. EBay can be a good source for fun things.

Reward your child with small items from another culture. For example have Madeline stickers, and Eiffel tower key chains and 2 packs of madelines stashed to give as rewards

Host an exchange student (or see us about hosting one of our French interns)