CLUBS OPEN CULTURES TO KIDS; TEACHERS FIND FRENCH, SPANISH BROADEN HORIZONS.

Byline: P. Catherine Shanks Community Columnist

Culture clubs in the Conejo Valley are working to close language gaps and bring a bit of the world community closer to home.

In an experimental program, Club Francais takes toddlers to teens on tours through lands where French is the native tongue. And Club 20, or Club Veinte, is an interactive conversation-based learning excursion through 20 Spanish-speaking countries.

``We share special aspects of each country,'' said Club 20 director Nora Fede. The club meetings are invitations to cultural appreciation and not geography classes, and she stressed the importance of making learning comfortable and interesting.

``With language, if a child is there in a club, just listening and participating in a language, there's something to gain,'' Fede said.

Club Francais director Robin Privat of Thousand Oaks sets up a totally French environment for young people, including French furnishings and food.

She believes total immersion into real-life situations and a range of concrete experiences reinforce French vocabulary studies. Children put on plays in French, and special activities are videotaped and reviewed by the classes.

Privat said keeping club meetings fun and stimulating is a key to success.

``I'm a super flexible and creative person, so I accommodate the lesson to keep students interested,'' she said.

Both instructors said it is important to begin teaching language when the children are young, and that there is no such thing as ``too young'' to learn. ``They get the correct accent when they're young,'' said Privat, who currently teaches a number of preschoolers. Privat added that youngsters like to create their own imaginary languages, so they may as well learn a genuine new language.

Fede gives children an opportunity to bring Spanish-speaking puppets to life. According to Fede, even the youngest among her club members begin speaking right away.

``They're like little sponges,'' she said. Her students learn about Spain, Mexico, and Central and South American countries by creating paper castanets, Indian masks, Spanish fans, and by working with genuine artifacts and articles of clothing from various locales.

In the Club 20 program, Fede promotes understanding and cultural acceptance by de-emphasizing negative stereotypes and stressing similarities among Spanish-speaking people. She teaches a basic form of the language that can be understood throughout the world.

``An autobus is a bus in all Spanish countries,'' said Fede. ``No matter where they are they will be able to find the bus.'' The club director said, on occasion, a student with some knowledge of one particular version of Spanish or another will challenge her selection of vocabulary or will question her pronunciation. ``I tell them, If it's not that, one country is not saying it right,'' said Fede. ``It's just the way it is.''

Club 20 and Club Francais evolved out of a perceived need for foreign language instruction on the part of Fede and Privat.

Fede taught elementary school Spanish for 16 years before establishing Club 20. She found the pressures associated with the grading system had a negative effect on many of her students, causing them to dislike Spanish. She began Club 20 two years ago, to show young people that learning a language can be fun and rewarding.

A former dance instructor and California Lutheran University employee, Privat began Club Francais two years ago, because she could not find a French language class for her own children. Privat perfected her French while on a dance tour through Switzerland. During that tour, she met the man whom she would later marry.

``I married a Frenchman ten years ago,'' said Privat. ``Here, the French people aren't sticking together very well,'' she said. ``We started having kids and realized there weren't opportunities for them to learn about the country and the language.''

Privat tailors her classes to the needs of the students. Children come to the Club Francais for a number of reasons. Her students include youngsters who have lived abroad and who want to keep their French in check, young people who plan to travel to France and children from bilingual families who want to speak the languages of both parents. Club 20 participants are interested in Spanish for reasons of cultural heritage, or because they realize the value of learning a language so dominant in Southern California. Fede offers a number of six-week sessions to accommodate individual needs.

Fede and Privat agree that achievement and language mastery are dependent upon the active participation of the parents. According to Privat, committed parents make a big difference.

``If a parent stays and listens and brings the child without fail every week, the child will succeed,'' said Privat. She said supplemental tapes, flash cards and other materials provide parents with tools to help their children learn.

Fede said more and more parents and adults who have no children are becoming interested in the Spanish language. ``They are realizing they should have taken the time to learn when they were kids,'' said Fede. She said some adults are contacting her to inquire about learning Spanish themselves, so they can add the language to their lists of skills and qualify for career advancement and other workplace opportunities.

For Club Francais information, call [phone]. For more information about Club 20, call [phone].

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Robin Privat teaches Club Francais classes for toddlers and teens at her Thousand Oaks home.

(2--Color) Privat uses songs and interactive games to teach preschoolers French.

Andy Holzman/Daily News