French programs for a young child? Anyone used Easy French Junior?

[Tonia]

I am considering my options for french next year (with a five year old). I want something that focuses on *conversational* french and not so much on the grammar, etc. I don't want something that is just lists of words to learn - she already knows lots of vocabulary words, numbers, colors, etc. And I would rather not use workbooks.

The only thing I've found, so far is the Easy French Junior. I would love any advice/info on this program from those who have used it.

Any recommendations for some other programs I can look at?

Thanks so much!

[Sarah CB]

Hi Tonia,
I've been using The Easy French Jr. with my younger boys, ages 5 and 7. We really enjoy the lessons and the program makes it very easy to use what you've learned in real life. Marie takes a Charlotte Mason approach to language learning so formal grammar and memorizing wait until the children have developed an ear for the language. Words are learned in context, rather than as a list of vocab, and there are lots of suggestions for how to expand your "French class" into real life. The jr. level is age appropriate and easy to implement.

Plus, the author is a Canadian Francophone homeschooling mom :) There are a lot of cultural bits and bobs that make things more interesting and of course she includes French Canada info.

Sarah

[Tonia]

Hi Tonia,
I've been using The Easy French Jr. with my younger boys, ages 5 and 7. We really enjoy the lessons and the program makes it very easy to use what you've learned in real life. Marie takes a Charlotte Mason approach to language learning so formal grammar and memorizing wait until the children have developed an ear for the language. Words are learned in context, rather than as a list of vocab, and there are lots of suggestions for how to expand your "French class" into real life. The jr. level is age appropriate and easy to implement.

Plus, the author is a Canadian Francophone homeschooling mom :) There are a lot of cultural bits and bobs that make things more interesting and of course she includes French Canada info.

Sarah

Thank you, Sarah! This was the kind of info. I was looking for. I keep looking at the samples, but it's so hard to judge unless you can hear someone share their experience! I think we will probably end up using this program. I can't find anything else that is even similar to it - but it seems to be the type of thing I'm looking for. Words used in context, etc. not just grammar and lists of words to memorize.

Thanks for sharing!

[danielle]

For very young kids, Gaston is a really fun program. However, you must read French fluently to be able to understand the teacher's manual. If you can, this program is a blast. There are 4 levels--kindergarten through 3rd grade. I purchased it from MEP-Eli, but I think it is also still available on Amazon.
Danielle

[Tonia]

For very young kids, Gaston is a really fun program. However, you must read French fluently to be able to understand the teacher's manual. If you can, this program is a blast. There are 4 levels--kindergarten through 3rd grade. I purchased it from MEP-Eli, but I think it is also still available on Amazon.
Danielle

Thanks for the recommendation. I don't speak fluent French but my dh does so I will look into it.

Thank you!

[Hillcrest Academy]

I was extremely excited about La Francais Facille and ordered the Junior level. One of the things I was happy to see on the web site was that they used a Parisienne (sp? I'm having a blank moment) French accent.

I speak french, although not fluently, and learned under a pure parisienne accent. When I got the CD I was surprised at just how "French Canadian" the accent is. It bothered me enough to be a major factor in my dropping the program.

The other think that I just couldn't get used to was how they mix English and French in the conversations right off the bat. Not only does it switch from English to French and back from one sentence to the next, but there are also French words mixed into English sentences and vice versa!

I learned French through immersion and it was fantastic. I am now looking for a program with audio that teaches it as such and am thinking of trying Ecoutez! Parlez! (http://kaleeka.com/id1.html)

[Leslie in TN]

Another great option for young students is L'art de Dire (http://www.nallenart.on.ca/us/french.shtml) (scroll down partway to view). This is an all-oral introduction to French that we found to be fun, easy, and a good preparation for The Easy French. It teaches basic vocabulary, of course, but also spends a good deal of time introducing things like gender and sentence structure in a simple, yet thorough way.

:001_smile:

[Trivium Academy]

For a 5 year old I would recommend Bonjour Les Amis DVDs, Hop Skip and Learn French and the Berlitz French Language Pack which includes a french/english book and CD and other helps. We also like Twin Sisters French for the basic songs.

We tried The Easy French, I even bought both Jr. and Level 1. I couldn't get into it, I didn't like that there wasn't a sequence of what we're learning and my dd7 (then 6) didn't really like how the the conversations were in french and english. I know it works for some but it wasn't our cup of tea in the long run and I sold both levels. We're now using Écoutez, Parlez! French Oral Program and occasionally playing Lingua Fun French game, and this is working for us.

Hope this helps

[Tonia]

When I got the CD I was surprised at just how "French Canadian" the accent is. It bothered me enough to be a major factor in my dropping the program.

The other think that I just couldn't get used to was how they mix English and French in the conversations right off the bat. Not only does it switch from English to French and back from one sentence to the next, but there are also French words mixed into English sentences and vice versa!

I don't think that will bother us - we live in Quebec so a Canadian accent is fine:) and we add some French words to our regular English conversations all the time.

Thanks for the help everyone!

[CleoQc]

The other think that I just couldn't get used to was how they mix English and French in the conversations right off the bat. Not only does it switch from English to French and back from one sentence to the next, but there are also French words mixed into English sentences and vice versa!



LOL! But that's so Canadian! :tongue_smilie: I live in a very very bilingual part of Canada. My little neighbourhood has kids fluent in both languages very early on. The mix is sometimes amazing!

[Tonia]

LOL! But that's so Canadian! :tongue_smilie: I live in a very very bilingual part of Canada. My little neighbourhood has kids fluent in both languages very early on. The mix is sometimes amazing!

I know what you mean! We are an English speaking family but because of where we live we add in a lot of French words to our everyday speech. This is probably TMI but my dd just learned the word *fart* (you'd think every k'er would know that word!) - she had never heard it because we've always used the French word for that . . . ahem ... term :lol:

As a side note - I did purchase Easy French Jr. and I really like it. I like the mix of French with the English because you learn the words because of the context. Does that make sense? :D My only beef has been with the songs. I typed out all the words that are in the book so I could have a copy for our memorization folder and then listened to the CD - the words on the CD are not the same as the words in the manual in many cases. So I had to spend some time finding the right words. But, other than that, I like the program.

We've also started having "French Dinner" once a week with my in-laws. They and my husband are fluent so we use that time for TJ and I to practice our French.

[sagira]

Thanks for the reviews on The Easy program, everyone. I'm looking to buy The Easy Spanish and use it starting in 2nd grade. It sounds good to me.

[CleoQc]

I know what you mean! We are an English speaking family but because of where we live we add in a lot of French words to our everyday speech.

The ultimate Canadian test:
Translate the following in either English or French.

"J'aime la way qu'a hang"

(to provide some context, this is about a new skirt)

[Tonia]

The ultimate Canadian test:
Translate the following in either English or French.

"J'aime la way qu'a hang"

(to provide some context, this is about a new skirt)

"I like the way that hangs" ? Did I get that right? :D My husband read this and laughed - he totally understands the way we mix the two languages.

And about the neighborhood kids speaking two languages - I find it so amazing! The kids at our church (we attend a French church) know that my first language is English so they will talk to my husband in French and then speak to me in English - it's almost an afterthought that they have to switch languages. I only hope that eventually it will get that easy for me! :001_smile:

[CleoQc]

LOL, someone just made me realise my current Facebook status line starts in French and ends in English. And I didn't even notice!!!

:smilielol5:

Cleo vient d'apprendre que Kapuskasing is a real place

someone answered:
I really should pratique le français

[Tonia]

LOL, someone just made me realise my current Facebook status line starts in French and ends in English. And I didn't even notice!!!

:smilielol5:

Cleo vient d'apprendre que Kapuskasing is a real place

someone answered:
I really should pratique le français


:lol: :smilielol5: :lol:

Thanks for the laugh this morning! (Isn't Kapuskasing in Ontario?) :lol: