Looking for a purely Spanish program

[CleoQc]

I've been looking at some Spanish programs out there, but they're all missing a key information (key to me!)

I need a Spanish program that's PURELY Spanish. Contains no English whatsoever. This would be for kids aged 7 to 10, with absolutely no contact with Spanish speaking kids. I'm looking for something with a heavy audio component. And there should be no English, because those kids do not speak English ! They're French speakers.

I'm looking for a program meant for homeschoolers. Those do not exist in French. And the programs that do exist in French assume a totally fluent Spanish teacher, or they're not aimed at children.

[nmoira]

I'm using The Learnables (http://www.learnables.com/) with my bright 6yo. We're going slowly through the Basic Structures 1 book (the accompanying CD's have audio for almost all exercises) -- a page or two a day, plus the review -- but I'm amazed at how quickly she picked up words and phrases from the Listening 1 component. Even more amazing is the amount of Spanish I've managed to pick up; I've never felt particularly language adept. I've tried Rosetta Stone and had little retention. If your 7yo isn't up do doing the workbook alone, using just the listening component is an option. You could also work through the book together.

There is a little English at the beginning of the workbooks (the instructions and a translation of the exercise directions), but ALL the exercises and instructions are in Spanish.

[Colleen in NS]

I've been looking at some Spanish programs out there, but they're all missing a key information (key to me!)

I need a Spanish program that's PURELY Spanish. Contains no English whatsoever. This would be for kids aged 7 to 10, with absolutely no contact with Spanish speaking kids. I'm looking for something with a heavy audio component. And there should be no English, because those kids do not speak English ! They're French speakers.

I'm looking for a program meant for homeschoolers. Those do not exist in French. And the programs that do exist in French assume a totally fluent Spanish teacher, or they're not aimed at children.

Hi Cleo,

No advice here. But I just wanted to tell you a little neat story. :)

I decided, after much debate with myself, to go with Spanish instead of French next year, even though we are in Canada and have access to French speakers around here. I ended up buying the Learnables for this too (after chatting with nmoira about it), because of the audio immersion with pictures in the book. Anyway, I was talking with dh one Saturday night about my internal debate and he said he didn't care which language we did, so I went with Spanish because I just love the language and I thought it would be a good one to do after a couple of years of Latin. Sunday morning at church, I read the church bulletin, which features a family bio. every month. That day, it was a family who was fairly new, and I found out the father was from Nicaragua!!!!! I made a beeline for him after church and, long story short, he excitedly agreed to converse with us in Spanish when we get going in the program! I was so excited, because I had resigned myself that I would not be able to find a Spanish speaker around here. How cool is that! So I wonder if you might be able to locate a Spanish speaking community in your area? This guy lived in Montreal for 12 years before coming here, too. So he also speaks French. Hmmmm.....

Just thought I'd share.

[Mama Lynx]

If a reading approach would work for you, you might be interested in "Lengua Espanola: Comprension" by Svetoslava Staykova. You have to order it from Spain. The only English is in the introduction :)

If you've ever seen Oerberg's "Lingua Latina," it is the same approach.

Unfortunately, it has no audio companion, that I know of.

[chiguirre]

Another alternative is to get Muzzy Spanish and Muzzy French and eliminate the English videos. You'd watch the Spanish video and use the French to understand it. Not a super wonderful option :( but if you can't find anything else, it's better than nothing.

[LlamaMama]

You'd watch the Spanish video and use the French to understand it. Not a super wonderful option :( but if you can't find anything else, it's better than nothing.

I gently disagree. In my house, we discovered that "nothing" would be better than Muzzy. I found the monster and the vampire figure repulsive. They even introduced a guy that had the hots for the princess within the first couple of minutes of the show. Not my cup of tea. *Sigh* I wish it had worked since they are accessible from the library.

[fishnoises]

I grew up in a Spanish speaking household and learned Spanish from hearing it. Also I lived in Brazil for about 6 months with my family while I was waiting to go back to college, and I learned quite a bit of Portuguese from the tv and just from day to day normal living experiences. (I am sure the Spanish and French background helped a bit...)
I honestly believe the best way to learn a language is to hear it. My family and I went to Argentina last August for 2 weeks. I think the kids picked up the "ear" for the language. I am sure if we stayed for a few months, they would have learned more than they ever would with a language program over here.
Give this a try:
have your kids watch their favorite movie, and switch the language option to Spanish. Do this often. Show the French subtitles at first, and then don't. I promise you that the kids will start to get an ear for it They will pick up more and more words. The grammar will come later, as it does for us in our first tongue. You will be shocked at how much these sponges soak up! It won't cost you any more than the dvd's you or the other families already own!
Get some Spanish songs too. Have them listen to them whenever possible. These little french speaking children will probably pick up the Spanish much quicker than our English speaking ones!!
You do not need fancy foreign language programs to learn a language. You need them to learn the grammar. It'll be much easier to learn grammar later, when they have the understanding.

[CleoQc]

Give this a try:
have your kids watch their favorite movie, and switch the language option to Spanish. Do this often. Show the French subtitles at first, and then don't. I promise you that the kids will start to get an ear for it They will pick up more and more words.

You know what's funny? Our DVDs rarely have Spanish as an option. And the subtitles are always in English, they are rarely in French.. Weird, I know. I would have gone with this approach otherwise.

[Kimber]

I really like Puertas Abiertas. It's only in Spanish. Level 1 is ready, not 2. But level 1 is fabulous. It's a DVD and work book based program. There is info on their website here (http://www.spanish-for-kids.com/home.html).

[Julie Smith]

Perhaps you already know about, "L'arc-en-plume" I noticed that they have a few Spanish learning materials listed in the language section. But my French is poor - so I'm not sure if they would be a good fit for you.

http://www.arcenplume.ca/cduslang.htm

[CleoQc]

If a reading approach would work for you, you might be interested in "Lengua Espanola: Comprension" by Svetoslava Staykova. You have to order it from Spain. The only English is in the introduction :)

If you've ever seen Oerberg's "Lingua Latina," it is the same approach.

Unfortunately, it has no audio companion, that I know of.


That's way cool! I use Lingua Latina for myself, and I enjoy the approach...
I'll pass on the info, thanks!

(Oh, the author doesn't have a very Spanish sounding name :eek::D)

[Moira in MA]

Have you checked out Rosetta Stone? It is immersion with everything in the target language on screen although some of the ancillary material is in English but you probably wouldn't want that for such young learners.

There is a new version 3 that has just begun shipping. If you call they will be happy to send you a free demo disk.

HTH