[Openskyheart]

My daughter will be 8 in August and is interested in learning French. We have exhausted our small library's resources. Any suggestions? Oh, and I don't mind spending $ if it's a really fun and good quality program. Thanks!

Laura

 

[CraftyMommaOf2]

Check the dvds you have at home. Most of them have french and spanish on them. You can play the movie in french/spanish or get french/spanish subtitles. Plus, if you already know the movie you'll catch on alot quicker.

 

[Sasha_girl]

ITA with CraftyMomma. Most new Disney DVD's (I know a lot of people have problems with Disney, but the movies are plentiful) have several language options. I'm actually going to try that. My kids know Finding Nemo from the inside out, so we'll try watching it in French.

 

[Openskyheart]

Thanks Mamas!

My kids' current favorite movie is "School of Rock." Alas, no French option. We're on Netflix, and I just ordered "Finding Nemo" so we'll check out the French Language option on that one.

Laura

 

[lilyka]

We do movies all the time. my children are currently working on Spanish and I am working on French. Here are our three favorites:

Powerglide. so smooth you don't even relize how much you are learning. At 9 I would start with the Jr edition.

TOPIC computer stuff. they sell sets for fairly cheap at Best Buy, target and Sams Club. pretty much anywhere. We got a 5 disk set for $20 and sams has a 8 disk set for $15. So cheap you can';t really go wrong. The coolest part is the one I got has voice recognition so it digitally checks youpronunciation which is always the hardest part for me.

Babblefish is just fin and oh so free. http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr Check it out. Play with it. it's a hoot.

 

[Openskyheart]

Thanks, Lilyka - I'll look into all your suggestions!

Laura

 

[Dar]

Rain really likes the Rosetta Stone software. You can get the one that has the first 25 or so lessons on ebay for under $10. You can also get the demo disk, which has just a few sample lessons from a bunch of languages, for $2 or so from www.fun-books.com, or you can do the online demo at the Rosetta Stone site if you give them your info (or fake info) http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo

Dar

 

[almama]

We like the "First Fun with French" video. It is geared toward young kids, but older ones will pick up on more words faster. I think an 8 year old would like it too.

The Alliance Francaise up here (Santa Clara County) has coffee socials every month and loves to have people come at any level (if they are a member). An eight year old could probably handle that too. There might be one closer to you too.

 

[Openskyheart]

Thanks for the links, Dar!

Almama: How would I contact the Alliance Francais in Santa Clara county? I know we in Santa Cruz have a reputation for not wanting to drive over the hill, but I grew up in Los Gatos, so I don't mind it.

.

Thanks!
Laura

 

[almama]

Sorry! I forgot to include the link. Here it is: www.afscv.org. I took a class there and while it was good, it was primarily for adults. They have a lot of other activities though and the people who run it are really nice.