French - which curriculum?

[No More Perfect]

I will be starting French with my 7th grader this month. She has no prior background in foreign language (well, we did try The Easy French a couple of years ago and didn't care for it, so dropped it rather quickly) and I've only had 1 year of college French, in which they used FIA. My plan is to use FIA in high school because I found it quite effective and I do not easily learn foreign languages. The question is, what should I use for 7th and 8th grades? I will also be learning with her.

 

I have narrowed down my choices to these three: Assimil French (which I cannot really understand what it actually teaches since I had to translate the page via google and it was, um, less than helpful), The Learnables French, and Breaking the Barrier French. The Learnables looks to be more visual and BTB and Assimil seem to be more audio. I believe all three are helpful in teaching the grammar portion. Is this correct? Which curriculum is best for eventually moving into FIA? Which one would give her - and I - the strongest foundation? Has anyone used one or two or all of them and can offer opinions?

 

Thanks!

[AHASRADA]

I don't have any middle school recommendations, but I do have a copy of the FIA textbook that I no longer need, if you're interested :)

 

Hope someone has a helpful recommendation for you.

[No More Perfect]

I don't have any middle school recommendations, but I do have a copy of the FIA textbook that I no longer need, if you're interested :)

 

Hope someone has a helpful recommendation for you.

That is very kind, but I actually have my textbook from college still. Or maybe it was my husband's. We met in French class!

[sarawatsonim]

Assimil instructions are very vague but on a language learning forum I frequent Assimil is one of the best recommended courses according to many polyglots on there. Apparently the Dutch book has instructions so someone was kind enough to post them for everyone. I use Assimil for my own studies and love it, so I am planning on using it with my daughter within the next year or two. The first half of the book is passive and takes not very long to complete. The second half of the book is the active phase where you begin translating from french to english and back again. 

 

1. Listen to the text with the book closed. It does not matter if you do not understand what is said. You will gain a general impression of the sounds, hearing the pronunciation without being influenced by the spelling.

 

2. Listen to the recording a second time while looking at the English translation.

 

3. Read the French text aloud (with the aid of the phonetic transcription if necessary). Be sure you understand the meaning of each sentence, comparing it with the translation as required.

 

4. Now read the French text again, but this time without looking at the translation.

 

5. Listen to the recording twice, once while looking at the English translation, and once while looking at the French text.

 

6. Listen to the recording again with the book closed. At this point you should understand what is being said.

 

7. Listen to the recording once more. Stop the machine after each sentence, and try to repeat it aloud.

 

8. Carefully read the comments several times. Examine the French sentences being explained. These notes are very important.

 

9. Read the exercises. Repeat each sentence several times. The exercises review material from the current lesson and from preceding lessons. If you have forgotten certain words, consult the English translation.

 

10. Examine the examples of sentence structure. They show how words and phrases are combined in French, which is not always the same as in English.

 

 

I keep these steps written down and use them as my bookmark so I can refer to them each lesson.