Francophones, I'd like your opinion, please

[mom2bee]

I'm very interested in this French langauge reading/phonics program that I found on line  Créamots : Les amis de l'île - Méthode pour lire, parler, orthographier

 

Demo video:

 

There is nothing on Amazon.fr, but I think that I found it on this French website and this is the product description

Cet ouvrage s'adresse aux enfants en situation d'apprentissage et/ou de difficulté en lecture, orthographe et expression orale, à partir de 5 ans. Il se compose d'un livre de lecture dans lequel sont proposés divers textes et jeux illustrés permettant d'allier le sens, la phonologie et l'intonation (jeu du Vrai-Faux, phrases à trous, enrichissement du vocabulaire, jeux de diction, productions d'écrits...) et d'un guide d'utilisation. Les correspondances entre lettres et sons sont intégrées suivant une progression visant à réduire les risques de confusions. Un CD-ROM accompagne l'ouvrage pour imprimer à volonté les fiches d'exercices.

 

My English and Spanish background have me interpretting the first sentence, in bold, as "this Program covers for children in the situation of learning or having difficulties in reading and oral expression from age 5 and up."

 

Is this a program for struggling readers or is this a typical French reading program? I would like to know your impression of this program based on the video. How does it compare to other Native French reading programs in your experience?

Edited December 21, 2016 by mom2bee

[mom2bee]

It's about 70.00USD but I can't figure out if it ships internationally and I'm in the US. Does that website I linked offer international shipping and if so, can you link me to the page?

 

 

Also, does the video speak to the contents of the CD? I see in the product description that exercise pages are included on the CD rom, but is that all that is on the disk?

 

 

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

This program is specifically aimed at struggling readers or students with other various language delays (speech delay, etc.)  She lists a half dozen special needs this program is supposed to help with about one minute before the end of the video: speech delay, dyslexia, dysgraphia, auditory processing, etc.  

 

The CD-ROM contains "support material" which is the French equivalent of dittos/handouts/worksheets.  

 

This program is similar in some ways to the "methode syllabique" (equivalent to English phonics (as opposed to whole word reading), but more like Webster's Speller in how it works) reading programs I've seen and used.  That is, first the vowels are covered, then a consonant plus each of the vowels:  La, Le, Li, Lo, Lu, Lé, Lè, then practice words both real and nonsense: lola, lélo, léo, etc.  Then an illustration with either a few words or, with progression, a short text related to that lesson.  Then vowel paris, etc.    

 

What I don't see in the books I use are illustrations of the mouth, or adding a tail to a letter to indicate the sound should be held for longer, or changing the size of the letter to indicate it should be spoken more loudly or softly (These were all mentioned in the video as she flipped through the book).  Those are typical speech therapy exercises and not related to learning to read per-se.  

 

I guess my question to you is:  What is your purpose for this book?  If you can give me some idea of what you are looking for, I might be able to direct you to the program you want.  This particular program is for a native French speaker who has some kind of language delay.  

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

The website you link shows the book as being out of stock.  It also doesn't offer shipping outside of French-speaking Europe.  I did a quick search and it appears to be pretty much out of stock everywhere.  I'm guessing it is out of print- several websites listed it as out of print without plans to re-stock it.  

 

If you are looking for a method specifically for a child with some language issues, you might try Jolly Phonique.  It's Canadian, so you have the advantage of a bi-lingual website!  I used to have this... I'll dig around and see if I still do but I think I've already passed it along.  Nothing wrong with it, but just LOTS of busy work for kids who read without much difficulty.  

 

If you simply want to teach reading, you can check amazon.fr for "methods syllabique".  We love Léo et Léa book 1 and book 2.   I LOVE La Bonne Methode de la Dictée, and the same publisher also has La Bonne Methode de Lecture, so that might also be a choice to consider.  

 

Finally, if the chid already reads in another language, teaching French reading should be relatively straight forward.  You can use some very low-level beginner readers, which will still have unpronounced letters grayed out to help the child remember they are silent.  

 

Anyway, I'm happy to help if you need more information.  

[mom2bee]

This program is specifically aimed at struggling readers or students with other various language delays (speech delay, etc.)  She lists a half dozen special needs this program is supposed to help with about one minute before the end of the video: speech delay, dyslexia, dysgraphia, auditory processing, etc.  

Okay, I thought that was what she was saying, but I couldn't be sure. She might've been saying it was also appropriate for, or else NOT appropriate for children with any or all of those needs.

 

What I don't see in the books I use are illustrations of the mouth, or adding a tail to a letter to indicate the sound should be held for longer, or changing the size of the letter to indicate it should be spoken more loudly or softly (These were all mentioned in the video as she flipped through the book).  Those are typical speech therapy exercises and not related to learning to read per-se.  

Those are exactly the features that I'm hoping will help me! Is there another program simliar to Creamot that is still in-print/available and that can be found online? 

 

I guess my question to you is:  What is your purpose for this book?

I was thinking of pairing this with a French Phonology course as a "Pre-French" course.

The problem with Creamot is it doesn't seem to contain much reading practice in it's pages, but I'm thinking that pairing it with a normal, learn to read program that uses the syllable method  in readers will make it more "full".

 

I do love the emphasis on handwriting as well, and the graphical helps to really help with developing the correct sound-to-symbol understanding.

I've seen the syllable method in YouTube videos, but I can't mimic them. I was hoping that this book--or another one VERY like it--would help.

 

 

 If you can give me some idea of what you are looking for, I might be able to direct you to the program you want.  This particular program is for a native French speaker who has some kind of language delay.  

I want something that I can compare with an audio-based French Phonology course as a "Pre-French" course.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Here is a video you might find interesting for French pronunciation: The Sounds of French.  The author of the book Fluent Forever made the videos, and he also has created what he calls "pronunciation trainers" for various languages using native speakers, visual cues, etc.  He suggests these as a "pre language course" before beginning vocabulary.  The video I linked and the sequel to it are extremely detailed, pictures of the mouth, etc for French sounds.  

 

I don't know of a READING program that would include these sorts of cues because in theory, a French child already hears and says these sounds without a need for any additional "training".  You could try looking for a speech therapy program ("logopedie" is the word to search for), but unless you have some reason to suspect the student is significantly more handicapped in language acquisition than normal, that seems like major overkill to me.  I'd suggest going with the pronunciation trainer from fluent forever.  

[CadenceSophia]

What age is this for? I know it seems like a good idea to start language instruction with phonetic reading practice but it isn't really necessary.

 

If this is for a child that already reads, the reading skills will transfer once there are a couple years of oral fluency.

 

If this is for a teen or adult, there are great phonology courses from CLE.

 

If this is a child who is learning to read simultaneously in English... Most people recommend avoiding that. There are lots of great ways to teach French orally. There will be a lot of assumed aspects in reading programs for native kids that will make the process unnecessarily tedious.