Both my kids watched it during toddler & early preschool years and enjoyed it on & off for maybe a 2-year period. The animation looked like it was digitized from VHS but the audio was quite clear -- might be a DVD vs VHS issue? While we were watching, they picked up some basic vocabulary & expressions here & there while repeating. Educationally, it worked ok for us. IMHO, it might work better during early years before kids expect more engaging plot lines & tune out foreign dialogue. :tongue_smilie:

Just a wild guess (vaguely reminds me of a phonology assignment from yesteryears) ... when /u/ is followed by a vowel => [w] similarly when /i/ is followed by a vowel => [y] perhaps because Spanish only has short vowels (no long vowels or diphthongs like English) so if 2 vowels are adjacent, the 1st becomes a consonant or insert a glottal stop between the 2 vowels?

Thank you snowbeltmom & NJKelli for the useful info. g3 online looks promising. Classics are definitely more preferable to depressing short stories here too. :tongue_smilie:

We're considering the other seminar-style classes eventually. I'd love to hear about your experience afterwards. Good luck!

I've heard wonderful things about the EPGY math program but can't seem to find much about their LAW (language arts & writing) program. The handful of reviews I found were mixed. Has anyone else used EPGY LAW program? Did you go through OE or use their pricey tutor? How about the RWL (Reading and Writing about Literature) with LAW? What did you think? Besides EPGY, can anyone else recommend a good online language arts programs? DD enjoys the independence of learning online and loves to read & read & read but we haven't much success with structured LA curriculum. Thanks for your input!

Well, depending on how much you really want to know, google the keywords "linguistic competence performance". There are lots of linguistic research on competence (what you know) vs performance (what you produce). Enjoy!

Hardly an expert but I can share what we did ... My kids "learned" Spanish from the babysitter, playdates with native speakers, and watching kids TV programs set to SAP in Spanish. Nothing formal. Dora la Exploradora (Dora the Explorer in Spanish not English) was our favorite, great repetition. I learned a lot myself. Plaza Sesamo (Sesame Street) was ok but was actually harder to follow. I learned the language myself using the Pimsleur's Spanish CD series about 5 years ago to teach/support the kids. Renting them can cut the cost. We started using Rosetta Stone a little over a year ago. DD was age 7 and could already carry & understand most basic conversations in Spanish. She started at level 1 and I think it was the right choice for our case. The vocabulary (nouns & verbs) were easy but fun. They did cover agreement, singular/plural, feminine/masculine in level 1; she had some intuition but far from mastery of grammar. She's halfway through level 2 and progressing well, but there's quite a lot of work with present/past/future tense. I think she would have been frustrated if we started her at level 2. Incidentally, DS age 6 now is interested and also dabbling with level 1. So IMHO … if it's just for you, level 2 may be fine. But for kids, I would recommend starting at level 1. For younger kids, you might also consider Muzzy Spanish. Those were cute but also pricey yet perhaps still cheaper than hiring a formal teacher.

What an impressive undertaking! I just joined the forum so am entering this conversation late but I would love to learn more from you. My kids spoke primarily Mandarin until around age 3 when they attended a Montessori preschool, then English has become dominant. Actually, it was rather terrifying how quickly the English came & the Mandarin went! When I first started homeschooling DD for Kinder and was still unsure, it was just easier to use the wealth of resources available in English including WTM. We have Mandarin as a "subject" and do basic arithmetic in Mandarin as well. However, I would like to do more history & science if I can find good curriculum. I'll definitely take a look at your recommendations. 說給兒童的中國歷史 with the CDs would be perfect. What do you do for science? We briefly subscribed to Dish Network's Chinese programming but found we didn't have much time for TV as the kids got older. However, I'm always looking for good audio resources (CD & radio podcasts). There used be a excellent daily program I think 閱讀哇哈哈 at http://www.ner.gov.tw/ which read stories with short topics on history & science. Unfortunately it's off air now. I'm still searching for a good replacement if you know any. In California, we are fortunate to have a large Chinese community. However, I'm not in contact with other Chinese homeschoolers. We do have a playgroup/co-op with other native speakers so the kids can practice & enjoy their heritage in a fun setting. Our emphasis is more on listening, speaking then reading/character recognition and less on writing at the early ages. Because most families & our resources are from Taiwan, we use traditional characters. But we've decided to use pinyin instead of ㄅㄆㄇ since the kids already know phonics. One thought about it all being "tiring" … I don't do true bilingual education on all subjects as you do and I'm already exhausted. I see you also follow Suzuki method which is very time intensive for the parent. At the beginning of this year, I enrolled my kids in a local WTM based history & science program in English. I will probably also outsource LA in the Fall as well. I know it cuts into Mandarin/family time. But for me personally, it has helped me focus on the aspects I cannot outsource and also maintain some sanity. It's great to find you here. Keep up your amazing work!