French-Breaking the Barrier

[AHASRADA]

I saw that a few of you have used this. I am wondering how this is better that a traditional high school level textbook/workbook combo?

 

Their website was impressive, but I am having a hard time understanding exactly how the programs works. It is supposed to be self-directed, and yet, looking at the sample chapter, there is not an overly abundant amount of practice. Is there anything in the teacher's materials, etc. that gives guidance for study, etc.?

 

I have been "trying" to use Discovering French Nouveau by Valette this year, which has an excellent colorful textbook, a workbook and accompanying video scenes. However, since it is not designed for self-study, and I do not have the teacher's manual, I just haven't stuck with it. I intended to do 2 pages a day, but just doing the exercises in the book weren't enough. We were probably missing the "class" part, of reviewing and practicing the new vocab. daily, etc., that I just could not make the time to do.

 

I am hoping Breaking the Barrier will be the self-contained, all-in-one program I have been looking for (to use along with Rosetta Stone), but again, I don't know if there is anything included that helps guide the lessons, or if they are just expected to work through the book.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Susan C.]

I looked at the Spanish, and since I don't speak Spanish, found places in the samples where I wouldn't be able to provide direction. I emailed the author, he did say he was available by email to help.

 

This is what I ended up using for Spanish, there are equivalents for French. The workbook quickly got to where we couldn't do it, so we moved to the dvds, dd did both of them by herself. Now, she is back to the workbook and can do it with no problem. She said her workbook looked a lot like Breaking the Barrier. The first half of the workbook covers Spanish 1, the last half, Spanish 2.

 

Workbook in Spanish: http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Makes-Perfect-Basic-Spanish/dp/0071458050/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273083722&sr=8-1

 

In French: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_18?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=practice+makes+perfect+french&sprefix=practice+makes+per

 

There are a few French workbooks, not an exact equivalent to my Spanish one.

 

The Spanish dvds we used (Standard Deviants): http://www.sdlearn.com/product_p/001050573.htm

 

French Standard Deviants dvds: http://www.sdlearn.com/product_p/001050575.htm

 

I plan on having her doing the conversation part with someone we know who speaks Spanish.

 

HTH

[Guest Lynnh]

I would like to know this information also. I ordered Breaking the French Barrier 2 for my dd. I received it this week and I was a little surprised that there are only 12 Lessons. Each lesson has several parts, but I still can't figure out how it will be equivalent to a full year of High School French. There also isn't any real teacher instruction, and really only a page or two of practice for each concept. I haven't received the test booklet yet (they forgot to ship it), but I don't think that is going to have any teacher instruction in it. I would love to know how people who have used this schedule it and if they add anything.

[mooooom]

You can watch the videos free online at Annenberg media, I purchased the texts and workbooks at used college text sites and bought the cds new (didn't want to deal w/ audio cassettes). I wanted a 4 year program, you can definitely do this self study. We add extras like readers and watch movies in french (at first w/ subtitles). We are finishing up the second year now, my kids have been taking the National French exam and scoring well, and can read Le Petit Nicolas series. They can't speak very well yet, but that is my fault for not emphasizing it enough.

[8filltheheart]

You can watch the videos free online at Annenberg media, I purchased the texts and workbooks at used college text sites and bought the cds new (didn't want to deal w/ audio cassettes). I wanted a 4 year program, you can definitely do this self study. We add extras like readers and watch movies in french (at first w/ subtitles). We are finishing up the second year now, my kids have been taking the National French exam and scoring well, and can read Le Petit Nicolas series. They can't speak very well yet, but that is my fault for not emphasizing it enough.

 

 

What we have done is TMM alternated with BtB for a foundation and then FinA along with the BtB books for French 2 up.

 

We have no problem with the teaching instruction in BtB. FWIW.....there are a lot of high schools taht use it. I first heard about it, not from homeschoolers, but when looking at the online book store for an exclusive private school. That is when I looked into and purchased our first set.

[jananc]

Sorry -- what is TMM?:confused:

[Gratia271]

Tell Me More French

http://www.tellmemorestore.com/group.asp?grp=21

[jananc]

Ah! thanks!

[Matryoshka]

I think one of the reasons that I didn't buy level 1 of BtB Spanish (went with Spanish the Easy Way instead) was that there were only 12 lessons, and didn't appear to have much speaking practice.

 

However, when I decided I hated Spanish Now! Level 2 (Level 1 of Spanish Now! is virtually identical to StEW), I took another look at BtB. What really turned me around was reading the author's The Ideal Lesson Plan: Ten Steps to Making Your Student Fluent. I finally saw how the book was supposed to be implemented, and I think this will make me a much better Spanish teacher.

 

The author teaches at a school and uses his own program in the classroom (the French author also teaches at the same school). This program was not originally written to be self-teaching. In his Lesson Plan, he outlines dialog practice (he's now got samples to use right on the website - both Spanish and French), and the two-week lesson plan he charts out uses outside reading and other things, not just the book. So, he's using one of those 12 chapters over a two-week period, four classes per week.

 

The class I'm teaching is, unfortunately, only once a week. I was already using outside reading (right now Los viajes de Rosa y Ernesto, after that Cajas de cartón), but his plan gave me a much better feel on how to integrate it into the lessons. I plan on going over one grammar concept a week - there are 3-4 per chapter. I am probably going to buy Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verbs for extra practice/reinforcement as necessary.

 

I am actually very excited about using this book. I think that the book will give me a great framework and progression - I also think the explanations are very clear. And I think my classes will be much more fun and the kids will get much better at speaking if I implement the changes in his Lesson Plan. But I am fluent in Spanish.

 

If you're using it for self-teaching, I might suggest the Practice Makes Perfect series as a supplement (I belive it comes in French as well) - they're not a curriculum, but I think they're great for supplementation. They also have very clear explanations. I would take my time with the BtB book - it's not meant to be done a chapter a week. I'd also add something more for listening/speaking - French in Action at Annenberg? I'm not as familiar with what's out there for French.

 

ETA: Oh, I see someone else suggested Tell Me More for listening/speaking. That would be good - or Rosetta Stone.

[Rebecca VA]

Breaking the Barrier seems to be affiliated in some way with Think Language (French or Spanish) magazine. This is an online magazine written in either French or Spanish, with a native speaker actually reading the text, so that you can see the articles with your eyes and hear them with your ears. The articles are about interesting events and people in the world of your target language. You can transfer the everything onto your computer so you can keep it permanently, or put it onto a CD.

 

There are samples at the website (http://www.thinklanguage.com). This is a fabulous way to get some reading/listening practice while learning more about the French or Spanish world.

 

(I know this sounds like a paid ad, which it's not -- I'm just very impressed with this feature!)