Jump to content

Menu

Cross-Post: French for a 7 year old?


garddwr
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have decided it is time for ds7 to start serious work in a language. I gave him a choice and he wants study French. Can someone recommend some good French resources for an elementary student? I am fluent in the language but prefer to have some texts to work with when teaching. He has been exposed to French through songs and picture books but is really starting from scratch in actually learning French.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are using Alex et Zoe; I really like it! DS is retaining what he's learning and is enjoying himself. I did not get the CD audio (way too expensive and I am comfortable speaking), but the teacher's manual has the CD script in it. So I got the textbook with CD, workbook, livret and manual. There really is enough content in all three so you don't need to supplement with anything else.

 

Is this the right product? Is there a website with samples or a better place to order from?

 

Thanks for the recommendation, I will look into it.

 

--Sarah

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, that is the right product. Along with that, you should buy the "Cahier d'activities" and "Guide pedagogique". The seller Librarie de France is excellent :)

I have yet to find a site that has previews of the book, but if you want to pm me, I can scan some pages for you so you can see.

 

Thanks for the offer to scan pages, I did find some previews here. I'm trying to compare this to the Galore Park Skoldo program someone else recommmended.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest brohandy

I don't think it's ever too early to start learning a new language. I mean younger and being able to recognize objects in two languages would probably be much more helpful to a child later in life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest IMeredith

I am French, grew up in France and I now live near Philadelphia. I am also a language instructor for French, Italian and Latin but when it comes to teach my own daughter I researched a lot not really knowing what to do. I took Italian starting at age 7 because my grand-parents were Italian and I started English and Latin by age 13. Unfortunately because I started English so late I have a very strong French accent when I speak English. I don't want my daughter to have the same problem, speaking French with a thick American accent.

 

She is now 6 and here my approach, it's not a recommendation but just the way I see things.

I had a lot of pressure from well intended people to just "speak" French to her but my husband doesn't speak French and it didn't come naturally to me. However what I did was to expose her very early to French music, she was barely speaking and was singing along French songs with me without understanding what she was saying. Later on she started to ask me what the words meant. The good thing with this is she has the right pronounciation without have to repeat things after me over and over.

Now she can read in English level 3-4 books but still needs to work on English phonics but I am going to start her with a good French programm.

After looking at a lot of things, writing my self some curriculum for kids I was teaching for the last 10 years, I decided to go with the CNED (Centre National d'Enseignement a Distance). It's the French Department of Education, Distance Learning Department. They have provided distance learning classes for decades and are just the best. I contacted them as a French citizen wanting my daughter to learn French in order to get a bilingual education and the recommanded the GSM (Kindergarten) course of French. We received a package with a student book, a text book with original interesting literature texts - age appropriate- and a reply folder. She will have to complete the work with my help and send her assignment back to an assigned teacher in France and has to answer questions by speaking and recording herself on MP3 format sent to the teacher online. It's an absolutely complete program, my ultimate for her is that she can take the French bacalaureate exam at the end of HS and go to college in France or America whatever she will decide. French college are free and you go directly to your major without having to go to undergraduate level. The cost? Around $300 a year postage included.

If you want more information just go to www.cned.fr

As I said it's my approach.

My only concern as a homeschooler mom is how to get organized and what time of day I want to do French and English. I want to give the 2 languages the same importance. French will be the most difficult for her so I wonder if I should start with French for 2 hours in the morning, then maths and the whole afternoon English, with language art, history, geography and science in English.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am French, grew up in France and I now live near Philadelphia. I am also a language instructor for French, Italian and Latin but when it comes to teach my own daughter I researched a lot not really knowing what to do. I took Italian starting at age 7 because my grand-parents were Italian and I started English and Latin by age 13. Unfortunately because I started English so late I have a very strong French accent when I speak English. I don't want my daughter to have the same problem, speaking French with a thick American accent.

 

She is now 6 and here my approach, it's not a recommendation but just the way I see things.

I had a lot of pressure from well intended people to just "speak" French to her but my husband doesn't speak French and it didn't come naturally to me. However what I did was to expose her very early to French music, she was barely speaking and was singing along French songs with me without understanding what she was saying. Later on she started to ask me what the words meant. The good thing with this is she has the right pronounciation without have to repeat things after me over and over.

Now she can read in English level 3-4 books but still needs to work on English phonics but I am going to start her with a good French programm.

After looking at a lot of things, writing my self some curriculum for kids I was teaching for the last 10 years, I decided to go with the CNED (Centre National d'Enseignement a Distance). It's the French Department of Education, Distance Learning Department. They have provided distance learning classes for decades and are just the best. I contacted them as a French citizen wanting my daughter to learn French in order to get a bilingual education and the recommanded the GSM (Kindergarten) course of French. We received a package with a student book, a text book with original interesting literature texts - age appropriate- and a reply folder. She will have to complete the work with my help and send her assignment back to an assigned teacher in France and has to answer questions by speaking and recording herself on MP3 format sent to the teacher online. It's an absolutely complete program, my ultimate for her is that she can take the French bacalaureate exam at the end of HS and go to college in France or America whatever she will decide. French college are free and you go directly to your major without having to go to undergraduate level. The cost? Around $300 a year postage included.

If you want more information just go to www.cned.fr

As I said it's my approach.

My only concern as a homeschooler mom is how to get organized and what time of day I want to do French and English. I want to give the 2 languages the same importance. French will be the most difficult for her so I wonder if I should start with French for 2 hours in the morning, then maths and the whole afternoon English, with language art, history, geography and science in English.

 

Thank you for the recommendation. I have tried using songs with my children for both French and Spanish, and I agree that it is a wonderful way to help them pick up the accent and also some of the sounds and structure of a language. Thanks for the reminder to incorporate that more into our day. I will look into the CNED program--I remember seeing it in the past, and if I remember correctly there is a lot available there for free online. That may be a good option for us.

 

--Sarah

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...