Murphy101 Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 I want something I can do with my kids ages 4ish up to 14ish. I need something that is completely scripted with all the supporting materials. I'm limited in funds and our library is limited in French materials. I'm thinking l'art or galore park, but piecing together what items I need is overwhelming me for some reason. So please. Someone just tell me what to buy and how to use it, please? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Does your library offer Mango language online? We did one level of L'Art de Lire and liked it okay. DD was in 3rd-4th grade. It's very repetitive, and she didn't feel that she was learning enough actual grammar, not as much as she wanted, anyway. I got this book for her: http://www.amazon.com/French-Step---Step-Myrna-Rochester/dp/0071453873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366329416&sr=8-1&keywords=step+by+step+french It's not been spectacular, but I think that's because I need to work through it with her, going over the vocabulary more. I'm going to give it another shot next year, I think, along with Mango online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 There are some resources that are helpful that you might already have, though lots of people don't so no stress. Do you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad? A Kindle? Amazon Prime? I'm going to suggest things that don't require one of those, but if you have any of those there are a couple other resources. Also, do you speak French? For your younger kids the best thing is for you to work on your own French, then "practice" it on them. Honestly I've never see L'Art or Galore Park; I know they get great reviews, but I'd be worried about "outgrowing" L'Art very quickly (or it not being useful for everyone). I don't know about the age range on Galore Park either. You say your library isn't very good, but does it have ILL or another similar resource that you can order things through? Your age range is pretty big. That's going to impact what is useful to you. Here are some things that might be worth considering 1) The Learnables. You can probably get this used from someone. Some kids find it dull, but it's something you can use with your whole range of kids. You can listen to it in the car, and pass out copies of the pictures for the lessons so they can all see. I wish this program were being turned into a DVD program, but they aren't doing that yet. You don't need any French to use this program. 2) New French With Ease for your older kids. It's a very good beginner French program written for adults, but it's quite inexpensive and easy to use. Younger kids will find it very, very dull. You don't need any French to use this program either. 3) French music in the car. The Teach Me series is Ok, but the best for learning vocabulary that I've found is the Lyric Language CD. It's not the best music in the world, but it has the French and English translations sung right next to each other, which is why it's great for vocab. Good for all the ages you have. Also, for building a good accent, Baby's First Words in French is quite good. Both of these are out of print, but you can get them used; you also might try the library/ILL (that's how I got them). We have a lot of other French music, but those two CDs stand out from the crowd in terms of educational value. 4) As a PP mentioned, Mango Languages may be free through your library. It's worth checking out other libraries (if you have any around) to see if they have it, if yours doesn't. I have an "attack the language from every side" person, especially because I only really speak English, so I would highly recommend having French playing in the car almost all the time once you start learning it. In addition, the older kids could be working through a program either in the car or at home (or both). Sometimes we'll watch French cartoons; the "Franklin" DVDs have French dubbing, as do a lot of the Pixar movies, though those we take in teeny tiny chunks because otherwise they're overwhelming. There are also French cartoons online that you can stream for free here. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Oh, and this recently passed by my line of sight; it might be an alternative to Mango Languages if you can't get that: duolingo.com :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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