Bonjour bonjour! Need help with French!

[orangebee1]

Hi mums, we're looking for an online platform to teach our primary children french, something that is not only videos but grammar exercises too. Happy to purchase a subscription. Any ideas?

[minniemomo]

We had a bbc video series (yes actually vhs) I would look and see if that's been updated for the digital age. I also had a French picture dictionary (no English in it bought in France) and I bought workbooks from the schools supplier. Dd went on to do French a level so helped having an early start, I'm sure all of these are online

[DingDongThongs]

Miss VHS :(

[KatharinaRosalie]

How about Duolingo app?

[DahliaMacNamara]

Twinkl has some primary school French learning resources.

[Phoenix76]

@KatharinaRosalie

How about Duolingo app?

This is a good one, it’s free and you earn “rewards” like crowns. My seven year old was watching me use it to learn German and was fascinated, I let her have a go and it was impressive how quickly she picked it up.

[Longdistance]

My dd is learning through Duolingo. My db asked her a few questions in French and she answered back fairly fluently

[orangebee1]

Thanks ladies, duolingo is good but it's limited, it doesn't teach them the rules of grammar which is what we mostly need, it's more for phrases and vocab. Am starting to think there's nothing actually out there for this..

[onthinice]

Not a subscription program but lightbulb languages (website) has tonnes of resources and lesson plans as well as some you tube videos. Also rachel hawkes website.

[daretodenim]

Why do they need to learn grammar rules? That tends to be how adults learn. Kids get a LOT from picking it up and watching TV is good for that. Watching Netflix in French (with subtitles turned on in French for end of primary age) could be helpful.

[Einszwei]

Agree with PP. The best way to learn grammar skills at a young age is immersion.

Watch plenty of television and movies in French. Listen to French music, read French bedtime stories.

At primary age, learning the language should be fun. No matter how colourful the online games to teach grammar are, they are dry by nature.

[spicysechuan]

So you don't have a teacher who can speak French? You want materials that will teach for you?

Hmmm.

I teach in a bilingual FR/EN school. We always start with building up of vocabulary, telling stories, singing songs. Then we move on to simple sentence structure, and reading books.

We make our own materials though, according to the children's interests.

[PaniniHead]

Linguascope is great (have seen it used in many schools with great success).

[Frazzled2207]

I work for a company that specifically teaches French to primary aged kids. Usually face to face but now we are on zoom which means we can reach any family with an internet connection.

In terms of materials languagenut is good but is more geared up to schools than individuals. They’ll probably give you a free trial though.

[TheSockMonster]

Duolingo does teach grammar, just not in a conventional way.

I used it to brush up on my French so did the entry test and skipped to the middle somewhere where it is very strict on grammar.

My DC’s primary school uses Rigolo. DD really enjoys this but, despite having a French-speaking TA to support the programme, by years 5 and 6 my DC could do little more than recognise a few words and count to 20.

During lockdown #1 I used a mix of YouTube, about 4 basic grammar lessons (just me and a whiteboard) but mostly Duolingo to try and teach them the basics. DS, 11 at the time, took particularly well to it.

I think my point is that different children will respond to different methods and that a mixed approach is probably the right way.

[BareBelliedSneetch]

My DC’s school uses language angels.

[inappropriateraspberry]

I'm confused. Is this for in a primary school aimed at a class, or for your own school aged children at home?
I remember Muzzy when I was small - seems to be going still.

[Babyiskickingmyribs]

What about something like this : It’s got good ratings on Amazon from French buyers. I’m guessing you would need to be able to read some basic French yourself to make sense of it though. www.amazon.co.uk/Ma-grammaire-illustr%C3%A9e-Collectif/dp/2035967538/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ma%20grammaire%20illustr%C3%A9e&qid=1618989328&sr=8-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[Floopsy]

I would get a tutor - is there an Alliance Française nr you?

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

@Babyiskickingmyribs

What about something like this : It’s got good ratings on Amazon from French buyers. I’m guessing you would need to be able to read some basic French yourself to make sense of it though. ]]

Or perhaps one of the French schemes for teaching french as a foreign language (FLE) Something like Les Loustics or Passe-Passe.

Even in those, I think anything aimed at early level (A1, beginning A2) is going to be quite grammar light if you want exercises. You are basically looking at a few common verbs in the present tense, adjective agreement, word order with adjectives, -er verbs in present tense, maybe a bit of immediate future and simple past for known common -er verbs and definite/indefinite/partitive articles. Most of that doesn't need a lot of grammar exercises and can be done orally or when writing sentences without too much trouble.

There are books that are specifically A1 level grammar exercises but I'm not sure I'd bother with them at primary tbh.

[menotastic]

Fluentu is quite good for videos for adults. Not sure what they've got for kids, but worth a look, as it would be a fun way to learn. I'm another one voting for focusing on immersion, vocab, language chunks rather than grammar exs. Upper primary, some limited grammar may be useful if they already have a good vocabulary and good comprehension, but otherwise not. There seems to be a Spanishpod101 for kids, but I can't find a kids' version of Frenchpod yet. I bet it's coming soon. And yeah, why not Duolingo? I'd be mixing it up rather than focusing on just one method. See what works best (i.e. is motivating enough to make them want to do it, not what is best at teaching them how to decline the subjunctive).

[orangebee1]

@Frazzled2207

I work for a company that specifically teaches French to primary aged kids. Usually face to face but now we are on zoom which means we can reach any family with an internet connection.

In terms of materials languagenut is good but is more geared up to schools than individuals. They’ll probably give you a free trial though.

Could you send me the name of the company please? I think we may have to go down this route for now. My daughter is at a school that is supposed to be half french focused, they do one hour french everyday but she still does not known the basics, this is a fault of the school because a lot of other mothers are complaining about the same thing.

[Frazzled2207]

I’ll pm you

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

The school supposedly being bilingual changes things slightly I think. Is there immersion going in as well as an hour a day of French.

How old is she and how long has she been there? What do you mean by the basics.

[Stuckinthesand]

I'm in a very similar situation so reading with interest! We've started using an app called GraphoGame for sounds and Duolingo for general phrases. It does teach grammar fairly early on although I'm not sure it's the best app for kids. The school also has a subscription to linguascope which is quite good for the basics.