Muzzy - any good?

[GreebosWhiskers]

I've seen adverts for the BBC Muzzy language DVDs for a while & have tried to talk DH into getting them but he reckons it'll just confuse the wee ones (aged 2 & 4) as they're still learning English never mind another language.

Has anyone used these or does anyone have opinions on them?

We've tried out the German ones and found them not worth the money - the story line and the sound quality is not great and my kids (then 3 and 5) found them boring.

We now have a satellite dish to receive German stations and buy German language DVDs from amazon.de (the kids can watch them either in German or in English). Much better than Muzzy!

Unless you get them very cheaply, I wouldn't bother.

I agree with annasmami. I occasionally used the English one with kids I taught in France, and wasn't impressed.

The advert really annoys me too - as if you sit the kids down to watch Muzzy then all of a sudden they're fluent in another language! If only...

Try annasmami's ideas, or get a hold of some books (amazon/library/Alliance Francaise if there's one near you), enrol them in something like Kinder Club or Jolie Ronde... At 2 and 4 they're not too young, just keep it fun and your expectations reasonable.

Unfortunately there don't tend to be things like La Jolie Ronde or Kinder Club for German, just French and Spanish. I would love there to be. We have Muzzy - my son likes it but it's not good value for money. If you do buy it, buy it on ebay.

We also tried it for German and didn't like it at all.

Depending on the age of your children, try Rosetta Stone - not cheap, probably more expensive than Muzzy, but much more fun and very effective, provided your children are old enough to use a computer. Rosetta Stone has interactive voice recognition software which we think is great. Good luck!

Very sorry, just re-read your post - at 2 and 4 your children would be too young for Rosetta Stone. I think RS is suitable for about 8 years up and, as it is computer-based, requires some facility with a computer as well as the ability to work independently for at least 10 minutes or so.

Don't waste your money!

Do I gather you are a bi-lingual family? I wouldn't worry about confusing them; my cousin's son was bi-lingual from birth (English and Italian) and tri-lingal from when he went to school (French). He is now 14 and says he didn't find it confusing at all.

We have Muzzy in German - it looks very dated these days, as the BBC sold it to a private firm who have not invested in updating it at all, but it did help the kids a bit and we use it to revise vocabulary. I would recommend the Ebay route and getting the VHS version for maximum value for money if you are thinking of buying it.

There are two online resources we like to use to support their German - the Toggolino website and the Lufthansa 'Jetfriends' website. With the latter you can get a 'safe' email address and play games and chat bilingually. The games are great fun.

No.

Have you thought about classes? My DTS have been going to La Jolie Ronde French classes since they were 3yo and they are now 5yo. They love it, they sing French songs, they say many words and phrases in French and they are flourishing.

They do not get confused with the languages either. Also, they picked up a lot of Spanish words from watching Dora the Explorer. If children enjoy something, they will remember as well as understand what they have heard.

I am learning German and have taught my DTS to count to 10 so now they can count in English, French, Spanish and German.. It is a great way of getting them to tune in to different languages.

My local education authority is running free parent and Spanish classes on Saturdays so maybe look around for something like that.

You may want to try Early Start Languages courses instead. They look quite good from the marketing material I've seen - I don't know from experience though. It's book/DVD type thing.

This website may also be useful for resources;

www.primarylanguages.org.uk/primary_languages.aspx

Helen