do you think i could do this?

[zeus123]

I already speak an Asian language fluently and have always found learning languages fairly easy. I learnt french and German 20 years ago( gives my age away as I did these languages for GCSe) .
I want my dds to be able to learn an additional language. Ideally I would love to relearn French or German with them and would like to know what is the best way?
Dds are 10 and 2.5 years and we don't live in London
How does rosetta stone, tell me more or pilmseur language program work?

Or am I just mad in even considering this?

sounds like a great idea to me. i don't know anything about the specific courses you're thinking of, but the idea as a whole sounds great

Sounds like a great idea and your 2.5 year old will benefit particularly as she is still in the 'language learning' phase. There are various German Saturday Schools throughout the UK and some also offer adult classes. Otherwise how about German and French tv via satellite?

What are the German Saturday morning classes called so I can look if there is one near us. Thanks

www.germansaturdayschools.co.uk/index.html

At the risk of being a wet blanket I would say that you will probably be most unwelcome at many of the German (or French) Saturday schools.

Such schools are normally aimed at keeping native speakers at least within striking distance of the curriculum in the "home" country, at least in terms of linguistic level. As such, they are highly unsuited to anyone learning the language as a foreign language.

The French one I am hoping to send my daughter to has interviews and requires, as a minimum, (for 3yos, the youngest they take) the ability to use sentences of five words or longer.

The German schools may be different, but I would be surprised.

What you really need, I guess, is something like La Jolie Ronde - or maybe even a friendly native speaker (uni student?) who could come to your home and teach you together.

I'm prepared to be proved wrong, of course.

Definitely think you can do it though, which was your original question - good luck!

MILaw
Yes you are right in that they require a good level of german and the website does say it is aimed at families with one native speaker. Any way there is no German class near where we live.
Do you have any idea about these softwares- they are so expensive.
I have ordered salut serge after reading about it on MN.
Thanks again for all your encouragement.
Yes there is la jolie ronde and I am not sure if they will take a 2.5 year old.
It is not run by native speaker ( judging by the name ) on their website

The jolie ronde near us has been very positive about taking my 2 year old, it's me that thinks he won't cope with it as the children are meant to go in by themselves. We might try it this term though as he's 2.9. I think lots of people who do it are married to English people so maybe that's why the name sounds non-French? There might be local French singing toddler groups near you open to non-native speakers - we go to a fantastic one, run by a native speaker who also runs a French club for native speaking children. Most of the children in the group have a French-speaking dad but come with their English speaking mums and don't actually speak much French. It's all in French and she runs a book swap.
Failing that, I did a search for French lessons a while ago and found an agency who send someone to run a French children's group for you if you can get a group of children together, or who will come and teach you for an hour and your child for 15 mins. Can't remember what they were called but I'm sure you could find it - it was just a language teaching agency, nothing specific about children, and they covered the whole of the UK.
Finally, have you tried ordering the software from your local library? I tried Muzzy like that and wasn't impressed so didn't order it. We have Salut Serge but I think it's too old for a 2 year old.

If you are looking for lessons then I would think having a native tutor is over-rated anyway - far more important to have someone with a good knowledge of the language, a good (not necessarily perfect) accent, and most important of all, good with kids.

I am going to speak to a local tutor today.

what should I be asking? I need to make sure that the children like her too.

It has been a long time since I learnt french.Having butterflies in the stomach.

I am planning on speaking to the the lady who runs the local La jolie ronde as well.

Honestly? I would be asking, "have you done this before?" "how much do you charge?" and "what sort of things do you do with children this age?" And the last question is the most important of the three - if it's just teaching a child beginner, a teenager could do it, but if they haven't got a clear idea of what children like and how to make them happy then it's a non-starter. Also find out how big the group is and where the sessions are held.

Of course, if you're learning alongside your child then the questions would be different.

I have spoken to the tutor and she is French and has been in the UK for 4 years and has experience teaching children.

Am nervous and excited.I have to wait and see how this will work out?

she just emailed me and said that she cant do it as my house is too far for her to travel.

I have the option of learning some french from the various learning software you can purchase but would really like some advice before I buy it.

Zeus

Have you tried offering her atravel allowance on top of her fees?

If not, I'm sure lots of other tutors will fit the bill.

Remember, qualifications are really not important, especially at this age - an ability to connect with kids is what matters most.

MIFlaw
No it didn't cross my mind to give her travel allowance.she doesn't drive so may be she didn't want to waste time traveling on the bus.

I will look out for another tutor.

Could be that - as I say, there will be plenty of others.

But when I worked as an evening tutor (for adults) and was earning, say, £10 an hour, the thought of adding another half hour to that for travel AND paying the fares out of the tenner made a real difference.

Anyway, just a thought.

I have been looking at gumtree but where else do you think I should look for the tutors?

Try ici londres - the French magazine for London. They may have people offering tuition.

Snap. I don't live in London and do they have ads for the rest of the UK?

They might which is why it's worth a shot. I mean they're online but it is the magazine aimed at people in London IYSWIM. I've never paid that much attention to it but the anglophone Parisian equivalent often has stuff outside Paris so you could try...

There are always tutors in there and one of them might have a contact in your area, possibly via the French equivalent of MN