Teaching a toddler French

[radhabee]

Hello,

Does anyone have any thoughts on teaching a toddler French (in a non-native French speaking household)? My 2.5 yr old daughter is a real 'sponge' at the moment for language and I thought it might be nice to introduce her to French, which I speak colloquially ie not perfectly but understandably. Is this daft, familyroomers, and what's the best way to go about it? Are there any storytelling / singing groups for little ones or has anyone had any experience of local French teacher? I want it to be fun, so perhaps a play session in French with a teacher or simply setting up playdates with French mamas and bebes would be the way to go... Any ideas very welcome! Thanks so much

[nylonmeals]

My husband is French and we are bringing up our little one with both langauges. For that age the best local options seems to be Cadet Rouselle who run a Monday morning session in West Norwood and half day nursery in Herne Hill http://www.cadetrousselle.co.uk/index.htm

There are quite a few French bi-lingual families in the area.

[Princess]

We are having the same thoughts with our 26 month old. Our Au Pair is returning to France next month but having encouraged her to speak French to him he is picking bits up and seems to understand it. I speak French but not fantastically well however, I have always had a selection of concept books etc in French scattered around for him to look at from time to time.

I know Jolie Ronde http://www.lajolieronde.co.uk/ is fantastic for the 3+ age group but I'm not aware of anything for the under 3's but would def be interested if there is something out there or someone is interested in starting something!

we crossed in the ether Nylonmeals but interesting to know. Thanks

[Ole]

I'd say go for it. I am Spanish and my 2.3 son is completely bilingual already, although he prefers to speak in English. At this stage you can throw as many languages at them as you want and they will pick them up. I try to speak Spanish with him as much as possible but as I have lived in the UK for longer than I have lived in Spain, Spanish does not come naturally to me anymore and I express myself much better in English, so I don't speak Spanish to him that often as I probably should, yet he has picked it up.

What I do is take him to Spain as often as possible (two or three times a year), and I have bought him a set of Sesame Street DVDs dubbed in Spanish which I think are great because they actually teach the kids words rather than the-very-awful-nightime-garden-thingy-which-I-can't-stand-the-sight-of (I am sure there will also be a set dubbed in French). I also have children's Spanish songs in CDs, and I read to him simple Spanish toddler books. I also cook him typical 'spanish' food from time to time so that he learns to distinguish between the two cultures (even though believe it or not I am not a great fan of tapas!).

[nylonmeals]

Ole's posts reminds me of the brillance of YouTube for songs, cartoons in foreign langauges. Our toddler really enjoys watching (and singing along) to French songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0aMIKXajw8&feature=related This is a French classic and from that clip, you will find other songs.

Tchoupi et Doudou are fun to watch together as is Trotro (just search for them on YouTube)

[radhabee]

Great, thanks very much for the info and suggestions and for the PMs. Princess I'll PM you if anything comes of organising playdates!

[bumpy]

I'd love for my son to have a grasp of languages so would love to get involved if anyone's organising anything. I speak basic French but with an appalling accent! :)

[Pasta]

Exposing children to languages at a young age is a great idea. I grew up with italian speaking parents so am lucky to be bilingual and was helpful when studying french and spanish. Attending french playgroups or hanging around french people sounds good.

I did read somewhere that children learn languages easier when taught by a native/mother tongue speaker, it's tricky for them to imitate sounds of words which are heavily accented.

[Knomester]

We have some French books and bilingual books (the bilingual bear stories from Barefoot Books are great), French songs on CDs and a DVD for my 18 month old son, but I never feel like I'm doing enough to impart my (hard learned!) language skills. We'd love to join a French playgroup type session or a group of French speaking parents and toddlers. I work Mon-Thurs and so haven't been able to find anything suitable. I'd love to expose him to more French!

[VALFR59]

Hello,

It's such a great idea to introduce a foreign language at the youngest age...especially with our difficult language! thanks for choosing french :)

I would recommend you to buy/borrow some french DVD cartoons/movies to introduce French until finding a funny teaching french toddler group or to complete the learning of the language. Some of Our famous characters for Toddlers in France are

- Oui-Oui (noddy)

- Tchoupi is really good, especially with the books which introduce a lot of basic vocabulary with pictures and short stories,

-Petit ours brun.

- Franklin la tortue

- Charlotte aux fraises

You can as well find Thomas friends,chugginton, Dora, and all the disneys movies in french.

The equivalence of Cbibees is Tiji TV (you can podcast videos on their website)

It has been working well in the opposite way (learning English speaking) for our son when we've arrived in London from France,one year and a half ago, before meeting english friends and finding a local nanny.

I am used to go in two french books shops for my job:

www.librairielapage.com : SW7

www.europeanbookshop.com : W1B 5LU

for both, you can order online.

They have well adapted methods to introduce french to young children, a lot of French or bilingual children's books, DVD and CD of french nursery songs.At the book shop " A la page", a colleague told me that they provide a nice french reading story session for young children once a week.

As you said, children are like a sponge and I am happy to confirm that observation with our 27 months old son.

As well, finding friendship relations with native french speakers, mums and/or dads with children around the same age of yours, for informals playtime and coffe is great. It has been very positive for me and my son to meet some nice english mums, now friends, open minded to my "pidgin english" and interested in french speaking,to give the opportunity to my son to have local friends.

Another nice and efficient way is to employ a French au pair, by asking her to speak only in french to your children.When we will be back in France in few years, at the end of our expat contract, we will definitly choose this solution with an english speaking au pair, in order for our son to keep his english before perhaps another country discovery!

Bonne chance dans votre d?marche et j'?sp?re que votre fille va bien s'amuser ? parler fran?ais :)

[nylonmeals]

If you ever want a French speaking au pair or nanny Ici Londres seems to be the best website for that. That's where we found our lovely nanny.

http://www.ici-londres.com/Les-petites-annonces,6117.media

[anna_r]

Blossoms nursery on Dunstans Grove has a French class once a week which is optional for the kids there. Its on either a wednesday or thursday (can't remember which).