Nursery says 4yo DD1 has serious talent for languages and we should do something about it while she's still little. Should we? And if so what resources are there?

[franch]

They do a little bit of French at nursery and I must admit I had noticed DD1 is extremely enthusiastic about it - is always asking how to say things in other languages - plus she picks up phrases very quickly and her accent's brilliant. But she's starting school in Sept and they do very good French there so I wasn't planning on doing anything. The nursery head, however, stopped DH today to say we really should capitalise on it asap - apparently one of the other teachers there has been doing a bit of Spanish with her too and she is saying the same thing.

She does nursery 5 mornings a week and no clubs or anything and I'm really not keen on scheduling anything else into her week so I'd rather not do any clubs or activities - so what can we do at home? It has to be something fun, not anything I'd have to sit down to do with her formally, as I also have a 2.5yo DD2, and also DD1 is very resistant to that kind of approach (from me anyway).

I've seen a Muzzy DVD and wasn't too impressed - are there any other DVDs / CDs / books I should be looking at?

[Shitemum]

The best thing you could do would be to find a native speaker who will look after/take out your DD a couple of times a week, or more, for an hour or two and speak only French/Spanish to her.(books, games, songs, chat etc)
4 is a good age in terms of 'windows of oppourtunity'. At 3 their brains are busy sorting out and taking stock of what they've learned so far in terms of language. 4 is the last window in fact, it gets harder after that. Of course the best thing of all is to be exposed to another language from birth.
I think dvds have a limited value in learning languages. Interaction with real people is far better. If you speak French yourself you could read to her or speak French in specific situations i.e. at table, on the way home from nursery or whenever.
My DDs are bilingual in Spanish, we live in Spain but speak English at home.

[franch]

That's a great idea SM, thanks. Yes I do speak French so will at least do some reading with her - and will have a think about finding someone to chat with her.

[mistlethrush]

We've got the Muzzy in German for ds - he loves it, and, at quite an early age, told Mil to 'go away' in German!!! Once he has seen the dvd quite a bit he then likes the audio version in the car and will happily listen as it loops and talk and sing along and laugh at all the visual jokes.

[marina]

OK. How is your spoken French/Spanish? (IME this often runs in families).
Although nursery mean well, and I'm sure they are right, short of one of you being mother-tongue-fluent in one of the languages and conversing in it at home, or you moving to France or Spain...I don't think there is much you can do apart from keep the interest ticking over.
Both our dcs have a knack for languages and we have gone the route of holidaying in France, buying some familiar titles in French (Dora L'Exploratrice word books etc) and also encouraging them to talk to French people when possible.
When they are older I am planning to fix them up with penfriends in France if they want. Although my relationship with my penpal was a bit rocky at times, visiting France and spending time with her family was what fired my interest. I ended up fluent at 21 after studying in France having not heard a word of the language until 11.
I agree Muzzy is not impressive! Short of some kind of French expat cable subscription so you can get French TV (Watch My Chops in the original...) I'm not aware of anything else.
And I think stuff like La Jolie Ronde is fun and if done well, might help a little. But an hour a week is not going to make much difference - so I think you are quite safe ditching it.

[marina]

x-posted with shitemum and you franch -talking to her is the best thing.
Get some French comics too - mine love Pomme d'Api, it's a completely different, and far superior IMO, market over there.

[franch]

Thanks mistle and marina. Yes languages do come easy to me, and my French is good (German less so - no Spanish).

Will get some books and see how we get on ...

[franch]

Where would I get Pomme d'Api marina?

[FrogPrincess]

hi Franch and marina, you can find loads of great french mags (some even come with CDs of the stories) on milan presse

[franch]

Ah - brilliant, FP! Easy enough to subscribe from the UK, is it? Any particularly recommended titles?

[marina]

Salut toi!

Toupie is very popular with dd. Why we don't have this sort of charming comic minus nasty plastic freebies and alarming ads for duvet covers, is beyond me.

I think Pomme d'Api is Bayard Jeunesse, FP?

[franch]

And should I go below DD1's age group, to keep it simple?

[marina]

Yes, I have done. Toupie is definitely aimed at preschoolers and dd is in Reception and picking up reading fast.
With ds it's trickier because although he knows more French, he's nine, and scaling it too far down will lead to loud objections of "babyish"! The animal/eco titles are a better bet for older children.

[FrogPrincess]

Coucou Marina, I haven't been on MN for months, this is a brief visit . Totally agree with your recommendations, and yes I think Pomme d'Api is Bayard. Dd loves her Zaza Mimosa (long story + cool girl stuff).

[marina]

I was just looking at that title FP - it's fantastic

[FrogPrincess]

oh btw, she went to a Minimus roman afternoon thing at the British Museum last Saturday, with daddy (I got some clothes shopping done...), apparently it was great apart from the illustrator who did nothing with them.

[marina]

Oh, FP, if only I'd known! I was there myself with 12 kids from our school.
I think the illustrator was "let down by technology".
We all loved the mad prof at the end, although the boys seem to have been enraptured by the dagger-wielding soldiers...

[iheartdusty]

poissonrouge.com has some spoken parts, ie naming items with letters of the alphabet and a couple of songs.

[FrogPrincess]

Oh no Marina, I should have known you'd be there. Dd was in a girls' school group in home clothes and red caps. She was too tired at the end to enjoy the mad prof!

[marina]

They were in front of us in the disastrous IT session, FP - our schools were in the same group throughout the afternoon
It was a long day for the out-of-towners I fear
I was in possession of 12 scamps in civvies and their parents

[FrogPrincess]

that's funny, I have to tell dh about this tonight! I really wish I had thought about checking with you whether you were going last week....
Dd only went because there were a couple of seats left on the bus for interested year 4s (it was a Year 5 and 6 only trip originally) and she loves that kind of stuff. I didn't go as I have motion sickness so bus trips are not great....
Did your pupils like it?

[marina]

Yes they did
I have some hardcore Classicists in the making and one or two passengers!
Ugh at coming all that way on a coach, that'd make me sick too.

[Hallgerda]

If you're where I think you are, franch, I'd take a look at the languages part of the children's section of Balham Library - there are lots of picture books - Spot and the like - either in French or Spanish entirely or bilingual French/English or Spanish/English. I think they lend out tapes as well if you wanted to try something out before buying.

[franch]

Yes I am Hallgerda (how do you know?!). Thanks everyone for all the advice

[Hallgerda]

I live near Streatham Hill station and take an occasional look at local meet-up threads. Not stalking you, honest

[franch]

Phew