Learning French - La Jolie Ronde

[Jemi]

Hello - My mum speaks 5 languages including English, my dad speaks 3. My siblings and I have always said how disappointed we were that they did not teach us a second language. When I was pregnant I discussed with my mum about picking one language that is not English and speaking to my child in that language only so that she could be fluent in another language. She has not done it really. My daughter knows two words in Yoruba (my mum's 2nd / 3rd language) - that is all. So then I bought French books to stay at my mum's house and they enjoy looking at them together. Of course when LR French came out I got that and we do that. We walked past a statue of a horse one week and instead of saying "horse", my daughter pointed and said "cheval". I was surprised as she does not really repeat after the LR French when we do it, except to say "multisensoriel" as she finds that amusing! I felt I just had to capitalise on her interest and the ease children learn with at this stage of life. I had been reluctant to add another activity to her schedule but decided it was worth it. I looked into getting a French tutor but £35 an hour 3x a week as they recommended just is not feasible at the moment. So we are doing the much cheaper group lessons for children called La Jolie Ronde (www.lajolieronde.co.uk/‎) and she enjoys it well enough, and is always asking me what things are in French (thank God for Google!)

We occasionally watch some baby dvds which have language options in French and she is finally happy to do this. I am buying more French children's books ("petit ours brun" series and another) to leave at my mum's and harassing her into reading them with my daughter. It only takes 5 mins. I studied French at school and did well on tests but my French is pretty basic, so I don't want to pass my terrible pronunciations on to my child! There are Petit Ours Brun YouTube videos too which I will introduce when I get a minute.

Regardless of what I do I do not see how she will become fluent in French without someone who converses with her regularly and this makes me wonder what the point is of even introducing it at all! What do you think???

[Mandabplus3]

Even if all you achieve is a basic understanding it is still more than I have!     teaching your children languages early in their life gives them the opportunity to learn it with a perfect accent. French has a very distinct sound. I struggle to copy it in my learning and yet my kids have no trouble.
Anyway continue teaching. Your child does have the opportunity to converse with her grandmother once she gets better and you will find all sorts of opportunities for French conversations once you need them.
We only just started Japanese and I already have some Japanese play dates on the cards. Don't know anyone who speaks French nearby but I do know a couple of brill mums who would have a French chat on Skype if we need it. So plug on, worry about the hurdles as you get near them. Right now its all about the IMPUT 

[Jemi]

Yes. I suppose. Because of the minimal exposure she's had so far the French tutor was really impressed with how she pronounced the words. It also mmamt she was pretty confident entering the classes so that was good.
You're right...
I shall keep plugging :-)

How are you fitting all you do around school??

I am reluctantly thinking about how that (would rather homeschool)

Thank u

[Mandabplus3]

Choose a school that doesn't give your kids much homework and you will survive    my kids get  SOOOO much homework it is very difficult for us to pursue after school sporting activities at the higher levels. Fitting in language is usually done in the car to and from school and sports. Piano practice often gets missed as it is the least time sensitive activity they do. sigh.
To get it done we dedicate part of each weekend to homework and at least 2 hours each Saturday to extra study activities ( usually Saxon math as we all see that as most important) if they didn't have 6 hours of gymnastics training each week and taekwondo training too we wouldn't be struggling. Kids have more time free than we do!
I think the trick is to prioritise what is most important to learn. We prioritise gymnastics, math, taewkondo, reading, language, piano and history in that order ( at the moment anyway) Get a routine going, try are to stick to it. And finally use ALL the dead time. There is far too much time wasted in the car, before mum gets out of bed, after dinner and in front of the TV. my kids don't watch TV. Occasional movies that's it.  In fact my daughter needs to watch an hour of TV for a school homework assignment and the teacher actually came to check with me if it was possible she could do it! 
Homeschooling would be easier for us but it isn't a road we want to travel for a few more years. My kids LOVE school.

[Jemi]

That is so interesting. Particularly that they love school. My daughter has been asking to go since she was two. I have no idea why. I want to home school so this could be challenging! We watch little casual tv these days but I definitely could make better use of our time.  I don't drive but we do flash cards and reading when we're out and about - or try to!

I think the main hurdle is my own organisation and inconsistent motivation. However I've just assigned Mondays as French days as I notice we do better when we try to do just one or two things on a given day, rather than a bit of everything. I'm sure it will seep into other days and that's great but I think aiming for less and a broader routine will work for us. In fact her French group class is on another day. Exposure is probably paramount at this stage.

Thanks 

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