2Nd Language

Rent movies that have close caption is French. Spanish is the first language of my kids. My 5 yr old dauthger was not expose to English at all other than 2-3 hrs a week when watching movies. When whe entered kindergarten in 2-3 months she was speaking English fluently.

Hope this helps,

B., do you speak french? My girls are bilingual (french/english) because I put them in a french immersion school. As a retired french teacher, just teaching vocabulary is not teaching them another language. They must be immersed int he language to get the benefits...better comprehension of their first language, activating the brain centers of language, etc. The Rosseta Stones software is great, but there is no substitution for immersion. Go to www.Meetup.com and find a french meetup group in your area. Contact the members and see if they have kids that you can schedule play dates with. That will teach your son a language.

B.
Family Success Coach
www.BestBreakfastEver.com

I hate to break it to you, but language acquisition by TV does not work. He might pick up a few words or even phrases, but that is not "learning the language". In older children it might help, when used as a supporting tool for formal lessons, but "Muzzy" alone will not teach your child French.

Ideally you would have an adult in the home that speaks the language to him, either a parent or caregiver.
The next best thing is a language immersion pre-school.

Immersion is the best way to learn a language at any age. Only very few people are actually able to achieve even intermediate fluency in a new language by solely relying on language software or a video program.
Good luck!

Immersion helps a great deal. To immerse in your own home when you don't speak the language: French cartoons, French radio, French Language Dubbing (w or w/out english subtitles) on any dvd that offers it.

Personally I can't learn a language at home... although I can get used to the sounds. Give me 2 months though in a country and I'm fluent in conversation. 6 mo and I'm virtually fluent. (In any language BUT french... my brain doesn't actually "hear" many of the sounds... being in France -or any other french speaking country- gives me constant headaches, because my brain quite literally doesn't have the connections necessary for me to hear all of the spoken sounds. It's like watching a badly dubbed kung-fu movie. Oy.

Efforts applauded--I'm a Ph.D. in linguistics and this is one of the best gifts you can give your child--the gift of learning another language! If you plan on being the teacher I'd recommend to get some basics down yourself--basic vocabulary (nouns), numbers, colors--these are great starting points for both 2nd lang. adult and children learners. Then you can begin to instruct him. A little at a time--this is a great age!

We travel a lot and before we go to a new country I'll purchase language tapes/cd's designed just for children. Berlitz in any language designed specifically for children is ALWAYS a great choice. It has a combo book/cd set with a great read along adventure story and music. Honestly, I've been on trains in Europe and we can speak a foreign language better than many Americans who have hired tutors.

Next, play the cd's around the house pretty much non-stop. The first couple of weeks it all sounds like greek, then amazingly the sounds start to make sense, we'll pull out the books and start reading the story. And Voila!! we are on are way....

I applaud you. The schools wait until they are in high school when it is harder to learn. I think if you continue with your method, your child will pick it up. Just as Lillian C. mentioned her daughter spoke English by the time she started Kindergarten, he will learn it quickly. He is a child, NOT an adult who has heard English umpteem years (if that's a real word). Play the Rosetta Stone for as much as possible, especially when he is in the room with you. He will pick it up and may start to pay more attention to Muzzy.

This is one you need to keep us posted on. I am very eager to hear your results, because I do have young grandchildren.

I have been teaching my two older boys French since the eldest was 1. They are now 2 and 4. I am basically fluent in French, and my original idea was to use immersion. But it was not really immersion because no one else in my family speaks French, and because English is our first language, there just was not enough French around to count as immersion. When my older son began talking, it became clear to me that just showing French DVDs, playing French music, reading stories in French, and speaking to my son occasionally in French was not teaching him as much as I'd hoped. So I changed my tactic. Now when I read a new French story, the first several times I read it I read a line in French, then translate in English. After a few times through the story, I begin reading only in French, but sometimes I stop and ask what a word means ("Qu'est-ce que ca veut dire?). If my son doesn't know, I tell him in English. I also ask him questions, in French, about the pictures. For example, I might ask what color the driver's hat is or what the kitten is doing. This helps me to gauge his comprehension and also helps him interact with the story. I found that my son's interest in French increased dramatically once I started to explain things in English.

We also have a 45 min French class once a week. I mostly use French songs and finger plays, and I design props to help my kids understand the songs. We really like songs by Alain le Lait, but we also use some songs I bought from Amazon.fr (Petits Lascars are good).

Little Pim DVDs are also worth checking out.

Until my third child was born, I was hosting French class at my house for other kids once a week. I am taking a break now but will resume once I get my schedule under control. I think I'm too far away for this to be helpful (I live in Littleton), but I'll mention it just in case.

There are some websites that have free games for learning French. My class website lists some, so I'll just provide the url: http://www.eieiobabygear.com/french_class/webresources.htm. My favorite site is Poisson Rouge.

If you do not speak French yourself, you probably can't actually teach your son to speak and understand French without the help of some French speakers. But you can definitely make it easier for him to learn a second language later. So even if progress seems slow, don't be discouraged! Any little French you and he learn will probably be helpful.

Feel free to contact me privately if you want more information.

My kids are bi-lingual French/English
But Dad, my Hubby, speaks to them in French since they were born. Now at their respective ages, they know more than me.
Living with it, and being talked to in a language, whatever it may be.... is immersion. Immersion works best.
Or have them in language/culture clubs... classes, a tutor....
Proper pronouncing of the language is key as well and the sentence structure etc.

Just seeing/hearing it on tv here and there, is to me, not enough. It is too scant of an exposure.

In school, my daughter also learns Japanese and some Hawaiian. But to become fluent in it at that rate, requires time. Another kid I know, is fluent in another language, through school... but it has taken about 4 years now to attain that level.

But kids are sponges.. but when young, their attention span is not going to be like an adult in their focusing... or concentration.... per a tv show etc. Or just play it as a background sort of noise.

all the best,
Susan

The best way for a child to learn a language is to have him in a setting where the other children speak the language. See if there is an interest in your area for setting up a play group of kids who are speaking or learning french.

My 10 yo and I decided to learn french together- I took it years ago in HS and am a bit rusty, but have been surprised how much I remember. I speak to her in French when I can and teach her the appropriate response. She's picking it up really quickly. I think if you just talk to him, and say whatever in both languages, he'll start to pick it up!!