Foreign Language MUZZY Tapes

I enjoyed the Muzzy tapes when I was a nanny and worked for a family that was going to be traveling to Paris. We listened to the CD's, watched the DVD's. I thought the DVD's were silly, but the kids seemed interested. It was only when I applied certain words with things in the house that they "got it" They are not fluent, but did know a few words. I think it would have been more helpful if we went to a class and sang songs and played games.

Good luck!

K.

I bought them and returned them because I felt that they were of poor quality.

Muzzy is good. We bought the 5-language series for our kids when we homeschooled them, but at that time our kids were older and Muzzy was a bit too young for them. For a 4-yr old, I think they'd be perfect.

If I am remembering right, the DVDs had the story in English, and then in each of the other languages. When watching it in the other language, there was no translation and it could be difficult - but I actually think it's more difficult for adults, and easier for children to pick up. At that age they are like sponges, so it's a great age to begin a language. Your daughter will likely pick up more than you might pick up, if you do it together. It's a really good thing for kids to be exposed to another language in, like you said, a non-forceful way. So I would recommend it for sure. I would recommend doing it together, especially at first. If she has trouble understanding, she may get frustrated, so it would help if you can help answer questions.

l

We loved Muzzy tapes for our son who is now fluent in French. The fluency didn't come from the tapes but because he attended an international school for 8 years. Muzzy was a great help when he first began exposure to the language. You can buy them on ebay sometimes for a lesser price that retail. Haven't checked amazon for this. Also, after she outgrows Muzzy, you can search for books on tape in the language of your choice. For example, if she is familiar with a story in english, try to buy the same one in French so she can use her memory of the story to guide her along.
I think you are pursuing a great thing.
Best wishes.

I bought the Muzzy program for my son (about 4 years ago) and after a few weeks, returned the entire program.
They may have redone the quality of the DVDs since then, but the DVDs I received were horrible. The program is a great idea/concept and I can see it working, but the quality of the picture AND the sound on the DVDs were awful.
I did call the company to discuss the matter before returning the program and they did confess that the program (now on DVD) was made about 20+ years ago and they had NOT (at the time) redone them. To me, it really did look like the quality of about 20+ years ago. The pictures were grainy and very busy. But, the thing thing that I really didn't like was the sound quality (for which you would think would be super important in this case) was awful. AND, the English version of the characters voices all have English accents. Not to say that would be bad, but paired together with the already poor sound quality, I just didn't think it was worth the money.
Just my two cents,
R.

The district I workied in used this series for their Spanish program and my students (third grade) did not enjoy them. They seemed very out of date and I did not notice the kids learning from them.

Great idea! It will help her with English, will improve her math, even! Learning another language improves our "cognitive flexibility." I'm not familiar with Muzzy. Good luck with it, and have fun!