It’s been about four weeks since my daughter Vanessa’s last day of French Summer Camp and the beginning of our journey into her third language. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we’ve partnered with Little Pim and, for the next three months, we’re going to be using their products as well as getting awesome tips from its founder, Julia Pimsleur. All of which I plan to document and share with you!
I must start by saying that I couldn’t be prouder of my four-year-old daughter. She is 100% into this idea and is completely involved. While I haven’t been extremely structured when it comes to exposing her to French, she hears it every single day. Sometimes it’s through music, especially the French Bop CD we got from Little Pim and others in YouTube. Other times it comes from one of the six Little Pim DVDs – which Vanessa can watch over and over again. We’re also totally into using their flashcards and have recently, at Julia’s suggestion, started playing games with them. Like the one we play with the colors. If she gets the color right, she gets to keep the card. If she has more cards than I do at the end, she wins! Vanessa is super competitive, so winning is everything for her…
Check out the colors she’s learned so far:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC8xWyQbv4M
On another note, it seems as if our journey has inspired at least one other family member to do something similar. My mother has actually signed up for lessons at the Alliance Francaise and just went to her first class last week. I was ecstatic when she told me! For one, my daughter’s going to have yet another person she can practice with making French even more relevant. Plus, the fact that my mom’s doing something like this, shows my daughter the value our family gives to languages.
I should reveal that my mom has taken French lessons in the past. In fact, it was the third language she learned in her bilingual school (the same one I’d go to years later) back in Peru. It has been a while since the last time she took a class, but she still didn’t have to start at the first level. She’s already started talking to Vanessa in French!
Finally, I’ve been told of a once-a-month French day camp available in Denver and I can’t wait to find out more information. I believe this would be an amazing way to continue exposing my daughter to her third language in a fun, relaxed atmosphere.
Oh, my! I absolutely loved watching this video. Vanessa, you are amazing, my little darling. I love your accent and how enthusiastic you are about learning new words. And your mom…she’s the best.
Roxana — This is, undeniably, the most convincing video I have ever seen on a product. I am SO going to get that program for my kids. It looks fun, easy, and adorable. Thank you for this wonderful sharing. Esta excelente!
Thanks, Angelica! Honestly, I don’t think I’d be able to do this if my daughter was not into it, but, as you can see, she LOVES it. She’a a show-off so she loves to tell people she’s already trilingual!!
I’m glad you’re convinced. Little Pim’s products are really wonderful because they’re so much fun! I’d love to know how you like them once you get it for your kids.
I love the video! I don’t speak French but understood the colors
Hee hee… It is so fun to hear you speaking it – I don’t think I could ever manage the accent myself – I would only mangle it.
This is really exciting. Yo mando un “Fantastique!” a Vanessa!
Thanks for your support, Tracy! I must say I’ve been utterly surprised by Vanessa’s pronunciation which is one of the hardest things, I think, when it comes to learning French.
This has nothing to do w/ your above post but I thought I’d share with you a recent blog entry I did on spanish kid songs.
http://findingchaos.com/2010/10/14/latin-children-songs/