Speekee TV is a UK-based online series of Spanish episodes aimed at children 2-10 years of age. I had the pleasure of watching all 10 episodes currently available via subscription with my son. Though he speaks fluent Spanish already, he loved the program and asked me to watch it every chance he got.
The format of the videos is great for any age. They feature Speekee (a cute, purple lemur) and a couple other animal puppets, Jim (the company’s co-founder), and five Spanish children speaking, dancing, and singing. Each episode is about 20 minutes long and has a theme based on location: for example, “El Parque” or “La Fiesta.” The images are a mix of real-time video – filmed in Spain – and interesting animations using items on the screen.
I love that the introductory and concluding songs are always the same, though the imagery changes depending on the episode’s theme. Kids can pick up on the lyrics quickly, and they’re the type of tunes that are sure to get stuck in parents’ heads all day! Both the songs and dialogue have Spanish and English subtitles, which make the videos applicable to older children who can read. In addition, there are useful downloadable activity pages with every episode that summarize the new vocabulary.
Cute video and kid-friendly music could describe any Spanish lessons. What sets Speekee TV apart is its quality vocabulary. Speekee has full conversations with his viewers, consistently asking “y tú?” With no prompting from me, my son answered him every time. I imagine that this would be the case even for children who have not been exposed to Spanish before, because of the smart repetition of key phrases. Because it is a European production, Speekee TV features Spain-specific vocabulary and customs, which is great exposure for any of our children who are accustomed to only Latin American Spanish. I highly recommend Speekee TV to all young Spanish learners because it is engaging and contains a variety of conversational topics. The videos are funny and educational, and your children will want to watch them again and again. I, for one, can’t wait for the second installment of episodes: “Speekee 2!”
All of Speekee’s products are perfect for the SpanglishBaby community, especially because they were created by parents with interest and expertise in language learning. Along with Speekee TV, there are DVDs and teaching products available, including a forthcoming Homeschoolers Curriculum and forum. An online subscription is FREE for the first two weeks; thereafter, it is just $7.50 per month (with an option to cancel at any time).
To start your adventures with Speekee, enter the giveaway to win three free months of Speekee TV access. Go here to enter giveaway –>
THE GIVEAWAY!
Speekee TV is giving away a three month free subscription to one winner. To enter just leave a comment telling us why you think your child will benefit from Speekee TV.
That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):
**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.
1. Subscribe to receive blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.
2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post and @SpanglishBaby. Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.
3. Like SpanglishBaby on Facebook and join a thriving community of parents.
This giveaway ends Sunday, May 1st at midnight EST and is open to everyone over 18 years of age. Check out the Giveaway Rules.
Disclosure: We received a sample to review the product. All opinions are our own.
I think 3year old son would benefit from this because it seems like a different learning tool for him. I as the mom, Mexican American, know basic Spanish but am determined to fluent as well as allow my son to know as well.
Our daughter Megan will love the interaction of SpeeKee asking ¿ Y tu ?
She will also be more likely to speak as she witnesses other children speaking in Spanish – just another wonderful tool to elicit the verbalization of her 2nd language.
Great stuff!
I love the idea of SpeeKee TV. As a traveler and someone who promotes traveling everywhere with their kids, my children would benefit greatly from learning a new language and acquiring these skills earlier on in life than later.
This would be a great tool for my 4 year old daughter. She has been attending a spanish immersion school for 2 years now but my husband and I do not speak spanish, we are always looking for ways help reinforce the language at home for her
I think our daughter will benefit from Speekee because it would be a fun, and positive, reinforcement for her current knowledge of Spanish. Unfortunately she doesn’t see/hear many other kids speak Spanish so it would be fun for her to see other kids that can speak it!
I like Spanglish Baby on FB!
Speekee is such a colourful and vibrant character. I love the enthusiasm for Spanish and know that this is engaging for both my own young children and for the elementary students I teach.
Our son is in a Spanish/English duel immersion school and we are always looking for more ways to support his Spanish language learning at home, since neither my husband nor I speak Spanish. Speekee would also be good for our daughter who will be attending Spanish immersion preschool in the fall.
I am already a subscriber.
My (almost) two-year old daughter will greatly benefit from Speekee because it will reinforce the Spanish she already gets at home from me (her primary caretaker). Speekee looks like a really fun educational tool for her. I also like the conversational “y tú?” approach! I think it will be a blast. I am determined that she will be fluent in Spanish and I need all the help I can get because I know many kids, even when they are spoken in Spanish at home, end up only wanting to speak English after they start school, etc.
P.S. I’m already a subscriber
Id like to give it a try. I think my 20 month old daughter would especially love I
I like Spanglishbaby on FB
I subscribe
I’m teaching my 3 grandkids Spanish but I can’t always be with them so having this as part of their homeschool each day would be awesome. Interaction with speaking, seeing and even game playing really gets the language in ‘solid’ I hadn’t seen this before your post and it looks really good !
I’m already a subscriber!
I @nankani follow you on twitter and tweeted
http://twitter.com/#!/Nankani/status/62624957754122240
I think my entire family could benefit from this. I’m sure we would learn more at home and as a group than my kids could learn in school.
My daughter is fascinated with different cultures and languages. She speaks English, goes to a French school and knows some sign language. She loves exploring different languages.