5 Fun Ways We're Trying to Learn French with our Kids
As an adult, I've been borderline obsessed with learning French. I took French in graduate school and having class 4 days a week was a game changer in helping me achieve a very basic level. But, since an immersive French semester abroad is probably not in my near future, I figured it'd be fun to at least start learning a bit together with my kids. Here are five easy and a few free ways that we're getting at least a little bit of exposure to French!
1. One Third Stories - One Third Stories has some awesome audiostories available online that are primarily in English but incorporate French words throughout. Ruby Red Riding Hood is our current favorite. I love this because our kids understand the story since it's mostly in English, but they also pick up a few French words throughout. The end of the story features a little practice session as well.
2. Yoto Player - We LOVE our Yoto mini. If you haven't come across it yet, it's a really cool screen-free audiobook player made for kids to be able to use on their own. Our oldest (age 5) loves listening to audiobooks on his Yoto mini while doing legos or drawing, and the Yoto player is basically responsible for getting us through some long airport stays with very minimal whining. Our 4 year old loves using the Yoto player to listen to music. Yoto has an amazing selection of French titles. While most of them are too advanced for us to understand at this stage, there are a few that have worked well for us including Comptines et Chansons de Noel which features beautiful holiday songs (Christmas in July!) and Ladybird Language Stories: My First Words in French. They also have great French podcasts, but they are a little too advanced for us at this stage.... hopefully one day!
3. Duolingo French - committing to one duolingo lesson every morning before getting out of bed has been the single best habit I've introduced into my day! If you've read the book, Tiny Habits, this is my tiny habit that sets the day up for success. I'm currently on a 533 day streak (thank goodness for a few streak freezes here and there), and it motivates me to take on other small but meaningful positive habits. Although most of the time, I do my duolingo lesson on my own, I'll occasionally do an extra one while the kids sit with me.
4. French Lullaby Essentials on Apple Music - This playlist is so good! Our current favorite songs are Les Petits Poissons (the little fish) and Une Souris Verte (a green mouse). French lullabies have a very calming effect on me and the kids can pick up the words much more quickly when they listen to songs.
5. French Books that Sing - You know how much we love books that sing, and we're so excited to be able to offer these French ones in our shop! Our current favorite song is Ah Les Crocodiles in the second volume!
