Review of Getting Started With French

I have been exploring a new foreign language curriculum, Getting Started with French from Armfield Academic Press. I took two years of Spanish in High School but only remember a little of the vocabulary so I love trying to learn languages all over again beside my children. We've tackled Latin and Spanish so I was curious to see how French flowed and if their were any similarities since it is one of the romance languages.  I discovered some similarities but French also has its own unique qualities.  


The book itself comes in a paperback workbook style with 172 lessons. Each lesson gently introduces students to French vocabulary including articles, direct objects, gender, infinitives, singular and plural nouns and so much more. Lessons are simple and quick to complete and designed to build upon each other so skipping ahead is not a good idea. 

 
In the beginning of the book are instructions guiding students and parents through the layout of the lessons. When a lesson contains a new word, students will always find the word in bold print along with pronunciation hints and meaning. There are also exercises for students to complete that contain past and current vocabulary. You see more pages in this preview of the book.

There are no tests included in the book but there is a suggestion to test students at the end of a lesson by having them translate the exercises without looking at the answers. The beauty of this curriculum is that you go at your own pace. If you don't grasp something, simply repeat until you do. 

 
I loved that the lessons could easily be completed in less than 30 minutes per day with some earlier lessons taking much less time than that. I also loved that you were not just left alone to try to figure out pronunciations. There is a pronunciation guide located in the back of the book along with the answers to the lessons and a glossary.

But what I loved most were the accessories available at the website. You can download mp3 commentaries on each lesson as well as the pronunciations from a native French speaker for free. The commentaries are very informative and even give students tricks on how to form their mouth and tongue to produce the correct pronunciation. I found myself laughing out loud as I tried to replicate my new French vocabulary words with my southern accent. I spared y'all the recording of that! I do recommend that you have your students record themselves saying the words though because when you listen to yourself say it back, it's easier to catch mispronunciations or at least it was for me. 

 
I would highly recommend this book to homeschoolers looking for a gentle and quick introduction to French for their students. I think it would be great to add it to a morning basket or read aloud to learn as a family and then you could practice together through out the day and week too. 

 
Another recommendation the book gave is for a high school or college student who is trying to grasp the basics before taking a French class. It's also great for parents like me who still love learning too! It's so quick and easy to complete a lesson that fitting it into your daily schedule isn't difficult at all.

Mr. Linney also has books available for other languages too - Getting Started with Latin, Getting Started with Spanish, and coming soon is Getting Started with Russian.

Find out more by visiting Armfield Academic Press on Facebook.

Review of High School Spanish I - Middlebury Interactive Languages

Are your children interested in learning another language? If so, then keep reading for today's review on Middlebury Interactive Languages. They offer several different language courses and grade levels from kindergarten to high school. We were given the chance to review High School Spanish I.

High School Spanish I is an interactive digital course where students can immerse themselves in the language and culture of the Hispanic world. The course is designed to complete a lesson per day for 18 weeks that equates to one semester. We were given 2 semesters to review. The set up is easy to follow and boxes are automatically checked off as a student completes a lesson.

The course teaches language skills though listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. There are also culture slides included with native speakers showing different ways that the different countries of the Spanish-speaking world may translate words. For instance, most countries refer to a teacher's desk as escritorio but some may call it pupitre. Students are also introduced to some Spanish customs such as how they greet one another, food, education, markets, etc. 

Each unit generally follows the same format: 

Lesson 1 - gives the objective for the unit, introduces the new vocabulary, and gives the student activities to practice what they have learned. One of the activities included dragging the matching vocabulary word into the space as seen below. The words the student has not been introduced to yet are underlined so they can click on them to find the correct meaning.

Lesson 2 - continued vocabulary practice, grammar introductions and review. Here is a grammar practice lesson with subject pronouns. The student had to drag the Spanish word to the corresponding picture. 

Lesson 3 - continues grammar practice through reading, writing, and listening and gives a quiz on reading comprehension 

Lesson 4 - continues to review what has already been taught and introduces a culture tidbit with a quiz. 

Lesson 5 - unit conclusion and test 

There are also midterm and final tests given during units 9 and 18. You have the option of adding teacher input to the course for an additional fee. If you do not go that route, you will need to check a few of the assignments yourself. However, most are self graded. The student receives a participation grade on the speaking portions so you will want to check to see how they did there. You can examine each of your students activities easily in the grade book section.

This course is simple to navigate and the lessons can be completed by the student on their own. I sat with my 9th grader for most of the lessons to refresh myself on Spanish because I have forgotten most of it. I also think it is great when you can use words in daily life as a review. He is really excited about the course and enjoys the lessons. 

There is also a calendar tab where you can find all the lessons preassigned to make sure you complete the course on time. It does not allow you to move any of the lessons around which would be a wonderful feature for homeschoolers because we don't always follow a traditional calendar and during basketball season we even school on Saturdays sometimes. However, your subscription does have an expiration date of one year from purchase date so timely lessons are important. We really never used the calendar feature and just completed the lessons in our own timing to fit our schedule.

Find out more on Middlebury Interactive Languages and the courses they offer in Spanish, French, German, and Chinese by visiting Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google +. Be sure to click the banner below for other reviews on these courses.