We love French in our homeschool. I have started teaching my children French on a regular basis this spring. We joined the Alliance Française of Knoxville, signed up for Popi, and watched Caillou on youtube. However, I felt the need for a systematic approach to learning French. Enter Petra Lingua.
Full disclosure: they are one of my sponsors. But I would not be writing about this curriculum if I did not think it was great or if I did not use it with my children.
So Petra Lingua is for younger elementary kids, say ages 3-10. However, if you are an adult who needs to study French and enjoy animation, this is a great product for you, as well. I would add that if you feel intimidated by language learning, you should definitely consider Petra Lingua. Their mascot, a cute doggy named Wuffy, will become your best buddy – while teaching you French.
I know my kids laugh every time he enters the screen. He makes an entrance in a different way every time.
The lessons contains songs, repetition, a chance for you to repeat back what the speaker said, as well as exercises to practice what you learned.
Also, you should know this product comes in two versions: an online version and a DVD kit, which offers a booklet with exercises and a music CD, as well as the DVD for the lessons. At the end of the 20 lessons, you will have learned 500 basic words in French and, hopefully, you will have gained some confidence toward more lessons.
They even have a lesson plan you can follow so that you know what to expect (or what to do) for each lesson.
The online product costs $4.99 per month for six months. How’s that for a bargain? You can do one lesson a week and be done in 20 weeks, with no stress and without breaking the bank. If you wanted the DVD kit, which also contains a Wuffy Dog Handpuppet and a set of playing cards to practice vocabulary, it is $75.
So it boils down to how good your internet connection is. I use this set to teach my French Play Group at the library and their connection is not so good on some days. The result? The songs get interrupted a lot as the laptop keeps buffering. I have learned to bring the DVDs instead.
My kids love Wuffy and they play with the handpuppet a lot. They sing the songs and request certain lessons just because they like them. For instance, my daughter really, really likes the Vegetables and Fruits – which happens to be available for free on their website. My son prefers the lesson about counting to 20 – things come in train cars and he loves trains.
If you want to watch the free lesson, go ahead and sign up. You will receive a code for 15% off when you do decide to purchase. How cool is that?
As we progress through these lessons, I will be back to tell you some more about them. Until then, au revoir!
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I have been looking at Petra Lingua, and I love it! I, too, studied math and science heavily in high school, even though I really didn’t love it. I started to major in marine biology in college with a minor in French. I soon switched to French and elementary education as my majors. 🙂 So, I hear you! I have one question: if I purchase the $75 kit, does that include the lessons online as well? Thanks. 🙂
Oh, no. You either get the DVD kit OR the online version.
Their website says you get access to their web content for one year with the purchase of the $75 kit (httpss://www.petralingua.com/children-language-learning-video-dvd-audio-cd-books/german-for-kids)