Customer Reviews

Baby's First Words in French

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this as it looked like a well-suited option to help introduce French to my 6 month old twin girls... after having taken so many years of French, they were my inspiration to start them off right with it -- from the beginning. They had listened to this CD almost daily and continue to enjoy dancing to it occasionally as 2.5 year olds now. As soon as I put it in upon arrival, I was very pleased... the booklet explains in an hour's read how best to expose your children to another language and the CD is well-produced. The sound quailty is great, the male and female singers have pleasing voices that I (a 30 year old father) can handle... and they are native French speakers! All in all a nice blend of quick paced songs, calm songs, quick phoenetical rhymes -- I recommend it hands down.

I wanted a foreign language CD for my 1 year old and purchased this after reading the reviews. The CD is very pleasant to listen to, even for adults. It has a variation of songs and rhymes, and different people singing/speaking them, so it doesn't seem repetitive the way some other children's CDs are. The sound quality is good and you can follow the words relatively well, which was important to me. I liked it so much I bought the Spanish version, which I'm still reserving decision on. So far I like the French version better.

This is the same thing as Baby's First Steps in French! Different title, same thing. It even says that customers who bought this, also bought 'First Steps,' so don't be misled... Amazon seriously needs to let customers know that this is a revised edition, so others don't make the same mistake I did, which is to make two purchases of the same item.

That said, my 4 and a half month old, seems to like listening to the songs, and I enjoy it, as well. :)

I absolutely love the format of this disc and book set. It not only gives you several tracks of rhymes and songs that your baby will love, but it shows you which songs to introduce to your baby at specific ages. The tracks are broken up into 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months, and 18-24 months. The booklet also provides you as a parent valuable information about research and techniques used to back up this language learning program. Every second is so interesting! You need to start teaching now- or as early as possible- if you want you child to develop a native-sounding accent. I speak french, but I am American-born, so having a CD that allows my daughter to hear a native accent is crucial. You will love the songs and rhymes as much as your child, I guarantee it. They are beautiful and educational and so very easy to learn, even if you don't speak french! My English-speaking family has learned several songs and enjoy singing them to her. I highly recommend this CD and book set to all parents who have their child's bi-lingual capabilities in mind.

This cd is great. The songs are done well. I find myself singing some of the songs while we are out and about. The book that comes with the cd makes the product really easy to use. It also has translation for all of the tracs on the cd.

Very easy to listen to, lovely songs and rhymes. You can easily play this every day and not get sick of it. One of a kind, as most recordings of this sort can be very irritating after a while, even if they are not initially. Excellent.

This CD has been in heavy rotation since deciding to teach our toddler son French. He was five months old when purchased and we didn't begin to play it until he was six months old. I wish we hadn't waited! The songs are sung beautifully by both the male and female singers. In addition to the adult singers, there is also a child that sings songs.

The CD comes with the lyrics for each song in both French and English which I find to be extremely helpful.

My favorite feature is the "Parentese." I am not fluent in French, but am learning, and I like that I am able to speak to my child in phrases other than the standard ones taught in a college course.

This CD isn't just for babies and toddlers; for older children who can get past the "baby" part of the title (or whose parents hide the cover from them ;-), it's also a great resource, bringing native speakers into your home. At age 6 1/2, we expected my daughter would learn French someday, as we planned to apply for her to do a special exchange to France for elementary-age children. We started shopping around for CDs that would introduce her to the sounds of the French language, and played what we could find, mostly things we checked out at our local Alliance Francaise. We found "Baby's First Steps in French" (now reissued under the new title of "Baby's First Words") at our public library and it immediately became such a favorite that we bought her the newer version for her 8th Christmas. I played it almost every day as we went about our daily activities. The clear voices and engaging music soon had her singing along. We didn't focus on the meaning of the words at all, just listened and had fun.

She was accepted into the exchange program and just arrived in France a week ago, at age 9. She'll be living with a family for 6 months to have the cultural and linguistic experience of a lifetime, learning French through pure immersion. Here's the incredible thing: her French mother says that, just days after arrival, her French accent is already PERFECT!

The CD places special focus on those sounds that are unique to French and not used in English. My daughter especially loved practicing the French "R" sound through a fun exercise on the CD that compares it with gargling.

If you want your child to speak French with a native accent, even if they won't have formal lessons until later, you can't make a better investment. My older daughter did the same exchange, living in France for 6 months at age 10, and her accent never quite sounded native. I believe listening to this CD for a year and a half is the key to my younger daughter's pronunciation success.

...Absolutely the best product I have ever purchased. I wanted to introduce French to my daughter. I am hoping to get her to learn a second language. She loves listening it. She is now starting to sing the songs as well.Her favorite is "Joyeux anniversaire". She is now 19 months. The voices are very pleasant. Even I enjoy listening to it. We sing and dance to the songs almost every day. I definitely recommend it to any parent who wants to introduce a second language to his/her child.

This is one of the best developmental products for babies I have seen yet. Things I like are:

--Parent guide explaining language acquisition in general, and bilingual/multilingual language development in particular. According to the package, the author is a professor of Speech and Language Pathology, and trilingual herself. The research cited in the book is worth the price alone. As a Psychologist, I truly appreciate when products are developed with a scientific basis.

--Lyrics of all the tracks in French, with English translations

--Songs and rhymes divided up by developmental stage to expose your child to sounds they are most sensitive to in that stage.

I am not a native French speaker, so I cannot comment on the authenticity of the songs or accents. However, the research presented in the guide makes me trust this product more than others I have heard that just play English songs translated into a foreign language. Most importantly, my 10-month old seems to enjoy the songs while she plays. I am interested in other language CDs in this series. I hope they have the same kind of professionals developing them.