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The fundamental approach is based on the research of eminent language specialists. James Asher has shown the effectiveness of pairing physical response with language. Stephen Krashen emphasizes the importance of comprehensible input for language acquisition. Patricia Kuhl's work agrees with Krashen as she has found that adults make their speech to infants clearer and more distinct. Also, Kuhl's work shows that the processing of language information occurs through multiple modalities, including vision and audition, both in early infancy and adulthood.
The video includes many other features that enhance the learning experience - a high level of visual support, familiarity of the themes, likeability of the character, humour of the situations, a variety of music, and repetition of key vocabulary.
A sample video of each vignette was field tested on language learners and their feedback, along with that of teachers, provided me with valuable insights for refining the script. People of all ages - children, teenagers, and adults - were enthusiastic about it. When the video was finished in the four languages, I marketed it to schools and learning programs in Canada, the United States, and Japan. The response was overwhelmingly positive. As well, individuals who have used the video at home have found it very effective. It is the favorite video of the actor's own toddlers and they have watched it in one language or another hundreds of times. The video was originally intended for use by individuals at home and I'm pleased to now have the opportunity to offer it for individual purchase.
This technique integrates the latest research on effective language acquisition. Both humour and music are used to relax the learner and, along with the physical actions, create a most enjoyable language learning experience.
This 90-minute video, available with a workbook, comes in four different languages - English, Spanish, French, and German. Each video presents high frequency vocabulary, common verb tenses and basic sentence structures in functional situations.
The grammar and vocabulary in the twenty lessons is designed for beginner to intermediate level speakers. The language presented includes expressions encountered with native speakers of the language. Each lesson is carefully constructed to enable the viewer to make the transition from listening comprehension to speaking.
The workbook reinforces the language encountered in the video. It contains the complete script of the twenty lessons and two written exercises for each lesson. The answers are in the back of the book and the Spanish, French, and German workbooks include the English translation.
Until now, the video and workbook have been available only to schools. Both teachers and students have been enthusiastic in their praise of the comprehensive and entertaining approach incorporated in the video. It has proven very popular with both children and adults in classrooms throughout North America.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Designed for the User,
By Leanna Haythorne (Hull, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Follow Francis : Learn to Speak English (includes workbook) [VHS] (VHS Tape)
At last! An educational video designed with the VCR user in mind! This video isn`t just an entertaining group of skits - it has interactive options that you control with the remote. After you've worked your way through a lesson listening and watching - and I shouldn't say work, because it's so easy and rewarding - you can rewind a lesson and practice speaking. To do this, you use a cue on the tape to pause the video while you formulate the sentence that's coming. Once you've spoken out loud and heard the original on the video, you have time to pause and correct yourself, without having to rewind the tape. It's a simple concept but one that I`ve never encountered before and one that is extremely effective. This is certainly better than watching videos that are really just conventional lessons or footage of situations with no chance to get involved. Other features of this video that enhance the learning experience are the variety of background music, the ironic approach, and the practicality of the language. While these aspects all contribute to excellent lessons, the character in the video is certainly the main teacher. It is through the character's actions that you understand the language. He is an affable, but inept mime who goes through a series of ordinary actions while the narrator clearly enunciates instructions, questions, and comments. The actor is so talented that you, the viewer, understand much of the new language you're hearing. The workbook that comes with the video is really well constructed too and gives you a chance to review and extend all that you've learned. All in all, this video package is an exceptional language experience.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learning a Language with Laughter,
By Catherine Langston, writer and teacher (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Follow Francis : Learn to Speak English (includes workbook) [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Hello Teachers. Hello Students. Do you have the classroom blahs? Do you need new learning activities? Do you have Follow Francis? You don't? Don't buy another activity book. Don't videotape another TV program. Don't record more radio newscasts. Instead, "Follow Francis". You'll like it. You'll learn a lot. Designed for beginner to low intermediate language learners, the FollowFrancis language kit is a pedagogical delight. It's breezy, cheeky and funny. The themes and situations are universal, the writing is simple and energetic, the lesson delivery is professional and accessible. And it's available in four languages: English, French, Spanish and German. I am a teacher and writer in Montreal. I began using "Follow Francis" about two years ago with my immigrant classes at an adult education centre in Montreal. It was an instant winner with those students. Since then, I have been using it regularly and successfully with all my basic education students.The multimedia instructional kit contains four teaching components: a video, a printed student exercise book, a cassette tape, and a teacher's guide. (Teacher guide and audio cassette available separately). All materials smoothly integrate the four language elements, then spice them up with hits of light-hearted humor. Students particularly like the video's strong visual and verbal components. The cute but perpetually confused main character, Francis, plays a klutzy "everyman" character to great effect.Our laughter dissolves classroom cultural barriers faster than March sunshine melts snow. Children also respond enthusiastically to the highly graphic skits and lively action. I have lent the video to a French Canadian neighbor whose 5-year-old loves the sad-eyed, silly mime. Used together or alone, each component contributes to the overall effectiveness of this learning resource. Both the video and the tapecassette have the same 20 vignettes about familiar themes; the sketches follow a pedagogical progression from listening comprehension to speaking.The writers built up the themes using controlled grammar and high frequency vocabulary and expressions designed to help learners develop a native-like language base. Each of the approximately 4-minute sketches is different and all of them can be used to reinforce grammar or theme-based curricula. The sketches explore universal subjects in ways that stimulate thought and discussion. The Teacher's guide and the student exercise book, have been designed to encourage student participation by extending the theme ideas and bringing in other vocabulary and grammar structures. Repitition, imitation, roleplay, cued responses, trivia questions, skits and dialogues are some of the guide's suggested activities. The professional production standards of this kit make viewing and using a pleasure. Francis is an appealing character, played with zest and sympathy by a skilled mime artist. The male and female narrators enunciate clearly, the background music dramatizes the action, the pacingand sequencing enable learners to both repeat and anticipate lines.This learning resource delivers the goods in a way that allows teachers to focus on their students' needs and that helps students to learn more easily. Individual learners can use this language aid to learn at their own pace. And it's a lot of fun for everyone.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Value Packed Video,
By Anil Naidoo (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Follow Francis : Learn to Speak English (includes workbook) [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This video is a great purchase. At $1.50 per lesson, it's value packed. Each lesson has 20 - 30 utterances with basic verb tenses and ordinary vocabulary. Each lesson is accompanied by two pages of exercises in a workbook where you rewrite the script yourself and use the language in new ways. Each lesson deals with a common topic using language you encounter every day. Each lesson uses humour and theme music to relax you while you learn and start speaking. In fact, on the video jacket you'll find a series of steps that explain a good process for efficiently learning the language in each lesson. These steps take you through from watching to listening to speaking. The only problem with this video is that it's so much fun to watch and the language starts making so much sense that you may want to do a sneak preview of the whole thing before you actually back up to the beginning and start following the directions. But when you do, you've got at least a solid hour's lesson for only $1.50 an hour.
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