Customer Reviews

German for Children (Language for Children Series) (Paperback and Audio Cd's)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am so happy I chose this item for my children. Although my daughters are only 3 and 5, I wanted something to help them learn basic words and phrases. The lessons are simple with lots of reptition and cute songs. I put the CD on when they are playing and sometimes they participate but just as often not - but later, I'll hear them singing the number song.

Getting ready to move to Germany, I wanted to make sure my kids (ages 4 and 6) were ready for the move. I have bought about any German lessons I can find. The songs on this set are not only tolerable, they are catchy (I catch myself singing them). The kids really enjoy them (though they have problems with the book because they're not quite reading yet). All together, a great set. I, too, wish there was a volume 2!

I'm going to have to disagree with most of the other reviewers here. I tried using this book and audio CD to teach my seven-year-old German, which I already speak, but it's just not working for us.

There are four main problems with this book and audio CD:

1. The German speakers are too hard to understand. They speak very quickly. I can understand them just fine, but my daughter can't, even when she knows the words. This is especially true with the children who speak on the CD. Sometimes these children change their voice to sound like animals and other people, and that makes it even more difficult.

2. The audio CD does not match the book. Even within the the first ten pages of the book, the audio CD sometimes just ignores a page or part of a page. We'd be listening to a lesson and following it in the book, and then the next lesson would skip the rest of the page and jump to the next page.

3. The CD is divided into tracks, but the lessons are not one-to-one with the tracks. That is, you might need to rewind within a track to get to the beginning of a lesson, instead of just starting the track again. I imported the CD into iTunes to make it easier to go backwards and forwards, and I still got confused several times.

4. I found that the general order in which things are covered doesn't make much sense. The book will introduce full sentences and expressions, but not cover the basics. So you will learn to say, "My name is" and "Your name is", but not "His name is" or "Their name is". There's no real coverage of German grammar.

So if you already speak German, and you want to teach your children, don't get this book. Your better off getting a regular book that teaches German vocabulary and grammar the old-fashioned way. You already speak the language, so your children won't need to hear it from someone else.

Overall I thought it was cute although not as good as I had hoped. I was hoping for more of an immersion approach with less English on the CDs. The sound quality was average and I think that for learning a foreign language the sound quality should be excellent. It sounded like it had originally been on cassette tapes and transferred to CDs without enhancing the sound quality.

My 3 year-old didn't like it, but that's simply her personaly preference. I can see how other children might love it.

There are quite a few references to witches and ghosts (but not in a scary way) and some parents may wish to know that before purchasing.

Terrific! Childrens songs and activities make this a fun and easy way to learn german. The kids sing the songs all day long and really look forward to their german lesson to start their homeschool day.

My daughter started taking German lessons from a German friend. After 1 lesson, we purchased the German for Children language series. My daughter has always responded to music and audio stimulation and has learned so much just by listening. We listen to the CDs in the car. My daughter just loves listening to the German for Children CDs. We listen just about every day and have been for at least a few weeks...she has mastered the 1st CD and we're working on the 2nd. I'm also having fun learning the language!

There are plenty of expensive packages out there, promising to have your child speaking a foreign language fluently in -however-many-weeks/months- but 'German for Children' is probably THE best option for any parent wishing to introduce a child (aged 3 to about 9 or 10) to the basics of German. It's fun and child-friendly, with lots of chirpy songs and games, very little writing (while encouraging older children to read along and keep a German notebook), and no complicated rules of grammar to learn by rote. My boys are 5, 6 and 8, and love playing 'Wo ist...?' and 'Bingo', and singing along to the 'Pizza Song'. I doubt the pack would be of much interest to children over 10, but for the younger ones it's definitely five stars.

Excellent product. My almost 4 year old and 2 year old have already started counting, saying hello, and saying simple greetings in German after only a few times listening in the car (with some reinforcement from me of course). I bought another CD for my husband and myself, which is very good as well but very tiring because you learn so much so quickly. Sometimes its nice to switch to this children's CD and learn in the more relaxing, carefree manner as a child would. The lessons are not at all annoying as children's programs can sometimes be. I find myself remembering from the children's songs the words that I am practicing in the adult CD. We have not gone to Germany yet, but from friends who have lived in Germany, we are finding that the lessons are useful for everyday conversation.

I started the program about 3 weeks ago with my 3 1/2 year old son and he loves it! The exercise are fun, it is something we can do together, and he thinks it is "cool" that he can speak to Daddy in German. Good product.

I was hoping for something that would catch and keep a young child's attention. This is kind of "last century" style of language learning. A motivated child over 6 could manage alone. Otherwise, an adult will need to be there to help the child along.