Customer Reviews

Play and Learn French (Book + Audio CD): Over 50 Fun songs, games and everyday activites to get started in French (Play and Learn Language)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While this book is geared towards children, I found it to be very helpful to me as a beginning French college student. I originally bought this mainly for it's pictures and dual translations as I'm a visual learner and because I've heard many foreign language audio programs that I didn't care for at all. This, however, is obviously done by a native speaker (and a good singer at that).

The audio and pronounciation is clear, making it easy to follow along with the text. The topics that are covered are everyday activities, making it easy to find ways to make use of what you learn in real life practice. Also, as the previous reviewer noted, the use of colloquial terms is also very helpful and useful.

As an experienced adult language learner, I feel that this will do well to improve not only my pronounciation, but my vocabulary as well.

I was surprised at how much I liked this book. Most language books cover the basic, standard vocabulary in a set format. This one covers colloquial vocabulary that children learn, so you hear the endearments that parents use with their children and how roosters crow and the words for 'see-saw' and common phrases like 'Time to wake up!'. I can see myself using some of these phrases as ice-breakers in informal chats in my travels. Delightful!
I'll be looking for other works by these authors as they become available.

I bought this for my 3-year-old girl who's going to a French immersion preschool. She loves it! She likes it when I read to her (I speak pretty fluent French) and she can figure out things by looking at the pictures. E.g., when I read a sentence and ask her in French what a certain object is, she'd point to a picture. She also likes to hear the CD. The book is colorful. The pictures and the English translation for the scripts are very helpful. My 7-year-old boy who doesn't speak French also likes to read with us and he'd read the English and I do the French part. I can tell the book is appealing for kids no matter what language it's in. I give 4 stars because I think they could have done better on the recording with more animation and variety in the tone, etc.

I haven't been able to find something as entertaining as Learn in Your Car French for Kids (Marie and Robert going to the fete). The CD on Play and Learn is completely in French without any clever songs, stories, or activities that the kids can really follow along to. If they know a LOT of French then maybe it would be something they can follow along to, but it certainly doesn't teach anything using English/French together in an engaging way.

I am bilingual (Spanish and English) and wanted to add in French with my own children. Since I just partnered in working on Flip Flop French: Ages 3-5: Level 1, I've been using that of course, and I so enjoyed using Ana Lomba's Play and Learn Spanish for my own students and classes, I got it in French.

I haven't been disappointed! After the children (three of them, ages 5 down to 2 years) completed lesson three, they were able to pick up quite a bit of this book and the interesting conversations that go along with the pictures in the book (it's full color!) My children really enjoy coloring and drawing, so after we do the Flip Flop French activity for the day, this is a great supplement and change for them. It's a little advanced for them without the other more simple lessons, but I think they'll continue to grow into it!

All in all, I love it!

As someone who had some very rusty high school French I have found this book and 60 minute CD invaluable in teaching my 1 year old son to understand and speak French. He even enjoys listening to the CD in the car while Mummy learns French as he recognises phrases and songs that we have begun to use. The book and CD show you how to conduct everyday conversations with your child in many situations such as getting dressed, eating, cleaning up, bath time, going to the park and playing games. In addition to the vocabulary there are lots of easy songs that you can learn and sing during those activities.

Highly recommended for any adult who is trying to learn basic French. A great compliment to Pimsleur and Michel Thomas.

I learned to speak French as an adult (and am still learning).

As a result, I have had very little exposure to 'children's French' - how to speak to a child and use phrases appropriate for them.

This is a fantastically reliable source for just that, and it is enjoyable to expand my own vocabulary along with my children's.

I love this - great for the price. We are going to have our first grandchild in six months. I have told my daughter and son in law that I will only speak French to the baby. Uh... now I must REFRESH! Mon Français est terrible!

I wouldn't use this book and CD with the child... this is for ME to learn these phrases and perfect my pronunciation so I can play with the child. I don't see this as a book to sit down with, child in lap.

It is very well organized and has pictures with words along the bottom of every page. These are great! I'm labeling things around the house. The nice thing about this book is that it has everyday language around everyday activities you would engage in with a child. It has little songs - not great music, but that is not the point. In our family culture, we make little songs of everything. Getting breakfast, walking the dog, washing hair - for our family this is a perfect book! It's full of little simple songs around activities.

Many language products are designed for the traveler. I don't plan to ask the baby where the bathroom is or tell her I need a taxi. I need language products that cover everyday activities, household items, family relationships and events - that sort of thing. This is perfect.

The book is splendidly organized. It even has sections that cover the language of play and of make believe... our favorite games. The way the information is presented is top-drawer. You have a column on the left in French, with certain words in bold. These are vocabulary words you are learning. On the right, there is a column with the English translation - corresponding words in bold.

I'm playing the CD as I go about my activities at home - by the time we have our grandbaby, I should have it down. Very useful and very helpful. But again, not really a book you would sit down with your child and go through. However, I WOULD advise playing the CD for an infant. Just have it playing at naptime and during the day. The sounds of the language will be picked up by the infants. Infant brains are wired for language acquisition. Putting the sound of the language "in the ear" of the infant will definitely give him/her a terrific advantage. I'm shopping for other products for this purpose as well. And of course, classical music.

I highly recommend this product - I've looked at quite a few. This book and CD will be useful for a long time. I am a doctor of psychology with a special interest in development. Assessing products through the knowledge of brain development, I cannot recommend this product highly enough. Again, parents should study it to pick up everyday language so they can use French casually at home, every day. And I recommend playing it for infants from day 1. It won't make a child more intelligent and it won't make a child into a language genius... this is only about getting the sounds of the language into the infant's brain so that s/he will have an easier time with pronunciation. There's no magic formula and no magic product... but if we take advantage of what we know about brain development, we can help children get closer to their potentials for learning without burning them out or stressing them. Learning should be fun. This product DEFINITELY will help you with that!

One caution - the "child" on the recording is clearly an adult and sounds rather silly. But I can live with that. This is a terrific product.

I am a little disappointed with this product. Although the book is great for non-French speaking parents (it has French on one side and English on the other, along with illustrations) the cd is not very entertaining for a baby or toddler. Not to mention, at many points, the voice on the cd does not even sound like a native French speaker (I speak French and have lived in France). There is really only one person speaking the entire time (it sounds like the same person does the adult and child voice), and the whole cd is the "adult" saying or asking something and the "child" responding. There is no music or anything that would make my baby want to listen to it.