Customer Reviews

Teach Me French (Paperback and Audio CD): A Musical Journey Through the Day

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

 

 

The adult singers on this CD are not native speakers of French, and have very heavy American accents. As noted in other reviews, the songs aren't translated literally - in the case of "twinkle twinkle little star," the English translation bears very little resemblance to what the French says. The children singers are very difficult to hear; I think they're native speakers, but the non-native adults sing loudly over them so your child doesn't get any benefit from them.

If you wan to learn bad French, this is the CD for you.

We borrowed this CD from the library and it was just ok. The songs were familiar, but it moved so fast that my kids just made up french sounding words and didn't learn a thing. It would be great for kids who have learned some french already, but I wouldn't recomend it as a learning tool.

The singers do not have native French accents and the songs are annoying. How does a round version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in english teach anyone French?

This cd covers some of the basics like the alphabet, numbers to 10, days of the week and some basic phrases in addition to songs. It is useful as a learning tool, especially if you find it cheap. We use it in the car.

This book and CD set was a gift from a friend. I'm fluent in French and think the CD is pretty good, and our French nannies have thought so too. This is the only one of the series we have tried.

I completely acknowledge that the singing is not especially musical, and some of the songs have English sections that are far too long. That said, let's see it in its context. It is directed at little children, not at adults - although the suggested age goes up to 12, I think it's better for preschoolers and a little older. It has the kinds of songs they like and can easily remember. The dialogue is spoken slowly and clearly. It has a colouring/work book, with transcripts of the CD and with translations of key words at the back. I think this would be helpful for parents whose French isn't so good but who'd like to be involved.

We use it in the car and our bright 3 year old is increasing his vocabulary about months, seasons, holidays, fruits/vegetables etc, and his French song repertoire (e.g. versions of Old MacDonald, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Silent Night etc in addition to some traditional French songs) as a result. Most importantly, he enjoys listening to it.

While we have lots of French children's books, and lots of lovely French music CDs (much more beautifully executed), I haven't yet seen anything better than this in respect of putting text and songs together.

I checked this out from my local library, along with Teach Me French and Teach Me Even More French. I liked this one the best of the three, yet I feel it still only merits two stars. I thought the organizational layout of the booklet was good-- it was based on the calendar year and events typical of each month. However, the singing is horrendous! I cannot stand to listen to it, which effectively makes this CD worthless as a learning tool, for if I can't stand to listen to it, I don't expect my children to listen to it. The singer has such a high pitched, nails on the chalkboard voice that she reminds me of contestants on American Idol who only audition so that they can get on TV. There are MUCH better French music CDs available. If you still think you're interested in this one, I urge you to check it out from a library first to see if you really, really want to buy it.