My Language Star

Benedicte and Clementine, Language Stars Center Teachers

A couple of weeks ago I took Zach to French storytime at the Playseum in Bethesda.  The book, La Chenille Tres Affamé (The Very Hungry Caterpillar), was  "read" by Clementine, a native French speaker and one of the teachers at the Language Stars center in Bethesda (see her in the blue shirt below). Language Stars is one of the multiple foreign language centers for kids which seem to have popped up everywhere in the DC Metro area (Communikids, Language Planet, Language Fundamentals, etc.). And essentially this less of a story-time than a sample class. 

The methodology is total language immersion (they call it FunImmersion), and consists of constant singing or extremely sing-songy talking and big gestures and silliness to achieve maximum interactivity and fun. It goes something like this (entirely in French):

Teacher: [singing] What is in my bag? What is in my bag? 

Kids: [engaged]

Teacher: Is it a ----nananana [guitar mimicking]--guitar?  [big eyes, dynamic voice]. 

Kids and teacher: Nooooooo!

Teacher: is it a ----myamyam [mimicking eating] -- pizza? 

Kids and teacher: Noooooo!

Teacher: It is an apple! Apple?

Kids: Apple!

Teacher: Apple?

Kids: Apple!

Teacher: Do I ---myamyam [rubbing tummy, smiling] -- like apples?  Or do I --- blegh--- [making a disgusted face] - not like apples?

Et cetera. 

Clementine solicited answers participation from the kids individually by getting up close and offering her fist as a pretend microphone again and again as the caterpillar consumed his menu of foods including salami, watermelon, cherry pie, until the end when he became a butterfly and the newly minted mini-Francophones repeated after Clementine: “papillon!”. 

In fact, this was not my first exposure to Language Stars. Zach had already attended a trial class the week before, which was similar to the story-time but longer (80 minutes), with various activities including snack-time, which went something like this:

Teacher: Who would like a spoon?  Who would like a spoon?

[Teacher points microphone to child] Would you like a spoon?

[Child hesitates]

[Teacher smiles with microphone still pointed] Spoon?

[Child] Spoon!

Repeat for plate, juice and goldfish crackers. With all the repetition by the time the kids actually got something to eat even I was hungry!

I am surprised at how well Zach responded to this method, both at the trial and the story-time. It is designed for total beginners, which with his simple but solid basic French, made him the star of the class: he excitedly shouted out "c'est un livre!" as Clementine was going through the “Is it a pizza?” routine while holding the book. She said to me afterwards that they thought the format was a bit simple for him (forgive my gratuitous boast by including that detail). But as far as I am concerned on both occasions he was engaging in French and clearly enjoying himself. So even if this is just reinforcing things he already knows, or giving him confidence in his French, I was impressed. 

While my attention was focused on Zach's reactions, I also was trying to gauge the response of the (presumably) non-French speakers, and both today and during our trial session they seemed to be totally engaged in this incredibly intensive style of the teachers.  I know for a fact it would drive me insane to hear or do this for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time (and I wonder about the long-term mental effects on the teachers who must be doing this for hours each day). But at least for my four year old, this was a total hit.

My hesitation at enrolling him in their program is the price: at $553 for 15 hours (nearly $37 per hour!), while I imagine it is comparable to other programs in the area, I find it very expensive. When I visited the center, the Director, Sara Rath (a French Canadian who was very welcoming and helpful) told me that discounts are possible (up to 50%) if parents help with various school needs (i.e. cutting out paper props) during the time their child is in class. This is certainly a generous deal, but it would still mean quite an investment. Based on what I have seen, however, the potential return is likely worth it.  In the meantime, I will be back at story time, which takes place every other Monday mornings at 11:00 a.m. (next date: Monday, July 9): for the $12 it costs for the two of us to go to the Playseum, it is worth the price for all the fun to be had there even without the French!

In conclusion [please read the following text the tune of "London Bridge"]. 

"The Language Stars experience is not for adults, not for adults, not for adults.   Language Stars is not for adults, not for adults."

[Now in the sing-song voice:]

Is it for chickens? 

Noooo! 

Is it for elephants?

Noooo!

Is it for kids? 

Yes!

New (to me) site for French interactive fun

I just found a great interactive site in French for the preschool age range called Wumpasworld.  It is Canadian and centers on the deep-voiced (though not French Canadian-accented) Walrus named Wumpa and his arctic friends. These include a polar bear, two bunnies, and sleds named Zik and Zak  (this was a big draw for Zach). 

It has lots of fun and goal-oriented games which are explained by the characters in clear and simple French. There is also ample audio feedback as you complete the tasks. For example, we played one game (click on the blue sled, then the birthday cake) in which --while the polar bear (Jigiuk?) is pulling his sleigh -- ingredients for a birthday cake he wants to bake for Wumpa fall off. He then asks you and Zak (the sled) to go back and search for them. If you miss one he says, "il me manque quelque chose" (something is missing).  

Ideally they would introduce vocabulary by saying the word for each item as you click or at the end. There are also few games that I consider less engaging, for example one instructs you to use different materials to create a scene, another to make a snowflake, etc. But there are several that give you a mission to accomplish (help the seal dive for jewels for the Inuit girl's necklace, or find the hidden dogs to pull the sleigh, for example) which are really fun.  And we spent a good 20 minutes on this site, fully engaged and commenting to each other ("regarde, voila encore quelque chose cache!"), so overall I am pretty impressed.

To be fair, I have only recently begun making a real effort to explore interactive games in French. This is out of necessity as Zach has grown bored with some of our old favorites like Toupie and Binou and Boowa/Kwala, Caillou. I find myself  relying too heavily on videos ((i.e. Transformers, Cars2, Spiderman...)which I only consider to be worthwhile for language exposure and for no other educational benefit.  


I was happy to find Wumpasworld because I have not come across many French games sites that are based on characters and their "worlds". I find these much more engaging than the simple memory or matching games which seem to abound but don't inspire either of us very much.  And until I can resign myself to spending $800 for an iPad - which I've learned from Bringing up Baby Bilingual's posts has some excellent options and seems an inevitable, if not affordable, purchase -- I'll have to rely on the old fashioned computer point-and-click method for interactive French learning.  

I found Wumpasworld on millemerveilles, which I stumbled across by googling something I can't remember anymore ("francais jeux maths"?).  It was on a list of other links, some of which also at first glance seem very good but I need to try them. If anyone has had experiences with any of these sites  (or others!), please share!

My best allies in bilingual education: les amies!

Why is it that I don’t schedule play-dates more often when every time I have one, I realize how fulfilling it is for both me and Zach? I was reminded of this again the other day when we went to the home of my French friend, Chantal and her two adorable little kids, two year old Sophie and five-year old Jean. We all hadn’t seen each other in several months, and I don’t know if it was technically a play-date, because it was as much a date for the moms as the kids. Group activities included bubbles and digging for dinosaurs, but for the most part, we segregated by generations. 

And though there were a few skirmishes over who got to hold Spiderman or ride the buggy, no one ended up bruised or bleeding and most importantly, Zach and his little buddy Jean were engaged with each other or with Jean’s toys, and seemed content to play without excessive adult intervention. Had I been alone, I would have struggled to fill the same amount of time without the help of videos, or submitting to endless superhero battles where I am relegated to being Bananaman (throws bananas at the bad guys). Not that we don’t have our fun (in fact, I secretly thrive on imaginative play and “becoming” different characters assigned to me by my little director), but group play somehow tends to be - at least in my experience - more dynamic and easier to sustain for long periods than when it’s just the two of us.

Also, how proud was I of my little francophone!  For almost three hours he communicated in French - with me, with the kids, with Chantal. Not a single time did I hear “no more French Mommy!”  It makes me wonder why I struggle to create a French environment when we’re alone since as soon as someone else is speaking it, he seems to take it in stride. Actually, now that I think about it this applies to most activities I suggest [does this mean he is going to be a general conformist or just my own personal rebel?] which are deftly thwarted with a “No mommy, i have a better idea” and for the French, “oh no, but so-and-so doesn’t speak French so we can’t speak French!”  

I was so impressed when Chantal encouraged him to try something on his plate he said, “j’ai déja essayé mais je n’aime pas.”  While I would have preferred a “no thank you, I’ve had enough,” I am not complaining. In fact, I probably would have been fine with “c’est dégoutant” (I am sort of machiavellian when it comes to his French manners -- my approach has pretty much become “as long as you’re speaking French, you can say anything you like” and cross my fingers I can undo the really offensive stuff at some point. ) 

And so, I highly recommend playdates, playdates, and more playdates. When you are a mother, girlfriends with kids are like oxygen. It is not always easy to find friends you really click with in your own language, and for me when it happens in French, it is like gold: socialization for moms and kids, and language learning all at the same time. I feel like I hit the jackpot with Chantal.  Despite her perfect English, she seems content to chatter with me in French, and she is funny, wonderful with the kids and the time just flies when we’re all together.  Both Zach and I left with improved language abilities and spirits, and to top it off we ate éclairs for dessert! La classe!  Thank you to Chantal and all my girlfriends and fellow moms of all nationalities for keeping me sane!

A plus!

“Oh the Cow!” (Funny French TV)

So maybe it’s just my way of rationalizing the amount of time I’ve been spending online at night, but I have found the most hilarious French sitcom on youtube (it's not wasting time if I'm learning French, right?). Actually “sitcom” is probably the wrong term....it’s not the kind where you hear the audience laughing in the background. In my case you just hear yourself cracking up on the couch (to the consternation of my husband who is simultaneously trying to get real work done next to me...).

It is called “Platane” and stars Eric Judor, who apparently is already a well known comedian who had a successful run with a show called “Eric et Ramzy” and is now venturing out on his own. And essentially, that is also the storyline of this show. The first episode consists of Eric, playing himself, pitching an idea for a new comedy at a press conference-followed-by-party after which, completely drunk, he crashes into a tree (“se payer un platane” means “to crash into a tree” per wordreference.com) on the way home. During his several weeks of convalescence he experiences an awakening and decides his work needs to follow a more meaningful path, so he determines to shake off his comedic persona and direct a “serious” film. I haven’t followed its plot too well (it involves a singer learning she is a descendant of Edith Piaf ) as it is only the backdrop to the main story of the show which is his journey to getting it produced.

And that is the funny backbone as Eric employs endless cheating tactics that keep coming back to bite him. For instance, in Episode 4 where he pretends to be an environmentalist in order to lure nature loving star Monica Bellucci into the lead role, but when a real activist stops at his car window as he waits at a red light, Eric is annoyed when the guy puts a sticker of support on his cashmere sweater. The guy tells him to relax, it will come out in the wash, and Eric rips a piece of his guy’s jacket off and replies “relax, it will come out in the wash”. Retribution is inevitable when Monica invites Eric to be the keynote speaker at an environmental conference that evening, attended by the assaulted activist.

I’m not sure if I am finding it so funny because my French is better, or my cultural awareness has improved, or if the format of French comedy has become more American in style (it kind of reminds me of Seinfeld in the way the pieces all fit together). I just have this strong memory of not understanding French humor when I lived there and I am extremely proud of my growing ability get the joke!

I just realized my posts are starting to contain more adult-focused content. Let me think about how this is helping me be a better French teacher to Zach. Definitely not from my increased comfort with words like “putain” and “t’es chiante” which abound in the series (why is it when you swear in a foreign language you don’t feel like it’s all that offensive and is therefore overly tempting to do?). But we as a family have officially embraced Eric’s favorite expression: “Oh, la Vache!”- which I understand to be sort of the equivalent of a both positive and negative “oh my God” (by the way, I don’t mean any religious offense in my English translation of what would literally by “oh the cow!”)

I highly recommend "Platane" for French language comic relief. If you want to start at the beginning of the series, go here and then you should be able to link to later episodes (until it is removed from youtube for copyright infringement; by the way, if there is a legitimate way for me to access this content, can someone let me know?)

Oh la vache! It’s so late - bonne nuit!

Grown up reading in French

Grown-up stories in French

So after 20 years of what I’ll call lack of motivation, I am finally reading (books) in French. I had no idea what I was missing. It makes me think that while the heavy duty literature (Rousseau, Voltaire.. ) reading assignments from my high school French class were probably extremely important as a means of exposing me to literary canons, as a way to hook teenagers onto the pleasures of reading in a foreign language it is a bit counter productive. I never had trouble putting down a chapter of Le Rouge et Le Noir (Stendhal). But Le Voisin by Tatiana de Roznay? Pas possible!

In the same way that I try to encourage Zach’s reading--in any language--by following his natural interests (robots, pirates, bulldozers) and picking stories appropriate to his level of comprehension--I have recently begun doing the same for myself. It has been fantastic for my French. I have breezed through about seven novels borrowed over the past several months from my local library (I am extremely lucky to live in Bethesda!) based on a google search of something like “best selling French authors”. A few I have found particularly addictive:

Guillaume Musso: he’s written “Que serai-je sans toi”, “Parce que je t’aime” and at least one other I can’t remember the name of right now. I literally could not put these down. After reading three of his novels, each of which deal with themes of life after death and destiny, he seems a little obsessed. But the love stories are riveting and the plots gut-wrenchingly suspenseful. Another attractive aspect of his writing is that in every instance so far there is a Franco-American storyline or the story is set in an American city, usually San Francisco. Having the French language story in a familiar setting makes it somehow less “foreign”. It also brings a French writer’s perspective on American culture which I always find interesting.

I also absolutely loved Anna Gavalda’s “Je voudrais que quelqu’un m’attende,” which is a collection of short stories from such diversity of voices and perspectives (a gay veterinarian dealing with homophobia in a country village (fyi redneck = plouc); a young law student starved for romance; a late teenage soldier living in his brother’s shadow; a middle aged man reconnecting with an old flame) that it felt like the literary equivalent of a cross country tour, like I had done a dozen mini foreign exchange home-stays.

“Le voisin” by Tatiana de Roznay was disturbing but also enthralling. Essentially a lonely and neglected housewife and part-time writer is taunted by her upstairs neighbor, wreaking havoc on her psyche but at the same time she is forced to face up to her unsatisfying existence and ridiculously selfish husband. Excellent reading, if a little depressing.

In the past, before my French reading “renaissance” I had such a hard time reading in French. I never sought out popular authors, and with the classics I was doomed since I was lucky if I understood a third of the words and was too lazy (or normal?) to sit with a dictionary as I read. Now, thanks to these easy to read authors, I would say my comprehension varies from 65-85% depending on the book which allows me to actually enjoy the story. Whether because they employ a simpler style or just use less vocabulary, I am able to read through freely.

And from reading so many different books, I am getting a much better sense of which are commonly used words so if I keep stumbling upon ones I don’t know eventually I can’t stand not knowing what they mean (example: glousser=chuckle, ricaner=giggle). At that point the task of learning the words -- sitting on the couch with laptop on lap and book in hand and as I come to them while reading, and quickly looking up the unrecognized words on wordreference.com -- feels worth the effort.

So while my volumes penned by the big “intellos” gather dust on my bookshelf, I’m off to cozy up to “Embrasse-moi” by Katherine Pancol. Bonne soiree!

Bonjour Inglos (the Fish!)

Inglos the Fish

So of course, almost immediately after reflecting on all the progress we've made, I've been struggling again this week to get Zach to speak to me in French. I think it is part of a more general lack of vitality I’ve been feeling, sort of a sense of being on autopilot -- which I've learned tends to happen to me every few months. And while adult ruts are bad enough, I am painfully aware of what a waste of developmental time it is for a four-year old when all these windows for learning-- like between 0-3 years when the brain grows something like 1000% (I have no idea what the real number is)-- are concentrated during this early childhood period. I tend to stress out over this and when I realize that our daily routines--while comforting--are not necessarily stimulating his brain the way I think I am responsible for doing, I go into a state of panic-motivation-frenzy in my attempt to push us through to a more mentally active (which usually means happier for both of us) place. This usually ends up bringing in some fresh new activity in our lives (i.e. more trips to new places, soccer classes, painting on the windows...). That makes me feel like a halfway decent mother for another few weeks.

This is a long way to explain the existence of our new housemate, Inglos the Fish. The idea came about as we were sitting and having lunch at Subway today.

[That in itself was also a bit of a shakeup from the home-and-lunch or park-and-picnic routine. I've found somehow that eating out--and also not worrying about where the food will go once we're finished, using someone else's utensils, et cetera, allows me to focus on talking to Zach in a way that I don't do at home, where also I can never time the food so that everyone begins eating at the same time, and by the time I sit down to eat with him he's off to some other corner of the house -- usually computer or TV (another topic and source of recurring anxiety).

Anyway, we were brainstorming about ideas for his Baba’s birthday present. I found his first suggestion -- a computer that has Internet when there is no Internet -- brilliant, and a testament to his incredible creativity and sensitivity. This is indeed something that caused chaos in the house this past weekend when we lost Verizon DSL service and usually rational, upbeat Baba became exasperated while on the phone with customer service.

And the next suggestion -- a magic fish that turns into an airplane -- was pure genius. Since the pet store happened to be next door, I thought, "why not?" and off we went on our mission. Having settled on a tiny fish (the plain swimming kind) and getting him home and into his new micro-aquarium (maybe 1 foot square, poor thing), I decided to try capitalizing on the fun by suggesting that possibly the fish was French, and why don't we name him François? Zach nipped my efforts in the bud, telling me that no, his name is Inglos. Guess which language he speaks.

So after introducing Inglos to his new surroundings, I resorted to my old but reliable method of putting the timer on and announcing that in ten minutes it would be French time. The good news is he cooperated without grumbling and we had fun reading about "les outils" (perceuse - drill; vis et clous - screws and nails; escabeau - ladder; marteau - hammer; scie - saw) and watched some Trotro videos and Alouette as performed by Alain le Lait with musical animations.

I suppose I am learning that there is no real separation for me between being a good mother in English or in French. Either way, when I put in the effort to be fun, present, and experience life to the fullest along with him -- it pays off in a happier child (and me). And if I need the help of a fish to do that, it doesn't really matter what language we speak to him in. Maybe we'll upgrade to a bird someday and I’ll try to name him Alain l’Alouette.

Bonjour Zach!

I can't believe it's been two years since my last post (which was like, the second one ever, anyway.) But here I am - for no specific reason other than I am not caught in the Hulu trap. Those commercials with Alec Baldwin where he was introducing it like aliens invading our minds was a little too accurate -- I am ashamed to say how many hours I have spent watching pretty much everything suggested to me!

And I am also wanting to recognize how far we -- my now 4-year old and I -- have come in our French!

"We" comes as a surprise to me...I don't think I realized how much I would improve along with him. It was never my goal to get better at French - in fact, I had pretty much given up on that ages ago when I couldn't remember vocabulary words from one day to the next, despite reading it quite regularly.

I think what I didn't realize was how little exposure I had actually been getting to the language. Exposure which I am now getting regularly because of my efforts to make Zach a French speaker, I have had to keep up with him! Which on a daily basis is pretty much some combination of: watching Flash Mcqueen (Disney's French "Lightning") then acting out scenes from the movie, going on playmates with other French-speaking moms and kids, acting out "La Chèvre de Monsieur Seguin" with French-speaking Dad, and reading endless silly - and occasionally disgusting -- stories from the French children's section at the local library. Outside the bathroom, he is only allowed to say "pipi" and "caca" - not the English versions! When possible, with dictionary or word reference.com close at hand to look up words I inevitably don't know, i.e. derapages (skidding, as in off the race track).

And for all the effort after 4 years (wow) of mostly battling -- as nicely as possible, but still -- to get him to say anything in French, let alone a full sentence....he is now speaking in 10+ word sentences on a regular basis. At some magical point we shifted from "getting French done" to actually communicating and having fun in the language. It never happens for more than an hour or two per day - which is actually less than optimum according to the research I read (two hours minimum to ensure fluency?) and I still often hear "I want to speak zero French Mommy!" but you know what, I am thankful for what we can do and that, for the most part, once we start going, he seems to enjoy it. It probably also has to do with the fact that I think I am more fun in French. I think I put in that extra effort to play on a higher level than when I am playing with him in English. And I actually feel more fun in French. Since the beginning, switching languages gives me a breath of fresh air after however many hours of reading, playing, talking, and watching videos becomes monotonous in one language. Then...voilà!  Maman becomes très drôle again!

Latest bag of tricks/tools:

DVD: La Famille Berenstein (yes, the Berenstein Bears in French!) Found it at a Toys R Us bin of $4.99 videos which I occasionally rifle -through for anything with a French track (too hard to find!). This is actually a little advanced for him -- sophisticated sentences that I don't always understand - but very good and is pushing my French to a higher level - how sad that I have to aspire to vocabulary a native six year old has already mastered. But it is shaking things up a bit for both of us so Bravo Berensteins!

Book: La Souris et le Voleur by Jihad Darwice -- this has been a magic wand in switching to French reading. Here is why: lots of references to "caca" -- a 4 year old's favorite topic and giggle-inducer. The really quick plot summary: the mouse is robbed of half of his meat in the night- he goes to the town judge for advice for how to fend off the thief when he next attacks. The judge proposes replacing the meat (which is a brown lump) with an alternative (you guessed it), wait for the thief to swipe his hand in it and also plans various other tricks in store for the unlucky "voleur". This is hands down the most fun French children's book we've read. Thank you Bethesda library!