Learning French for Kids!

Note: This is page 2 of our article on “Learning French for Kids”.  For page 1, please go here: Learn French for Kids!

Tools to Help Kids Learn French continued…

Flash cards:  Kids respond well to flash cards with colorful pictures.  You can buy (or make) flash cards with the French word on one side, along with a picture, and the English word on the other side.  Flash cards are very portable, which makes them very handy.  You can engage your child in French flash cards nearly anywhere you go – at the park, in a waiting room, etc.

Activity books:  French activity books are filled with fun exercises that will actively engage your child’s brain.  Through a combination of visuals and text, French activity books stimulate both sides of the child’s brain, enabling a well-rounded learning experience.  Children will get the opportunity to see, read, and write in French.

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French cartoons and kids shows: If you have a French television station, let your kids watch it.  You’d be surprised how quickly they can learn French from watching French cartoons and TV shows.  They will be engaged by the visuals and get carried along with the plot of the show, both of which will help them to comprehend the French words that are being spoken.  Seeing French in action will help your children to better assimilate the French language.

Children’s books: Children’s books combine simple French with appealing pictures to create a French-learning experience that will appeal to the child’s imagination and intellect.  There are some very popular French children’s books that you can buy to help your child learn French.  Le Petit Nicolas is one of the most popular series of French children’s books.  And did you know that Babar the Elephant is actually French?  You can buy these and many other French children’s books online, and you may even find some at your local library.

Comic books:  Les bande-dessinées (comic books) are an important part of French pop culture.  Brightly colored pictures combined with short snippets of relatively simple French form an ideal way for a young mind to absorb French.  Children will enjoy looking at and reading French comic strips and comic books as much as they enjoy English ones.  When they don’t understand the text, they can simply look at the pictures and infer the meaning.

French class:  See if you can find a local French learning class for your child.  You can ask at your local chapter of Alliance Française, and if they don’t offer one, ask if they know where such classes might be offered.  You could also consider hiring a private French tutor.  If you are really gung-ho about your youngster learning French, you even can enroll your child in a French-speaking school, with classes conducted entirely in French.  All of these situations will allow your child to experience French in action on a very real, everyday level, which will make French seem useful and practical.

The best way to help your children learn French is to implement all of the ideas outlined above.  If you have a tight budget, don’t fret, because there are a lot of free resources that you can print online, such as free French activity sheets, free French coloring pages, free French flash cards, etc.  You can watch French cartoons on YouTube and listen to French songs on YouTube.

Above all, speak to your children in French as much as possible and encourage them to speak French back to you.  Watching French videos and listening to French songs is undoubtedly useful, but actually speaking French brings language-learning to a whole new level.