It is no secret that we love foreign languages in our house. Well, Spanish in particular. Our youngest was born in Guatemala and came home speaking only Spanish at 21 months. Since then we have worked to keep him exposed to his native language and to keep his sibling familiar with the language as well. (They all need at least two years of a foreign language to graduate from high school anyway, right?) When one does not have a bilingual background it can be quite difficult to do so, but hey, I am determined to try.
One of the things that attracted me to Middlebury Interactive Languages was the audio and visual content. Since two of my kiddos learn best with those mediums, I knew this would be a good fit for them. The content is visual pleasing and yet stimulating and the sound is good quality. I especially appreciate the use of videos to show real life interactions. After traveling to Guatemala several years ago, we realized that you can know all the vocabulary in the world and still not be able to communicate effectively. By exposing ourselves to more natural settings and conversations, we hope to better be able to function in a Spanish speaking country.
- The lessons are broken down into sections that are less intimidating chunks of information. Each lesson follows a similar pattern but with enough variation to not produce monotony and boredom day after day.
- There is a little fun sprinkled in between some more challenging sections. Let's face it, matching is a lot less intimidating than writing. I think Middlebury has done a good job of finding that balance.
- There is a recording function! Phrases were said and then my son could record himself and play it back to see how he sounded compared to the native speaker. Love it!
- Once a section has been completed, the title gets checked off to indicate it has been done, making it easy to keep up with where you are when accessing from the table of contents.
- There is automatic grading which is then recorded in a gradebook you can access in the sidebar. Here you can see not only the grades of your student, but go back to view the items graded as well if you desire to see where exactly they are having problems.
- Typing in words and sentences. This just may be my son, but these sections discouraged him. It is hard enough to type and spell in your native language, but when trying to do so in one you are just learning, it can be frustrating. Through a necessary evil I guess.
- There is a calendar with assigned lessons listed that put a lot of pressure on my son to keep up. We eventually stopped using that calendar and accessed the next lesson in a different sidebar area. Again, there were a few times we felt the need to repeat a lesson and the calendar was making him crazy!
Welcome! Follow our family of 6 on our military moving, God loving, homeschool adventure! We are honored you have joined us and look forward to hearing from you.
I am loving this language program, but the price - eek! It's super expensive compared to other programs because you have to purchase per user. Most programs can be shared among all family members. However, this one looks like something my boys especially would love! Since you tried the middle school level, you might not have an opinion about this, but could a younger child use the elementary one? Almost every French program begins at 3rd grade, but we NEED to get the kids (at least the older 3) understanding some French immediately.
ReplyDeleteI think your younger kids would do fine with the elementary level, based on what I have seen. It is pretty exposrue heavy I believe. Click on the review tab above and look at a few reviews that say French Elem. I know several crew members used it and should be able to give you a better idea of what to expect! Let me know what you decide! Hope it works for you!
Delete