I’ve been working with Liberty to do a review on Middlebury Interactive Languages on their French Courses. Liberty is eleven years old, and while the Elementary French 1 that I requested is written for elementary grades 3-5, I was nervous to jump in at a higher grade level when she’s not had very much French thus far. I’m glad I made that decision, because it was perfect and fun for her to work with and, while she spent the first few lessons frustrated, she quickly found her groove and happily practiced 3-4 days a week. (So happily that when she found me working on this review, she asked if she may continue the course for the full semester we were given – because she loves it! Why yes, yes you can!)
This course boasts learning in a low stress environment, and it was exactly that. Liberty quickly picked up counting and common phrases and had a great time doing it. She’s more lessons in than she ought to be and had to be told to put it away for the day more than once. She’s learned much, loved doing it, and has had a great time trying to impress her fluently french-speaking father with her new skills. (Her pronunciation needs a bit of work according to Daddy… but she’s remembering!)
Liberty would watch the video and practice the words taught. Her favorite part was learning numbers and family names. There were many songs to listen to and a video in French, then went to the practice and learned what she’d just heard. Despite being just below grade level, she was challenged and learned much while having fun. Her only complaint was having a difficult time figuring out where she was in the lessons each day if she didn’t remember what she’d done last. They are marked, but she had to do a bit of clicking to get to the next lesson. I looked at it and it seemed simple enough to me, but the program doesn’t send you on to the next lesson. I think this is helpful in being able to go back and review, but frustrating for her when she was trying to jump in each day. We do not have a microphone, so portions of the lesson that wanted to have her record herself saying the words she learned had to be skipped. I listened to her and had her repeat things at times, but she couldn’t do that part of the lesson quite as instructed. It was a minor hiccup.
Liberty said this was one of her very favorite reviews. She’s enjoyed learning something new, been completely not stressed with it, and it’s been almost completely hands-off for me – so it’s high on my list as well! It’s been a great addition to our school week for her.
This course, for one semester, is available for $119 without a teacher or for an additional $175 with a teacher. Grades 3-5 level one has 45 lessons and is intended to be done 2-3 days per week.
To read more reviews on this French course as well as other French, Spanish, German, and Chinese courses that were provided for Crew review, head over to the Review Crew Blog.
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