Therese has been wanting to learn French for awhile now, so we jumped on the chance to review Middle School French I from Middlebury Interactive Languages. Her dream of going to Paris with her best friends may just come true no that she is trying to learn the language! For this review, we received a full one year access to Middle School French 1.
So what is Middlebury Interactive Languages?
Well, it's an online foreign language program for students of all ages. They offer language courses for Elementary school(K-5th), Middle school(6th-8th), and High school (9th-12th). They even offer an opportunity for students to take an AP Language course for 11th-12th grade.
Parents and students will find language courses in....
French
Spanish
German
and
Chinese
They have a variety of languages to appeal to all students. I'm sure they offer a language your child will want to study and learn! Middlebury Interactive Languages is a leader in offering a foreign language to student. They strive for academic excellence and align their courses to the world language organizations (ACTFL & iNACOL). They are currently working with John Hopkins University to establish a third party assessment of their foreign language courses.
So How Do the Courses Work?
The courses can be broken up into semesters.
One semester is 6 months, two semesters is 12 months.
For the Elementary courses, the semesters are divided up for the different grades. For K-2nd, a semester contains lessons for 35 days, while for Grades 3rd-5th a semester contains lessons for 45 days. Middle school and High school courses contains lessons for 18 weeks (90 days) per semester. Courses do expire 1 year from the date of purchase. This allows students to progress at a faster or slower pace depending on their language skills.
One nice feature of the Middlebury Interactive Language program is the option to have the courses taken with teacher support!
Don't know the language your child wants to learn?
Just sign up for the teacher assistant. The teacher assistant provides students with support, guidance, and important feedback. They offer assistance with the writing and speaking portions for the program.
Each lesson is broken up into segments....Teacher Tip, Warm-Up, Matching, Speaking Lab, Reading, and Listening are just a few of the segments provided during the lesson. Each lesson offers students a chance to practice what they have been taught during that particular lesson. Students can even print out a copy of the vocabulary words or phrases they have been given during that lesson. I had Therese print the vocab pages out so she could practice on her own. We created a notebook to hold her printed pages. This is especially helpful if your Internet is limited or if you suddenly have problems with connections. They can still practice the lesson without being online.
How We Used the Program?
We got a slow start beginning this program since we were out of town on vacation when we were given the access to this program. During the school year, we homeschool 4 days a week for the most part. I assigned Therese to work on French Tuesdays and Thursdays. I did give her the option of working on a lesson on Friday if we were home. Therese has had some experience with French.
When the kids were little, we learned some of the basics... colors, numbers, animals, etc. We used worksheets and a bingo game I had found online. I used my old French textbooks to guide them. She was about 5 or 6 at the time so not much stuck with her. I still speak a few French words to them off and on. I gave up teaching them a foreign language together when they decided that they wanted to learn different languages. We reviewed Middle School Spanish 1 from Middlebury Language last. At that time, I don't think Therese was ready for a Middle school course (or she just wanted that interested in learning Spanish).
This year, Therese is ready and eager to learn French. She has been taking it a lot slower than recommended but that is fine. I love that she is trying to master the language and really learn it. I'd rather her move slowly than give up. Her face lit up when I told her we were given the opportunity to review this foreign language course. She has been bugging me to learn French for awhile. When your favorite saint is from France
and when you dream of traveling to France with your best friend, it becomes important to you to learn the language of the country you want to visit!
What We Thought About the Program?
This is our second time reviewing a foreign language program from Middlebury Interactive Languages. We reviewed Spanish last year, so we were familiar with the layout of the program, I love how flexible the program is. I love how the program is interactive. As my kids have gotten older, I enjoy having them use a program that they have to work through on their own. I like being able to give them a little bit of freedom with their lessons. The option of not having to be right there next to them while they complete their schoolwork is nice. It gives them some confidence and helps them learn how to manage their time and work independently. Sometimes they do well, other times they may mess up. Either way it's a great learning experience for them. We are little behind right now, but I know we can easily add a few extra lessons each week as Therese builds up her language skills while working through this amazing program.
Find our more about the different languages offered from other members of the homeschool review crew.
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