Berkeley Parents Network: French Classes

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French Classes

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Summer French Classes for Teen
French Camp
French Lessons for Young Children

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Summer French Classes for Teen

May 2004

Does anyone know of a good beginning french class being offered this summer for a 15 year old? Or does anyone know of a good french tutor? Thanks for you help. Helen

International High School (IHS) in SF is the English speaking program of the French American International School (FAIS).

They offer French classes in the summer, among other classes.

I am paticularly impressed by the French instruction at the school. In her third year there, my daughter is approaching fluency in the language, and her accent is now superb. I believe the summer program would be equally good as that offered during the regular school year.

Here follows an entry from the weekly e-newsletter from the principal's French-speaking secretary, briefly describing the summer program, with links to further info and registration.

July 19 (until August 13), 2004: IHS Summer Enrichment Program begins 18 courses available $600.00/class program hours 9-12 and 1-4pm Register Online at www.ihs-fais.org starting mid-February. Questions? keiths AT fais-ihs.org Tel: 415-558-2038 Fax: 415-558-2010

Summer Class description at http://www.fais-ihs.org/ven/fais/afterschool/summer_camp/highschool/classes.pdf

You can register on the following link http://www.frenchcampsf.squarespace.com/ Mimi

French Camp

March 2003

I am looking for a camp or summer program which would be appropriate for 4-6th graders to learn French. I am unable to find the summer camps run in the past by Sonoma State Foreign Language Depts on the internet. Any other prgrams in the east bay people have been happy with? I prefer an all day program for commute sanity. greg

Hi, There is a great summer program at La Bonne Cuisine in Berkeley. Arts & Crafts in the morning and cooking classes in the afternoon (or the opposite depending of the week) from June 16 until August 22. French native speakers with a deep passion for kids and healthy habits. The cost for 15 hours for the arts and crafts is $169 and for the cooking classes is $279. From ages 7 to 12. 12 kids per sessions max. Let me know if you want to register and if you need more info. But it's for sure a lot of fun and the kids love it ! Laura

French Lessons for Young Children

October 2002

We are looking for a French tutor who has experience and enjoys teaching young children. Play-oriented language instruction to prepare for down the road. Ideally this would be in a small group setting (3-5 kids) around 4-5 years old. Any recommendations, suggestions, or ideas? Thanks. pamz

My 4-year-old daughter Mary attends a playgroup called ''French for Little Ones'' taught in a woman's house in the Oakland Hills. She has been going for a year now and really, really enjoys it. It is play-based learning. There are other more intensive programs around, I understand, in LaFayette and in Piedmont, but Juliana keeps her program fun and low key. In fact, she's got a group of kids from the Piedmont schools who attend the early morning french lessons that the Piedmont schools offer but go to Juliana's classes for a more light-hearted foreign language experience. Juliana tries to group kids together who are similar in age and experience. If you're not happy with your group, just talk with her and she'll work with you to find the right mix of kids. She gives the kids a snack too. She lets parents try the class without a commitment (it's $10/class) to stay for the semester. She doesn't hold classes in the summer. You can reach Juliana at 601-0739.

Feb. 2002

Can anyone recommend a summer French language program for a 5 to 6 year-old English-speaking child here in the East Bay? Thanks. John

The only one French language camp I know of is this one: http://www.LaBonneCuisine.com/camp. Haven't tried it myself, but I think it's ok. The staff are native French speakers ( students ususally). You can also try asking the question on the Frenchparents.org web site. Caroline

2001

Has anyone had experience with (or know of) a French language class for 4 year olds in the East Bay? Our daughter is making up her own French words for things, so we figure she may like to learn the real French words. I (her mother) speak very limited French and her father speaks almost none ("Ou est lechocolatier?"). We visited our French cousins last year and they are very interested in many future exchanges between our 4 year old and theirs. We don't wish to be too pushy; yet, if she is interested, we would love for her to get a good basis in the language now and make future visits even more meaningful. We've seen the mixed reviews of the Muzzy video tapes and hope for a more personal touch. John

I don't know where specifically you are located in the East Bay, but there is a program for children called "French for Fun" in Lafayette that may be worth your checking out. Their number is 925 283 9822 www.frenchforfun.com

[editor] updated April 2004 Claire

There is a French school in Lafayette called "French for fun", which is openned to kids of all ages and offer immersion classes a few times a week. I do not send my kids there because French is their mother's tongue, but I know of many American families who do and are very happy with it. I personally know the woman who created and directs the school, Catherine Jolivet, she is very passionate, loves to teach and organize every other year a trip to Provence with her students and their families (my neighbors are going this summer). If you want your child to become bilingual and think he (she) would enjoy a more academically oriented system, there is the option of the French/American school of Berkley, some families belonging to this list have their kids there and would certainly share their experience with you if you are interested. Sophie

I did run into a library book you might want to look for: The House That Jack Built, by Antonio Frasconi call letters on spine were listed as "JP Mother Goose" Copyright 1958, library of congress card catalog #58-8625 This great book has the text in English and French on each page, and a "review" section at the end that asks things like "Who built the house?" Since it is so old, you might have a hard time finding it. Perhaps you could request it on interlibrary loan, however. We got it out of the San Leandro Main Library (we will have it till 4/11). I would still recommend Muzzy--Allegra still watches Muzzy quite a bit, and even requests it occasionally. We work on colors and numbers in Spanish quite often, which is something my limited Spanish can handle. Muzzy might not be sufficient by itself to teach the language, but would probably be good support, especially since neither of you is very fluent. (BTW: Allegra does the same thing--she tries to make up Spanish words for things. It's very cute!) Have fun! Dawn

Does anyone know of a French language program suitable for a 5 y/o? We would love for our daughter to learn French but did not want the entire pkg. of Ecole Bilingue. I would love to find something that was a low-pressure, fun way for her to be exposed to and immersed in French language for a few hours a week in a way that would be appropriate for her ie: songs, counting games, alphabet, early reading- maybe even a summer camp program?? Does such a thing exist?? Thank you.

Dawn
Consider the BBC Language Series. This is a series of animated videos, with associated audio tapes, books, and CD-ROMs, especially geared to children from 1 to 10 years old. They come in at least 6 languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian, and a more limited selection of materials in Japanese and Irish Gaelic). The kids watch the videos instead of other TV, and absorb the language in a more "natural" manner than we adults did in high school. My 3-year old daughter really loves her Spanish set. For the first week after she got it on her birthday, she refused to watch anything else. And she now occasionally says a word or two in Spanish (after only 2 months!). It helps that both her sister and I know some Spanish (in fact, her sister used this same set in her Spanish Immersion class in 4th and 5th grade!). I also read some children's books to her in Spanish (Pegasus on Shattuck has a pretty good selection of non-English Children's books). I also discovered to my happy surprise that the Berenstain Bears Living Books CD-ROM ("The Berenstain Bears Get In a Fight" and "The Berenstain Bears in the Dark") that I bought her recently has one of the two stories in both English and Spanish! (This particular one won't help you with the French, but if you keep your eyes open, you might find something similar--say a CD-ROM of Madeline in French?). The website is http://www.early-advantage.com/. Check it out!

Jennifer
French for Fun in Lafayette: Total Immersion Programs for Young Children offers classes for children ages three to five. Classes are offered on MWF and TTh. The classes are taught by Madame Jolivet-Johnson, a French native and credentialled teacher. The classes are taught it a cute little cottage. She offers a fun, friendly preschool-like program. The parents I have spoken to who have kids in the program rave about it. Unfortunately the program is very expensive. I would have liked to have enrolled my daughter, whose father is French, but the program is out of my price range. The teacher also offers classes for grade school kids.
[editor] updated info as of April 2004: Our new telephone number is 925 283 9822 www.frenchforfun.com

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