hi,
any suggestion DVD for us? thanks
Maybe
Little Pim - French, Japanese?
and
Wink To Learn - Japanese ?
We like both producers, both materials are fun and enjoyable, though we have other languages (Spanish, Chinese).
Andrea
It’s not confusing. The only one having a problem might (I repeat, might) be … you! lol
Just like I did yesterday: my son spoke in two languages in the same sentence (Romanian and Spanish, or Romanian and English) and I realized that “he put me in a difficult situation”, so to speak. I’m a perfectionist mom, so I asked myself: “How do I tell the child the same sentence in Spanish so he could get the Spanish grammar intuitively just like he’s doing with his native language?” lol By learning it myself, of course, I thought.
But a question like this arises because I myself have long wanted to learn these foreign languages that my son is learning. So I take the chance by finding solutions to an “imaginary problem”. 
Have fun, the child will learn just fine anyway you can help him! You’re giving him useful tools, time will tell you: “You were right! Good job mom!”
Andrea
How familiar are you in Japanese? I am part Japanese and living in Japan. I have some recommendations but I want to know more about your familiarity with the language first. 
You can buy Barbapapa on amazon.fr but you will need a dvd player that can play all region dvds, since this is obviously a europe-region dvd
Hi graceho,
I have a 2 year 9 month old daughter and we speak Mandarin, English, and Filipino at home. We have also been teaching her French, Spanish, and more recently, Japanese. My hubby and I don’t speak French, Spanish, or Japanese at all so we are mainly using DVDs, music CDs, and audiobooks to teach her.
For French, these are the materials we have used/are using and like:
Little Pim
Babybit
Professor Toto: http://www.professortoto.com/
Muzzy: http://www.early-advantage.com/
Bali cartoons: http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/joue%20avec%20bali
Early French Readers books with CDs: http://www.earlylanguagelearner.com/products/french/plaisir-de-lire-serie-verte.html
http://www.earlylanguagelearner.com/products/french/plaisir-de-lire-les-plus-belles-fables.html
Baby’s First Words in French: http://www.amazon.com/Babys-First-Words-in-French/dp/B003MY7RCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303911227&sr=8-1
Un, Deux, Trois First French Rhymes: http://www.amazon.com/Deux-Trois-First-French-Rhymes/dp/1845076230/ref=pd_sim_m_1
Songs in French for Children: http://www.amazon.com/Songs-French-Children-Various-Artists/dp/B00005CEP5/ref=pd_sim_b_1
French learning games and animated storybooks on the iPad
My personal preference for teaching non-native languages is to use the immersion method, and so far, it’s been working out great for us!
Hi DannyandAmy,
I have only been using Wink to Learn to teach my daughter Japanese and I let her watch Inai Inai Baa and Anpanman on her Japanese days. So I would love to hear your recommendations for Japanese learning materials too! I can speak and read Mandarin and am relatively familiar with Japanese culture but I can’t speak or understand the language.
Thanks in advance!
I’ve pre-ordered Wink to Learn: Read and Speak French so I’ll be able to provide a review soon!
Hypatia, where did you find the French wink to learn? I visited their web site, but I didn´t see it. TX
Hi Bebita
It hasn’t been released yet. If you send them an email and provide them with you paypal email address, they’ll be able to send you an invoice and you’ll receive the dvds as soon as they are released!
We really liked French is fun with Serge the Cheeky Monkey. It is divided into 10 episodes and has a sheet in English to tell you what words are covered in each episode. It is very parent friendly for those that don’t speak French. We watched one episode every day for a week and then went on to the next episode the next week. My children loved it, aged 2 and 4. I only wish they did a second one. My friend is French and was very impressed with it. it has a mixture of computer animation, cartoon animation and real French children. I’ve put the BBC website down as it explains it but you can buy it cheaper from Amazon.
http://www.bbcshop.com/education/french-is-fun-with-serge-the-cheeky-monkey/invt/9780563520061/
Its not on You tube I dont think you will find a video clip online, sorry 
Hi Keeli
Thanks very much for this recommendation. Can you tell me if the French is fun DVDs are immersion in French (i.e. no English spoken)? I’ve bought a couple of disappointing DVDs recently where most of the DVD was in English with only a few French words here and there.
Thanks!
No I’ve had a good Google around and cant find a video clip anywhere. All I can say is that my children learnt a lot from it and really enjoyed it. There is and English talking parrot and a French talking monkey, and a silly jungle football team as well a group of French Children, with lots of songs oh and some PC games too. The pack has a DVD and a CD as well as an activity book, games and parents sheet. I don’t know if it is available in British format only.
I have French is Fun with Serge as well. I ordered it from Amazon about a year ago but, unfortunately, Ella was not interested in it and we have not used it much at all - which is why I did not include it in my list of French resources. It is a cartoon with English and French-speaking characters and is produced by BBC. You can order it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/French-Serge-Cheeky-Monkey-Salut/dp/056352006X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304870476&sr=8-1
Hi Izp11
No it’s not all total immersion in French. The football cartoon bit and the French children bits are total French with no English. Sege the monkey speaks French only but the parrot speaks English and French, she translates the gist of what Serge is saying but not word for word, very often she just answers what he has asked. There is English but its not excessive I personaly felt that the English was helpful in keeping my children engaged and stopped them getting that glazed over hypnotised look that they get if i put something like a French Disney movie on (which is just too complicated and fast). I also like it because I can switch on the English subtitles so I know whats going on. It has a mix of different learning methods I’d say. As I said my two loved it and learnt a lot from it and I’d recommend it to anyone but then Aangeles daughter didn’t so with everything it depends on the child. I really wish they made another one though because like you I’ve purchased a few DVDs that are really disappointing, and far too much English and I’m fed up with waisting money. I’ve asked my friend who is French to have a look for any good French preschool programs, ones that are designed for young French children so they are simple and clear. I’ll post up anything that she comes up with. Merrilises French teacher this week suggested Barbapapa and Babar the elephant in French (both of which you can watch on Youtube but I’m not convinced by them at the moment. I have two problems with them, first I wouldn’t let my children watch them very often in English so I’m not keen on doing so in French I’d rather have something more educational but in French if I’m going to have these then I might as well get Fifi and the Flower tots in French. My other problem with these things is that they are all cartoons so children dont get to see the mouths of the speakers. Seeing how a mouth forms a word is quite important. Does anyone know if the Wink language DVDs have real people talking in them? We have a fantastic program in England called “Something special” It teaches makaton sign language (sign language for disabled children) but it is fantastic, I used it to teach my first two to sign, now something like that in French would be great. Any way those are my thoughts. I’d like a pre schooler type programs with real people in them.
Hi Keeli
I’m French and findibg it difficult to find ressources in French too, especially reading ones! :rolleyes:
lol Hypatia well if you cant find French resources what hope is there for the rest of us lol.
I also have Muzzy but I wasn’t very impressed especially as it was do expensive. Though they have brought out their 20 year anniversary set which I think has all the languages except Chinese. That has no English in it you can get it on ebay cheaper.
thanks for sharing.
mummy here veri powerful, your kids can learn so many language. 
Keeli - thanks for that helpful information. I’ve ordered from Amazon and looking forward to giving it a try.
For info, the other DVD I tried was called French for kids: Simple words and Shapes and numbers. (Link here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/French-Kids-DVD-Set-2011/dp/190807907X/ref=pd_cp_d_h__3)
It had nearly all 5* reviews on amazon, so I was very hopeful. One teacher reviewed and said her class had learned a huge amount of French from it… I could not believe it when I started to play and the woman just spoke English most of the time (with a French accent lol ) and then said only very occasional words in French. Others may disagree with my view but I was sooo disappointed
I am also from the UK and we also LOVE Something Special. It would be fantastic to have something similar in French (and for us Spanish as well would be great!). I agree that there is a big problem with cartoons and not being able to see how the mouth moves differently for different languages.
How are people finding the babybit DVDs? They look good but are expensive - do they teach the language or is it more about reading indvidiual words?