How helpful is screen time for immersion kids?

[Anonymous]

My DD6 started French immersion this year. We don’t speak the language at home and can’t even read her board books with any decent pronunciation so her exposure is limited to several hours at school. She has had very minimal screens since birth and it’s worked for our family. She is sensitive and doesn’t beg for it, and she’s watched enough on planes to know the main characters and keep up socially.

In this situation, would you go out of your way to stream French kids shows? It feels like it would be very supportive of her language learning (especially over breaks) but we don’t want to mess with a good thing, screen-wise. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

We play French music in the kitchen and car.

[Anonymous]

I like love that you limit screens, and the benefits of that far outweigh any possible benefits of the French. I like the idea of the French-language music. I imagine you would want to search for kiddie music in French.

[Anonymous]

I would also see if you can find some French language kids podcasts or radio plays. Music can be hard to understand (for me as an adult language learning) but podcasts and radio/tv give exposure to the natural cadence of speech and conversation.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you everyone. The tricky thing is that my DD can actually sort of understand the French toddler shows like Trotro and French Baby Bum. Music and podcasts are very frustrating right now since she’s such a beginner. And there’s enough frustration in school… what I really need is to find some engaging Outschool teacher or tutor to read to her, but TV is of course much easier

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like love that you limit screens, and the benefits of that far outweigh any possible benefits of the French. I like the idea of the French-language music. I imagine you would want to search for kiddie music in French.

Source for limiting screens at age 6 far outweigh any benefits of the French?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like love that you limit screens, and the benefits of that far outweigh any possible benefits of the French. I like the idea of the French-language music. I imagine you would want to search for kiddie music in French.

No, you don't want kiddie music in french. We have Google home and tell it "Pley french cooking music." It's adults. I don't speak french so have no clue what they're singing about but every so often I ask DD and she will bumble through an explanation "it's raining, the clouds are pretty, someone's looking out the window..." so she's getting it. She started kindergarten knowing zero french. She's in 1st grade now and understands everything at her age level (if you explained a medical procedure she wouldn't get it, because she doesn't know the parts of the leg muscle yet, or how to change a car engine she wouldn't get it, because she doesn't know car parts), and her accent we were told is better than 80% of her classmates. At home she speaks English and Spanish.

[Anonymous]

I would just put on a more simple show like Bluey in French. They don't need to be made in France. Something funny and light and that she might be familiar with.

You could also add in French e-books where the app reads to her and turns the pages.

It will absolutely help and I think it's worth using screen for this since you and your partner don't speak French. When she's older, I'd look at a tutor to help fill the gaps, but I would personally use the free options first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like love that you limit screens, and the benefits of that far outweigh any possible benefits of the French. I like the idea of the French-language music. I imagine you would want to search for kiddie music in French.

No, you don't want kiddie music in french. We have Google home and tell it "Pley french cooking music." It's adults. I don't speak french so have no clue what they're singing about but every so often I ask DD and she will bumble through an explanation "it's raining, the clouds are pretty, someone's looking out the window..." so she's getting it. She started kindergarten knowing zero french. She's in 1st grade now and understands everything at her age level (if you explained a medical procedure she wouldn't get it, because she doesn't know the parts of the leg muscle yet, or how to change a car engine she wouldn't get it, because she doesn't know car parts), and her accent we were told is better than 80% of her classmates. At home she speaks English and Spanish.

I suspect the good accent is due to the fact she's already bilingual, not the French music. And why would French music aimed at kids not be as effective at teaching accent/language in a way that's enjoyable to the kids? Just because they can understand "cooking music" doesn't make it fun for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like love that you limit screens, and the benefits of that far outweigh any possible benefits of the French. I like the idea of the French-language music. I imagine you would want to search for kiddie music in French.

No, you don't want kiddie music in french. We have Google home and tell it "Pley french cooking music." It's adults. I don't speak french so have no clue what they're singing about but every so often I ask DD and she will bumble through an explanation "it's raining, the clouds are pretty, someone's looking out the window..." so she's getting it. She started kindergarten knowing zero french. She's in 1st grade now and understands everything at her age level (if you explained a medical procedure she wouldn't get it, because she doesn't know the parts of the leg muscle yet, or how to change a car engine she wouldn't get it, because she doesn't know car parts), and her accent we were told is better than 80% of her classmates. At home she speaks English and Spanish.

I suspect the good accent is due to the fact she's already bilingual, not the French music. And why would French music aimed at kids not be as effective at teaching accent/language in a way that's enjoyable to the kids? Just because they can understand "cooking music" doesn't make it fun for them.

She is not the center of our family - the music has to be palatable to all the family members. I don't want to listen to French Ring Around the Rosie. And you're wrong about her good accent being because she was bilingual. Last year her accent was only better than 30% of her class.

[Anonymous]

stromae is my favorite musician and he signs in french!

[Anonymous]

Screen time is very helpful for immersion kids. I has two kids in French immersion and their school kept a video library so that the kids could bring home shows to watch. It’s not a complicated formula - the more language exposure, the better. That’s the whole point of immersion. Spending hours interacting in a foreign language is better than a daily lesson, which would be better than a weekly lesson as enrichment. They’ll be exposed to a breadth of vocabulary far beyond what the classroom offers. They’ll hear multiple native speakers in every show.

I know DCUM is strongly anti-screen. I think screens are just another form of media, the value of which is dependent on the content. Screens can open the world up to kids, giving them access to wider experiences and motivating them to want to learn. Yes, there is some horrible content that they need to be protected from, and a lot of mediocre content, but there is also a lot of wonderful content that can educate and inspire. Of course, there should be balance. A
It would be unhealthy for a child to be obsessed with any single activity (reading, sports, art, math, etc.). However, there is plenty of time for kids to lead well-rounded lives that include screen time.

My personal opinion is that as long as required activities (homework, chores, etc.) get taken care of, their free time is theirs. Give them lots of opportunities to follow their interests, whether that’s taking a class, going to a library or museum, or using screens to explore an interest. Some days they may want to frolic and play outside, sometimes they’ll want to curl up with a good book, and sometimes they may want some screen time. As long as you give them a wide variety of opportunities, it balances out.

[Anonymous]

We give DS the iPad in the am when he wakes up early and say he can watch any show in Spanish. The rest of the day, we limit screen time and he can use it how he wants.

Watching shows in Spanish has definitely helped my DS do well in Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Limit screen to 20 minutes strictly (time it, with an alarm, she may complain the first few times, but eventually she'll understand) and be selective on the choice of show in the target language.

[Anonymous]

I would play music and shows in French to supplement school. It is hard to get enough exposure when you don't speak the language at home and more exposure is definitely better.