Over March Break, students, of all ages, learning French do well when they are exposed to the language outside of their classrooms. We’ve put together a quick guide below for parents and children who have little to no French and/or lots of French! The TFO site is only in French, but the ages are clearly visible via numbers.

For example:

Mini-TFO

  • Mini-TFO is designed for ages 2-8 – this channel is full of fun videos the whole family can watch (see image above), such as:
    • “Pour les apprentis explorateurs (2-5 ans),” which means: “For beginner explorers! (ages 2-5)” and
    • “Pour les aventuriers en herbe (6-8 ans),” which means: “For budding adventurers! (ages 6-8)

Flip-TFO

  • FlipTFO is designed for ages 9-12 – this channel also has videos for the whole family, for example: “Pour les esprits curieux,” which means: “For curious souls!” Or, you can go to the TFO homepage and find videos such as: “Les nouveautés,” which means: New Releases, or better yet, “Les plus populaires,” which means: Most Popular!
  • TEENS. It is trickier for teens, but you will find icons that identify “G” for general entertainment/families and “13+.” You can always check with your teen’s teacher, when in doubt.
  • So, even if you didn’t know what these 1-line descriptions were, you can click on any of these videos and see that they are child-friendly and child-appropriate. If your child does not understand the French, they will still benefit from watching these shows.

Boukili

  • Finally, you can also access TFO’s reading platform called Boukili! TFO’s reading platform is called Boukili, which is available online in French and English and also as an app for smartphones and tablets.

DUOLINGO

Duolingo is another fantastic app backed by scientific research on teaching and language learning methods which is personalized to ever user.

If your child/teen is not yet using Duolingo, they should be! In fact, as a parent, you can sign into your own account and learn along with your child. They would be very impressed by that!

Be sure to do the assessments before you and your child start so Duolingo knows how much French you know, even if it is NONE! “CHOOSE: Find My Starting Place; Answer some questions to skip the basics.”

Below, is what you will see next; so you see, it’s not so bad. You and/or your child can be at any level and still engage and learn.

Once you do your quick assessment, you are on your way! Why not set your children up for success by showing these resources over March Break and beyond. With repetition and context, young language learning minds will be able to understand various aspects of the stories and the language on their own.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Bobbie Smith: communications@on.cpf.ca.