French Software Reviewed

This piece of software is for use in French language teaching. It reinforces vocabulary already taught, but would also be useful to introduce new vocabulary.
I used this software in particular for aural work.  It included topics such as Colours, Plurals, Actions, Positions and Places. The programme is based on flashcards, which can be a bit tedious after a while.
Games include “Find the Card”, “Match the Card” and “Beat the Clock”.

Modern Foreign Language classes, in this case French would use this piece of software.
Special needs pupils could use this package, perhaps in conjunction with another “able” pupil as a partner. There are 3 levels. The text is large, images attractive and clear. This package allows for aural work, sometimes difficult to work on in a whole class situation.  It also gives instant feedback in the form of correct answers / pupil scores. This software was used by a 5^th class beginners’ French class.  The pupils used it in pairs.
Classroom use would require use of headphones, as the package uses a lot of spoken language / aural work.

Language / pictures are aimed at Primary school level.
There are three levels of difficulty. Pupils can choose the level they want to work at.  It includes a facility to record the pupils’ voices.

This program is well thought out, and is very attractive to young beginners.  The pupils derived immense satisfaction from using the program.   Co-operative learning was very much in evidence with the paired pupils discussing answers and helping each other through the games.
There was good progression, although as already mentioned   the concept of flash cards could become tedious after a lot of use.

This program autoloads, thus being very teacher-friendly!  No operational problems were experienced during use of the program.

Little or no backup material was provided.  It basically consisted of advertising ‘blurb’ for other products.  There was also very basic information included on the actual program itself.