Purposeful family living - with a French twist
Bonjour! I'm Michele Cherie: francophile, teacher, writer, wife, and mama to five children. I'm a non-native French speaker in Oregon raising my children in French. IntentionalMama shares our bilingual journey and resources for a culturally-rich family life.
Mes amis, do you vaguely remember the film Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon) from your childhood? I recently watched it again with my children and was reminded how heartwarming it is. Honestly, it's the perfect little film for February, especially if you love Paris, childhood nostalgia, and stories with magical realism.
Read MoreDon't you find bilingual families fascinating? I plan to feature a bilingual or multilingual family once per month here at Intentional Mama because we have so much to learn from their experience. Families with French as their minority language will be the focus, but Spanish and other languages will find a place here too.
Here's where you come in, dear readers: First, if you or anyone you know might be willing to be featured, please leave a message for me below or email me at michele@intentionalmama.com. I know people can be leery of sharing information online, so I can definitely leave out names and locations if that's a concern.
Second, what questions would you like to ask parents who are raising bilingual children? What are your doubts and concerns? What resources or information would you love to find?
Read MoreBonjour, mes amis! I'm currently working on a little language love story for a future post, but in the meantime I want to share some adorable resources available from Little Bilangues. Judith is a fantastic illustrator with her own publishing company, OrniCar, and this month she released her latest children's activity book for little French (and English) language learners. This activity book can be downloaded for free until next Friday, December 20th, so take advantage of her generosity!
Read MoreA few months ago I shared an overview of the French children's magazines available in the U.S., and now I'm glad to give a more in-depth review of my daughter's favorite early childhood magazine: Popi.
Popi (pronounced PUH-pee) refers to a cuddly stuffed monkey who was originally a character from an English children's book series by Helen Oxenbury. Now he has his own cartoon (Léo and Popi). But Popi magazine doesn't focus on the monkey much--he's just one of several reappearing characters with their own brief stories in each issue.
Read MoreOf all the cultural treasures in the world, lullabies must be among the sweetest snippets of language and melody. In the short film collection Paris, Je T'Aime, one of the more moving five-minute stories featured a nanny singing a Spanish lullaby. The lullaby she sang is called "Qué Linda Manita" and it refers to the sweet little hands, eyes, and other body parts that God gave the baby.
I don't remember any lullabies from my childhood, but there is a song that I associate with bedtime. On a nightstand beside my bed was a lamp with wooden figurines on a seesaw. The lamp played a simple wind-up melody called Say, Say Oh Playmate. My mama taught me the words and wrote them in my baby book. (This American song goes back to the 1930s or earlier).
Read MoreWhen my daughter turned two years old, I bought her a subscription to a French children's magazine called Popi. Admittedly, subscribing to a French magazine for delivery in the USA is costly, and I wondered if it would be worth the expense. But even at that age, my daughter adored receiving Popi and she continues to read those same issues even now at four years old. We switched to Toupie et Chansons the following year; that subscription included four music CDs with the special issues. I'll write specific reviews for those magazines in a future blog post, but for now, here's an overview of the French children's magazines available in the U.S. and how to subscribe. (Children's magazines in Spanish are further below in this post.)
Read MoreThough I majored in French and English in college, I somehow made it through my studies with only a pocket-size French English Dictionary from the early 1980s. I had no idea how impressive a dictionary could be until I began teaching and purchased a two-and-a-half-inch thick, five pound French Unabridged Dictionary from Collins Robert for classroom use. When a translation question arose that I couldn't answer, the student who volunteered to be the daily fée du dictionnaire (dictionary fairy, with optional wand, ID tag, and tiara) would find the answer in that massive dictionary. But ever since I downloaded the Collins-Robert Concise French Dictionary App as a stay-at-home mama, I've been amazed at how useful a dictionary app can be.
Read MoreAmerican parents love educational toys and books for their preschool-age children, so I find it a little strange that the French have an entire category of children's books for which we don't have a word in English: l'imagier. Wikipedia.fr defines an imagier as "A collection of photographs or drawings featuring objects, animals, and individuals along with the word that characterizes them." Put simply, they're word books with corresponding images. For little language learners, imagiers are a fantastic visual resource.
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