Whether French is the native language of your child, or his second or third language, learning languages from an early age participates in their development and opens the child to a diverse world, full of opportunities. In this article, we’ll explore how to teach French to young children, emphasizing on creating a proper learning environment and using appropriate resources.
How to help a child learn French?
At any age, learning a language requires hard work, and many different methods exist online to make it easier. However, did you ever ask yourself what is the best method to learn French? For young learners, the best method remains immersion. Just like learning any language, it is easier to get familiar with the new sounds in your everyday life, to assimilate them faster.
We then recommend speaking, singing, and playing with your child in French, from a very early age. Young children benefit from great linguistic flexibility, permitting them to acquire new sounds and words with ease. If your child is not raised in a francophone environment, it remains essential to regularly speak French with them, especially before the age of 5.
Discover our selection of bilingual books to learn French.
Learning French through games
To teach French to young children, their interests should be privileged and put forward, as well as funny and playful methods. A very simple way consists of playing in French with the child, which allows them to learn without even noticing it! You’ll find many games in French online as well as in stores, to learn naturally and effortlessly. Dedicate a daily time of the day to playing in French to familiarize the kid with the language and create fond memories, shared together.
Learn French through nursery rhymes
If learning French for youngsters is a great method, what’s even funnier than nursery rhymes? We all know them by heart, and they all hold strong messages about diverse subjects. Toddlers and young children love them and learn them easily thanks to their lively melodies. Nursery rhymes are then a simple and playful method to teach French and its vocabulary to children. As the melodies are used in many languages with different translations, these songs help the ears get familiar with new sounds, without making any effort.
Read also our article on Nursery rhymes in French.
How to learn French at home?
To teach French to children, games and nursery rhymes are great, but to deepen the learning, think of reading! Literature for children is extremely rich and diverse, offering books on various subjects; your child will find what they like. During the bedtime story, for example, read beautiful stories in French. Establish a daily habit to read in French, to captivate the child and make them want to read more. If your kid does not know how to read yet, audiobooks offer a great immersive, and unique experience. The digital library Storyplay’r has a rich and diverse catalog of French books with an audio version and activities around the books.
Discover Storyplay'r's catalog.
Storyplay’r’s selection to learn French with young children
Petit et Grand – On s’aime quand même
by Morgane David
from Kilowatt publishing
You are small and I am big… So what? We love each other anyway!
Discover all books from the collection On s’aime quand même to learn while having fun.
Read and listen « Petit et grand » on Storyplay’r.
Mes 100 premiers véhicules
by Anne Paradis & Annie Sechao
from CrackBoom! Livres
A beautiful picture book to discover the 100 first vehicules.
This book also exists in English: 100 first vehicules and things that go.
Read and listen « Mes 100 premiers véhicules » on Storyplay’r.
Les mots, ça compte un peu, beaucoup, énormément…
by Rhéa Dufresne & Sébastien Chebret
from éditions du Ricochet
A proper little manual of good manners to facilitate exchanges, fluidify communication, or resolve conflicts. These little words for everyday life, to feel good and do good!
Read and listen « Les mots, ça compte un peu, beaucoup, énormément… » on Storyplay’r
À quoi ça sert ?
by Claudine Furlano
from Zoom publishing
With our heads and hands, we perceive everything around us. But what is it for? The vocabulary of the senses from the earliest age.
Discover all the books from the collection Dents de Lait, to learn vocabulary.
Read and listen « À quoi ça sert ? » on Storyplay’r.
Plein de points
by Craig Frazier
from Beurre Salé publishing
A graphic book for toddlers to teach them to spot the round shape in the world around them.
Read and listen « Plein de points » on Storyplay’r.
Les Fables de la Fontaine
by Jean de La Fontaine & Servan Legoff
from ZéTooLu publishing
The Fables de La Fontaine are timeless tales of the French language, for children and grown-ups to enjoy… With their rhymes and funny characters, they’re a great way to interest young ones.
Read and listen « Les Fables de la Fontaine » on Storyplay’r.
Nappe comme Neige
by Marion Fayolle
from Notari publishing
In this alphabet book, on the left-hand pages, each letter is associated with the image of an object: A for Aubergine, B for Bottle, etc. But then – and this is the originality of this book – on the right-hand page each object is re-enacted or diverted, sometimes by becoming part of another object, sometimes by transforming itself into another object.
Read and listen « Nappe comme Neige » on Storyplay’r.
Storyplay’r, a tool to learn how to read French
The online library Storyplay’r, used by many schools across the world, like the FLAM network (Français Langue Maternelle) or AEFE with many Lycées Français, offers many functionalities to learn how to read. Discover the various ways to use our platform. With offers for families, schools, or libraries, on all supports (computer tablet, smartphone), we work towards making reading accessible to all children. Our catalog has more than 1.800 books with activities and an audio version, to make reading fun for everyone.
Our reading aid tools
On all the books of our catalog, you will find different functionalities made for children learning how to read or with disabilities. These tools are on the audio as well as on the text display. We offer the recording of the voice so that children will improve their pronunciation and fluidity, a vocal assistant, and a listening mode in karaoke. For the text display, you’ll find many fonts, including OpenDyslexic, line/word/letter spacing as well as alternated colors of lines and words. Moreover, a reading ruler to simulate the natural way children are reading; colorization of sounds and letters, and the greying-out of mute letters to facilitate the assimilation of French grammar.
Learn more about our reading aid tools.
