Reviews
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Cathy Duffy's Review of FL4K Spanish, published September 21, 2022
Foreign Languages for Kids (FL4K) makes excellent use of technology in the new version of their program, now available as FL4K Spanish. I don’t know of any other online Spanish program for homeschoolers that has as much variety. It uses a conversational approach, with continuous practice and review in listening, reading, speaking, and writing along with some offline activities. The program has nine levels that can serve as at least a two-year, introductory Spanish program for children in preschool through high school. High school students completing the entire program should have reached a level equivalent to the completion of Spanish 1. (Note that content is still being added to the top levels.) Because of its conversational approach, students learn less formal grammar, but they are probably going to be able to carry on conversations, which is more than can be said for most first-year high school Spanish programs. The level for pre-readers (not yet available) will present them with activities that do not require reading and writing. Annual subscriptions allow parents to set and change levels: red for children in prekindergarten through second grade (when available), blue for grades three through five, and green for grades six through nine. FL4K Spanish includes the following: video lessons; FL4K Cultural Adventures (geography and culture lessons); online games for developing language proficiency; interactive questions in many different formats for speaking practice, listening, reading, and writing; online quizzes; and songs. Students need a mic as well as speakers or a headset for these activities. For example, there are activities where students see an image and hear a line of dialogue, then choose between two audio responses. After they identify the correct response, they are prompted to say and record that response themselves. Students can then listen to the complete dialogue that inserts their responses into the prerecorded part. There are 15 different formats for questions for blue and green levels, such as interacting with clips from the videos, responding by identifying which of two auditory responses makes sense, identifying the correct image, and typing in vocabulary words—special Spanish characters for typing are available to the student. Responses other than those recorded by the program are evaluated immediately, and students can try again if they miss something. The games—Bounce and Fly Swatter—require students to identify images or words that change to reflect current and prior lesson material. Both games move quickly, so students need to be practicing their vocabulary to be able to complete a game successfully. The four-minute “FL4K Activities Demo” gives you an excellent introduction to many of the program's features. The program is new, and I encountered a few glitches, but nothing major. FL4K is very responsive if you should run into any issues. ...Summary FL4K Spanish is a major improvement over the original program, which was already excellent. This program has far more content than the original, and more is still being added. The variety of activities and modes of learning make it likely to work for most students, and the wealth of resources within the program allows parents to adapt it or expand it with additional activities.
See full reviewCathy Duffy Review, 2017
Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids (FLK) has two introductory Spanish DVDs with optional ancillary components that teach Spanish to children from as young as preschool level up into the teen years. This is an immersion approach, but the videos are carefully designed to make the content comprehensible for those who have no prior exposure to Spanish. Videos feature only child actors who appear in a series of interconnected skits, thus the “for kids by kids” in the company’s name. The children are of various ages up into the teens. FLK videos were filmed with multiple cameras in colorful settings, and they were professionally edited and produced to include lively background musical… All of the FLK materials are of high quality and beautifully presented. Most children will want to use them! The immersion approach on the DVDs coupled with the workbooks should be very effective, and the game is really the icing on the cake.
See full reviewGames
Parents’ Choice Foundation, 2013
Dice Off really does teach Spanish. It does not stop at nouns and pointing and naming things, but also teaches verbs and their conjugations. Basing the game around Spanish-speaking countries and keeping the tone of the cards fun and light make this a game kids will actually want to play. It is a playful way to teach Spanish vocabulary and grammar, and that is a very rare find…
See full reviewNational Parenting Center, 2013
Many parents want to introduce a second language to their children but they don’t know where to start or what is age-appropriate. Dice Off uses a game setting, one that is easy to learn and really fun to play…
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