Turns Out Kids Really DO Love Spanish

I took French for seven years, culminating with Advanced Placement French my senior year of high school.

I took the AP exam that May, hoping to place out of the one-year language requirement at university.

When I opened my test results, I was sorely disappointed. My score? A 1 out of a possible 5.

When I looked at the key, it read: "1: Displays Incompetence."

Wouldn't that make a great blog name?

AnyHOO, when Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review the Kids Love Spanish DVD set, I knew it may be my only chance to save The Poo from a life of foreign-language incompetence. The kid seems to pick up everything I say (what's a little cursing in preschool gonna hurt?), so I figured it would be perfect for her.

I have to admit that when I put the first of the seven DVDs in the player, I cringed.

The production values are ... well, amateur. It looks like most of the filming was done in the homes of the two sisters - Krisse Brock Kelly and Julie Brock Campbell - who created and produced the series, and the audio ain't great.

BUT.

But The Poo loooovveees them.

I'm not kidding. She begs for "kids Spanish" morning, noon and night. She shakes her booty to the theme song and jumps right in, repeating every phrase uttered.

What I think makes this series valuable - and the production values bearable - is the fact that it features real preschoolers speaking Spanish. Not every kid says the word exactly the same way, nor do they say it perfectly.

So for example, when the DVD introduces the word for gorilla, The Poo sees and hears a series of children repeating the word, each with their own individual pronunciation.

That, in combination with the repetition, encourages my daughter to say it with them.

And I have to admit, I love to hear her little voice shouting out "madre!"

We have the box set of Kids Love Spanish, which includes all seven volumes available. You can also purchase the individual DVDs, each of which focuses on a different theme, such as colors, numbers, food, shapes or family.

Who knows? If we watch them enough, maybe I'll even learn to display incompetence in Spanish as well as French. Now wouldn't THAT be something for the resume?