Hola, Speekee! (A Review)

Trying to teach our children another language can be a bit intimidating for some of us. And, the experts say that starting younger is better, so as I watch mine get older, I keep thinking-ack! It’s getting late and I need to get them started. And, since we live in Dallas, we need Spanish. So, thankfully, along came Speekee. http://www.speekee.co.uk/  Who or what is a “Speekee” you ask? Well, I’ll be happy to tell you all about it.

Speekee is a purple puppet who teaches children Spanish through immersion.

“Speekee” is also the name of the program, which is based in the UK and uses native Spanish people, filmed in Spain, to teach children Spanish. Research shows that children learn new languages best the way they learn their first language: naturally by listening to their family and others talk and eventually they feel comfortable trying to repeat what they hear. So, that is what the Speekee program does.

It is a series of 10 TV episodes featuring puppets and live people, and it is all done in Spanish. NO English is spoken in the videos, but there is closed-captioning in either English or Spanish. The CC in Spanish is nice for older children so they can see the written words as they hear them-that adds to the learning.  Each lesson is spiral, so they build on the previous ones and that aides in review and longer term learning. Speekee and the children, and Jim, visit places like the park, the cafe/restaurant, zoo, beach, and others. It’s very easy to follow along, even if you cannot understand every word, you’ll know what is going on. Here’s another picture of the puppets:

After you watch a lesson, you can download several types of pdf files to help the children practice different skills in the lessons. These can be helpful to reinforce what they learned and to see the words they just heard.

You can instantly stream Speekee through your computer for $7.50 (US dollars) per month, or they do offer a DVD set. Remember, these are made in Europe, so be sure to check to see if your DVD player is PAL compatible. You can also check Speekee out free for 2 weeks-here: http://www.speekee.co.uk/online.php 

The website says it is for ages 2-10, but I would say it definitely leans to the younger end of that range. Although many of the crew moms have enjoyed it as well. :o)

Now, what did we think? Well, first of all, we were only able to make it through the first 5, due to our dial-up issues. And, I just had my middle two watch it, but here are their opinions:

Scientist-age 9 1/2-has been singing the catchy songs CONSTANTLY around the house. :o) He loves anything with a jingle, or good tune, and the songs really got his attention. He knew some of those basic words so he was very comfortable listening to it all. Now, he was not super thrilled with the puppets themselves, but did relate to the older boys in the videos. He gave it a pretty good rating. :o)

Little Mommy, who is 8, thought it was all so cute! She loves anything cute, and so Speekee fit right in. She too is singing the songs every once in awhile, and has used some of the words around the house and tells me whether she likes a certain drink or not. (That’s in one of the lessons.) She liked watching the children go different places and said she’d give it a very good rating.

I watched them as well, and have caught myself singing away at random moments too. I hear myself asking some of the questions as well. I personally wish I had started all of mine with a program like this around 3 years old. They would probably love the puppets, and children just absorb language so easily and naturally at those young ages. If I had anyone that small, I’d definitely be using Speekee often.

We will continue the lessons for our free trial time as Crew members; it is fun and educational, and wholesome-all great assets!

Be sure to click here http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783681/  to see what my crewmates are saying as well.

Disclaimer: I received this free online trial in exchange for my honest opinions and reviews. No other compensation was received.

Here is another shot of what you see when you first start: