Maggie+Bergant

[] This is focused predominantly on building and expanding students’ French vocabulary, as well as facilitating students’ ability to read and recognize French words. The grade level for this software is not specific, although it is aimed at primarily French 1 standards. The program allows for teachers to add in new words and vocabulary lists to apply to the language games. This could allow for French 2 students to learn and add new words to their vocabulary as well.
 * Vocab-French**

The software falls into a few different categories. Under “drill and practice,” the students are taught new vocabulary and spelling, and then there are a series of games and quizzes which students can use to practice with. The software also follows under “instructional game” as well as “problem solving” as there are a series of games students can play to emphasize learning the vocabulary. Some games are “Hangman”, “Letter Drop”, “Scramble”, etc.; in each case, the student relies on learning the morphology of French words to figure out the answers to each game. Students must recognize spelling rules, phonetic rules and while playing and having fun can increase their ability to spell and recognize French words.

The program allows for the teacher to add in any number of new words to be incorporated into the games. This is important to the classroom teacher who can manipulate the program to better match the current vocabulary and lessons at any given time. As there will be times for students’ individual exploration in my classroom, as forms of positive reinforcement, I can use this software for individual learning time. I can also run this software as a group learning process using a projector and students can play the games while learning the vocabulary as a group project.

The strengths are that the teacher can add in his/her own personal vocabulary lists to make the program more adaptable to the individual classroom. The games are fun and easy for students to use. Every command has an English/French counterpart so students will not get confused, but can learn how to navigate the software in French as well. The software seems easy to manage. The weaknesses are that it is only geared towards a French 1 level classroom. The teacher can make up for this by adding new words. The program also is geared only towards vocabulary acquisition, and does not have a focus on grammar. It would be nice to see a program incorporate the two so students can manipulate words and sentences while improving written and oral speech.

What are the system requirements of the software? The program is relatively cheap as it is Shareware. The cost online is about $10 and is affordable. (windows 98)

[] This is a software program which can be used as a dictionary for many different languages. Students can look up foreign words as well as play games with the words to increase vocabulary. The program acts as a thesaurus as well to increase the students’ vocabulary through knowledge of synonyms. There is no limit to grade level with this software and it would be appropriate for all levels and all languages offered on the program.
 * MemoPump**

This software functions mostly as a tutorial, instructional game, and drill and practice program. The students can look up full phrases or individual words they do not fully understand that they have encountered in reading. They then can play “hangman” or other games to help with memorizing the words and understanding the meaning of them. The students can practice with a mixture of new and learned words and then can add onto their vocabulary by learning synonyms for those words.

As this program works for many languages, it can be used for both a French or Spanish class. Students will be working on individual projects in my classroom and will therefore have a different set of interests and vocabulary which they will acquire. This software can be useful for students to look up words and interpret meaning of research that they have done on their topics during individual instruction. It will also be useful for students to learn how to not only use a traditional dictionary, but use an electronic dictionary as well.

The strengths of this program are that it covers an array of different languages. Once it is purchased a school can use it for more than one foreign language class. It is also not defined by grade level so all students can find it useful no matter how advanced they are. The program is not a regular dictionary which just spits out the word and definition. It also gives synonyms to increase vocabulary and creativity in writing, as well as gives games to ensure the word is learned and memorized more easily and effectively. The weaknesses of the program are that there is a translator section involved. While it can be useful for students to have some help with translation, it could turn into a problem with students using it as a main form of learning and cheating. The use of it must be monitored. There is also no grammar component to the program, so if a phrase is looked up, the translation is given, but no grammar is tied into it.

The program is relatively cheap as it is Shareware. The cost online is about $25 and is affordable. (windows 98)

[] This is an integrated French language program which uses vocabulary acquisition, grammar instruction, pronunciation, mastering and real world scenarios to help students learn to speak French. The program is separated into different levels, but for my purposes I looked at beginning French. The topics discussed are relevant to the real world such as, cuisine, the hospital, conversation, personal introductions, days of the week, and aspects of French culture.
 * A l'écoute de la langue française**

This program falls into all of the software categories as students will be instructed on grammar points and vocab. They then learn how to incorporate what they have learned into their own speech. There are exercises to work on after each lesson, which allows for students to assess their own progress.

Because the content is relevant to daily life, and students will find many of the lessons useful for travel or conversation with a foreign friend, it is a good program to base lessons off of. The progression is well organized and teachers can use the program as a supplement to their own personal instruction. The pronunciation lessons and audio are of great importance as students can hear what a real French accent and conversation sounds like. There are also written essays and stories which accompany the program. Students can learn to read applicable materials to the content which is being taught.

The strengths of this program are that each lesson is relevant to daily life, rather than some curriculum which teach lessons that are seemingly less relevant. There are many component’s to this program which make it well rounded: vocabulary and grammar instruction, tasks for monitoring progress, audio instruction, pronunciation instruction, reading texts, etc. The program seems relatively easy for teachers to incorporate into their own lessons and curriculum, and the program can be an excellent supplement. The one weakness in this program is that, while it is a beginner level course, some of the grammar progressions seem a little too quick. That is why for a high school class, it seems like a perfect program to use as a supplement to instruction; it should not be used solely as the curriculum.

The program is about $75 US dollars, so it is more expensive than the first two I researched.

This is a website that allows for French language learners to practice and learn the language by using dialogues, having vocab and grammar instruction, and by video chatting or blogging with other bsuu.com users from around the world. Students can even chat with native French speakers as a social network. The site works for beginners as well as advanced language learners and can be used in many different languages.
 * busuu.com**

The program falls into all of the categories but the main category for my specific uses would be simulation. The users can connect with other busuu.com users and can video chat and blog with other users as well as native French speakers. There are other dialogues that users can learn and use that are fun and relatable to real-life situations.

High school French classes could use this program for social networking. Students during their individual project time and personal exploration can log into a classroom account and chat with French speakers or play with the dialogue games. It will give the students a chance to practice speaking in real-world situations while fine tuning their language skills. Time on the site can be used as both an incentive and as regular classroom time on certain days of the week.

The program is a great outlet for teaching foreign language learners how to speak the language. One can learn the vocabulary and grammar on the site as well, but there are multiple speaking outlets on the site. Speaking is the hardest aspect of a language to learn so the extra practice, as well as with native speakers can be an excellent source of learning. Students will also learn to type in the language and will become all around more efficient French speakers. The program can be used for Spanish, Russian and other languages as well. The negative aspect is that it is supposed to be free. There could be hidden fees if used frequently. It will also take a lot of monitoring so students will not be using the social media inappropriately.

The cost of the program is Free, much like Facebook. (Windows 98)

FrenchPod is a free podcast downloadable from iTunes. It is an entirely oral curriculum which allows for language learners to hear native speakers, learn new dialogues, and simulate conversation. The dialogues are useful for learning every day activities like going to a restaurant, the post office, asking for directions, talking to a friend, etc. The Podcast is at a beginner level, but can be used for French 1 and French 2 in a high school class to fine tune speaking skills.
 * French, FrenchPod101.com**

The podcast covers the drill and practice skills for speaking the language. It also covers simulation as learners will be simulating real-life conversations. There are no games involved with this program but it is tutorial and has a smooth flowing progression.

I would use this program during speaking and conversational instruction. It is easier for students to learn to speak fluently when there is another outlet other than the teacher; hearing the native speakers also allows for a better understanding of the French accent. It could be used for French 1 and 2, and maybe for quick reviews for French 3. During pronunciation instruction it could be played and students repeat what they hear. It would make it easy for the teacher to assess how well learning to speak and carry a conversation is progressing with individual students.

The program is great for teaching students French dialogue and getting them comfortable with hearing people speak the foreign language as well as making them comfortable with speaking. The dialogues have a steady progression and build upon one another. If used regularly students can build strength in speaking the language. The negative aspect of the program is that there is no explanation of the grammar involved with the dialogues. It focuses only on speaking skills. It would have to be used as a supplement to grammar instruction.

The cost of the podcast is Free so it is worth integrating into the classroom instruction. The only requirement is that the computer is able to support ITunes media.