German: A Bilingual Music Program (The Complete Lyric Language)

Rating:
Summary: Not much else out there
Review: After teaching German for 14 years to adults and teens, I've embarked on teaching the language to my 4-year old. That's when I found out there is very little quality stuff out there for kids. I bought the CD based on others' reviews, but came to realize that people get excited about it not because it's so awesome, but because there is not much out there. The songs on this CD are too long and the constant mixing of German and English a hassle AND it defeats the purpose of learning a foreign language. The makers should have come up with simpler songs and kept them mostly in German. On the positive side, the rhythm is appealing to kids. My daughter likes to listen to the CD, space out and mindlessly repeat the vocab. Back to the negatives: None of the songs have a catchy melody you'd remember and sing without listening to the CD. What's worse, the songs are too long and the vocab level too random - basic intro vocab is mixed in with advanced stuff of little use. My guess is the company puts those CDs out for several languages and uses the same songs regardless of language.

Rating:
Summary: Your kids will be singing these songs.
Review: My daughter liked the videos so much, that we decided to buy the book & CD for in the car. She is almost 15 months old, but I think kids of all ages would like it. I even find myself singing the songs, especially "Jump Rope/Seilspringen". The CD has 21 bilingual songs: 1) At the zoo, 2) At the beach, 3) At the Supermarket, 4) Happy Birthday, 5) The Rain, 6) The Seasons, 7) The Days of the Week, 8) The Night, 9) The Alphabet, 10) I Wish I could fly, 11) Jump Rope, 12) The Opposite song, 13) a picnic, 14) a walk in the forest, 15) I like to read, 16) the spider, 17) I have five senses, 18) there is a river, 19) the clown, 20) clap your hands 21) family.

I would have given this 5 stars, except that the "book" that comes with the CD is really more of a booklet. The cover and pages are less than the thickness of a magazine cover, thus can be easily torn by young children.