DVD Review: Brainy Baby French

Brainy Baby designs toys that inspire the mind of young children. I was particularly interested in how the company would handle the Brainy Baby French DVD. So, I sat down in front of the television set with not quite four year old, Lil B. He had no previous experience with French and I hadn’t spoken French since Middle School. Needless to say, it’d been awhile!

I am happy to report that the Brainy Baby French DVD was a hit! Now, that doesn’t mean Lil B is going to be able to go over to France and strike up a conversation, unless he wants to point out that someone has two eyes or one nose! However, what Brainy Baby brings to the table is the building blocks he is going to need to move towards the next level of his French studies once he gets into school.

Positives & Negatives:
-Affordable
-Exciting to Little Kids
-Teaches French Words – Educational
-Makes Children Excited to Learn
-Something Parents can do with Kids (Learn Together)
-Easy to Follow and Understand
-Visual Cues for Words

Negatives
-English translations flash on quickly and are sometimes hard to read
-Need to pay close attention for some of the translations

Pricing & Availability:
You can find Brainy Baby products online with very little trouble. Just look up Brainy Baby on Yahoo or Google and multiple websites selling Brainy Baby products will show up. You can find all of the Brainy Baby products including the French DVD at the Brainy Baby website. The website allows you to search for stores in your area, by zip code, so you can purchase the product in person, if there is a store nearby. Whether there is one or not, you can always purchase the French DVD through Brainy Baby’s website, where it retails for $17.99.

The VHS for the Brainy Baby French DVD is available for under $5.

The Brainy Baby French Setup
You need a TV and either a DVD or a VCR to play Brainy Baby French. If you have those things then you’re set. Just open the Brainy Baby French DVD case. Pop the DVD (or tape) into your DVD player (or VCR). From there you can let the DVD do all of the work.

The Brainy Baby French DVD is self-explanatory. There are multiple listings on the Brainy Baby menu. You just select play and then you’ll view a short Brainy Baby ad before the main part of the DVD begins. Once the DVD starts you’ll get to see a randomly shown giggling baby. This baby sort of represents your child who is also watching the action and learning from the DVD. In between the baby’s giggling fits are instructional moments of French words.

The French starts out easy. A picture is shown on the screen. For example, a boy’s eyes are shown. Then the French word is said for eyes as it is also displayed in written form on the screen. In the corner a tiny, white translation of the word is said. The word is repeated and another child’s eyes are shown. Each word is repeated multiple times before moving on to a new word and a new picture.

The word section covers body parts, numbers, colors, people, objects (like the sun, trucks, and sunglasses), familiar phrases, and then finally verbs such as to eat or to sleep. These appear in their un-conjugated form. This is also the part where you’ll need to pay attention and perhaps even help your child. They might assume the object shown (such as the ice cream being eaten) is the meaning for the word ‘manger’, when in reality ‘manger’ means to eat.

Other than the ability for potential, minor confusion the Brainy Baby French DVD is perfect. Lil B was engaged and enthralled the entire time. He had fun and thought he was big and bad because he now knew French words, which he would randomly throw in with the English he spoke. My brother was quite impressed. The DVD also features the song “Mary has a Little Lamb” in French, which is fun to listen to, but it is kind of hard to keep up with, at least the first few times.

While this DVD is recommended for children aged 1-5, I could see this being quite beneficial for older children with learning disabilities and children with autism. The autistic child especially will be dazzled by the visual stimulation and the repetition. My son is 13 and autistic. While the other Brainy Baby DVDs aren’t going to suit him, this one actually helped him. He wanted to learn French, but was a very reluctant student. He relies on visual stimulation and repetition for these kinds of subjects. The repeating words and visual images were quite helpful in breaking the ice before he gets into higher level French.

Setup:
Replayability:
Acting:

Audio/Visual:
The visual quality for the Brainy Baby French DVD is surprisingly good. This looks like it was shot with a professional camera and all of the images displayed are much better than some of the lower budget studio releases I’ve received in the past. The Brainy Baby team really put a lot of time and effort into this DVD. Brainy Baby French is displayed in full frames at a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. For what it is, this quality suits the DVD just fine.

The sound was clear. There was no need for volume toggling, which was a major plus. The Brainy Baby French sound is available in Dolby Digital Stereo. Beneath the dialogue was some comforting classical music. This just adds to the ambiance of the learning environment. A dynamic soundtrack wasn’t going to be needed for this DVD so the stereo track works just fine.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are multiple bonus features included on the Brainy Baby French DVD. For children who didn’t catch “Mary Had a Little Lamb” the first time, there is a video sing-a-long that shows the words to the song so you and your child can learn how to sing along. Since the song is so repetitive, it won’t be long before you’ll both be singing this catchy, French version of a popular child’s tune/nursery rhyme.

There is a Behind the Scenes feature. One child that appears on many of the Brainy Baby DVDs will guide you through the making of a Brainy Baby DVD. Moms who love Brainy Baby also get a chance to show their admiration for the series. The bonuses continue with a Bloopers section. As the kids mess up their lines, their actions, and they show off their childlike antics, the video keeps recording! There are also sneak peeks for other Brainy Baby DVDs such as Left Brain, Right Brain and ABCs.

I haven’t popped the DVD into my CD Rom drive, but some of the other features listed as bonuses include a link to the website, an interactive coloring book and other fun Brainy Baby themed activities. Considering I wasn’t expecting any bonus materials on this DVD I was pleasantly surprised.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
The Brainy Baby French DVD is probably the best, most affordable way for your child to begin learning French. This is the way to get your young child interested in a foreign language while teaching them the fundamentals. You can’t go wrong with a CD that shows plenty of smiling children and one very happy Brainy Baby!

Overall Rating:

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Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.