How to Homeschool in French or English — Even If You Don’t Speak the Language
A gentle guide to introducing another language at home through songs, stories, play and everyday moments.
Opening the Door to Another Language
Imagine opening a door for your child and discovering an entirely new world waiting on the other side. New sounds, new songs, new stories and new ways of seeing the world around them.
A language is so much more than words. It is a key that unlocks connections, cultures and experiences that may otherwise remain hidden. It allows children to discover new ways of communicating, understand different perspectives and build relationships with people and places beyond their own world.
But before a child can confidently begin their language-learning journey, they first need to become comfortable with it.
They need to hear it, enjoy it and become familiar with the sounds and rhythms of the language.
Long before children understand every word, they begin recognising patterns, expressions and familiar sounds. Little by little, the language starts to feel less like something new and more like a natural part of their world.
But how can I introduce another language to my child if I don’t speak it myself?
The answer is much simpler than many people think.
You do not need to be fluent to give your child the gift of another language. You do not need to know every word or teach formal lessons. Introducing another language from a young age, where possible, can help it become a familiar and natural part of your child’s world. What matters most is creating positive experiences where your child can hear, enjoy and connect with the language.
Language learning at home can begin with just a few small moments woven naturally into your child’s day.
This could be listening to a French song while getting ready in the morning, counting objects while playing, learning colours while drawing, or watching a favourite story in another language.
These moments may seem small, but together they create something incredibly important: familiarity.
Children do not need perfection. They need opportunities to listen, explore and enjoy.
Learning alongside your child can also be a beautiful experience for parents. It shows children that discovering something new is exciting and that making mistakes is simply part of the journey.
Every Child Learns Differently
Every child is unique, and naturally, every child learns differently.
Some children are drawn to music and rhythm. Others love stories and imagination. Some enjoy creating things with their hands, while others learn best through games and interaction, or simply by mimicking and repeating what they hear.
That is why I believe children should experience language through songs, stories, games and crafts.
Songs help children become familiar with the sounds, rhythm and pronunciation of a language.
Stories allow children to hear words and expressions in context, helping them understand meaning naturally.
Games encourage children to interact with language in a fun and relaxed way.
Fun worksheets and creative projects give children the opportunity to explore language while making, creating and discovering.
Learning by rote can sometimes feel a little staid or traditional, but for some children, repetition provides a safe and reassuring way to learn and build confidence.
When children experience language through these different approaches, it becomes something enjoyable rather than something they feel they have to learn.
The most important thing is creating positive memories around language. When children associate another language with curiosity, creativity and fun, they begin to approach it with confidence.
My Personal Experience
My own childhood experience showed me how naturally children can learn languages when they are surrounded by them from an early age.
Looking back, I feel incredibly grateful for the languages I was exposed to as a child and for the opportunities that speaking another language has given me.
I was born in England but moved to Germany when I was only six weeks old.
Before I was even aware of what language learning was, German was already part of my everyday world. I heard the language through conversations, songs, stories and everyday life. By the time I left Germany at the age of three, I could understand and communicate in German — at the level of a three-year-old, of course!
Next, my family moved to France, where I started at maternelle, while continuing to speak English at home. With the long school days, five days a week, French quickly became the language I heard and used throughout most of my day.
Within six months, I became confident communicating with my classmates, and over time French became the language I used most naturally.
Looking back now, I realise I was not sitting down to learn languages. I was not memorising vocabulary lists or completing lessons.
I was simply living my childhood and letting my brain do the rest.
My mum always encouraged my sister and I to watch films in French or German. We listened to songs, heard conversations and experienced these languages as part of everyday life.
These small moments never felt like learning, yet they helped build confidence, familiarity and a natural connection with the languages around me.
Although I gradually lost much of my German after moving away and no longer hearing it every day, I never lost the sounds of the language.
Even today, I can still understand a certain amount and I still have the accent I developed when I was young.
My sister, who was four years older than me when we moved to Germany, retained German much more easily and still speaks three languages today.
This experience has stayed with me because it shows something truly amazing about children: they absorb sounds, rhythms and accents when they are surrounded by them.
Communication is the main objective for a newborn or young child, and self-consciousness or embarrassment rarely gets in the way in the same way it can for an older child or adult. They do not worry as much about making mistakes. They simply listen, explore and become familiar.
This is why creating positive experiences with language from an early age is so important. Children do not need pressure — they need opportunities to hear, enjoy and connect with another language naturally.
How to Keep a Language Alive in Your Home
Once your child has started discovering another language, the most important thing is keeping those positive experiences going.
The good news is that this does not need to involve complicated lessons or hours of studying.
Five minutes here and there really can make a difference. Regular, short bursts of exposure help keep the sounds and words of a language familiar, and repetition gives children the chance to recognise and remember what they have heard before.
Put on a song while you are cooking dinner.
Watch a short video, cartoon or film together.
Listen to a story before bedtime.
Play simple games using another language.
Introduce small words into everyday moments — colours while drawing, numbers while counting, or food vocabulary while preparing a meal.
The key is to make the language part of everyday life.
A language grows through regular exposure. Those small moments gradually become familiar, and over time children begin recognising sounds, words and expressions naturally.
You do not need to create a perfect learning environment.
You simply need to create opportunities for your child to hear, enjoy and connect with the language.
Creating a Language-Rich Environment at Home
The wonderful thing about introducing another language today is that families have access to so many creative resources.
Whether your child connects through music, stories, imagination or hands-on activities, the most important thing is finding moments where the language feels enjoyable and natural.
Here are a few places you might like to explore, depending on what works best for your family.
Perhaps your child would enjoy a regular 30-minute class, or maybe they would prefer listening to a familiar story in French. There is no one right way to introduce another language — it is about finding little moments that work naturally for you and your child.
Mimi’s French
Suitable for: ages 3–12, depending on the programme
If you are looking for something a little more structured, Mimi’s French offers online French learning for children through live classes and home-learning resources. Its live Zoom classes are 30 minutes long for children aged 5–8 and 8–12, while its at-home course is designed for 3–6-year-olds.
A proper class can be especially helpful for children who enjoy interacting with a teacher, singing together, playing games and hearing French spoken directly to them.
A 30-minute class can simply become part of your child’s routine — a little moment in the week that belongs to French.
For younger children, Mimi’s at-home resources include short videos, a French storybook with audio, activity packs and songs, giving families another way to bring French into everyday life.
Great for children who enjoy:
🗣️ Learning with a teacher
🎵 Songs and activities
📖 Stories and listening
🌿 A little more structure and routine
Their First Words
Suitable for: babies and young children, with content organised by age and developmental stage
If you are looking for something easy to use on the go or during spare moments, Their First Words is a child-friendly language-learning app that allows children to explore everyday vocabulary in different languages.
It is great for switching easily between different languages and has been designed to keep the experience focused and easy for young children to follow. Children explore one word or phrase and one picture at a time, without lots of other distractions on the screen. The app includes more than 1,000 words and 500 phrases across eight languages, with vocabulary organised to suit different ages and stages.
Children can switch between languages without leaving the card and can hear each word spoken in both male and female native voices. The app also gives you the option to remove the written word from the screen, allowing children to focus purely on listening to the sounds and pronunciation of the language before relying on the written word. This shares an important part of the Les Puces ethos — listening, repeating and becoming familiar with the sounds of a language.
The app also works offline, making it particularly useful for car journeys, travelling, waiting rooms or simply those spare few minutes during the day.
Great for children who enjoy:
🗣️ Listening to words and pronunciation
🌍 Exploring and switching between languages
👂 Focusing on sounds and authentic native voices
🖼️ Learning through words and pictures
📱 Quick language moments on the go
🎁 A little extra for Les Puces readers
Available until 15 October — Their First Words has kindly offered Les Puces readers complimentary lifetime access to the full app in exchange for leaving an honest review.
🍎 iPhone & iPad: Download the full unlocked app free of charge using our Les Puces link, enjoy exploring it with your child, and then share your honest review of your experience.
🤖 Android: Complimentary access is available too. Contact Les Puces, and we’ll arrange your individual download link for you.
All they ask in return is that, once you’ve had the chance to try the app, you leave an honest review.
Les Puces
Suitable for: ages 3–11 years old
At Les Puces, we have created a complete language-learning world where French and English come to life through songs, stories, creativity and play.
Everything we create is fait maison — from our original songs and stories to our activities and projects. Every element is created by our team to help children experience language through different learning styles.
Our 4-Step Method
1. Learning by Rote
2. Rhyme and Music
3. Make It — Project / Worksheet
4. Story Telling
Whether you are looking for a quick language moment during the day or a longer activity to keep your child engaged, Les Puces offers different ways to bring French and English into your home.
Our free YouTube videos allow families to begin exploring straight away. Our workbooks give children opportunities to continue learning creatively, while our structured programmes bring the different elements of the Les Puces method together into easy-to-follow modules.
Our longer YouTube videos, including our 30-minute experiences, allow children to become immersed in the world of Les Puces through our characters, stories, songs and activities — perfect for moments when you are cooking dinner, working nearby, or simply creating a little quiet time in your day. For families looking for a more guided experience, our £5-a-month subscription gives you access to all of our modules, so you can follow the learning journey at your own pace.
French Fairy Tales
If your child enjoys stories and imagination, French Fairy Tales offers a collection of familiar fairy tales and classic stories in French.
One of the lovely things about hearing a story you already know in another language is that your child does not have to work out the whole story from scratch.
They may already know the characters, the storyline and what is likely to happen next. This gives them the opportunity to simply listen to the French sounds, words and expressions along the way.
A familiar story can therefore become a gentle bridge into another language.
You could listen together during a quiet moment, or explore a story that your child already knows well and see which French words they begin to recognise.
Children do not need to understand every word straight away. Sometimes simply hearing a language alongside something familiar is a wonderful place to begin.
Great for children who enjoy:
📖 Familiar stories and imagination
🗣️ Hearing French in context
✨ Exploring stories they already know
🌙 Quiet listening moments
As with any online resource, parents should preview individual videos to make sure the content is appropriate for their child.
Just Open the Door
You do not need to speak perfect French.
You do not need to speak perfect English.
You do not need to have all the answers.
You simply need to open the door.
And who knows what wonderful world your child might discover on the other side?
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