Osmosis: House-Casa
This educationally sound series speaks directly to the interests (and attention span) of the very young. Each DVD introduces 35 words in Spanish, English, or both languages, depending on the viewer's choice. If the bilingual mode is chosen, the English is spoken first. Each word is introduced by a cartoon picture of the object, and then by the spoken word. Pronunciations are clear and precise, and slow enough for a young child to pick up. The words are presented in groups of five, with each group divided by roughly five-minute segments showing multiethnic children engaged in activities related to the words previously presented. For example, in house-casa, after the words ball, glass, boy, and girl have been introduced, a segment shows toddlers playing freely with large colorful balls and a set of small balls being dropped repeatedly into a large glass. The pleasant musical background played throughout has child appeal. More repetition of the words themselves would be helpful, and Kids Love Spanish: Basic Words (Brock Sisters Productions, 2006) does a better job at this. However, the graphics and pacing of this series are far superior. The easy-to-navigate menu offers subtitles, a slower or faster pace, and the option to go directly to a bonus alphabet section located at the end of the main program. Other supplemental segments include numbers, songs in English and Spanish, as well as video flashcards for vocabulary review. An excellent purchase for families, preschools and kindergarten with language immersion programs. Ann Welton, GrantCenter for the Expressive Arts, Tacoma, WA --Criticas Magazine 2007There is no doubt that our children are growing up in an increasingly diverse and multi-cultural world. The ability to communicate and understand other languages is certainly an advantage that many parents hope to give their young children. By using familiar objects, shapes, music and sounds children are introduced to their Spanish counterparts. Repetition breeds familiarity and that is exactly what our testers found here as children began to gradually associate things they had seen in the video with both words. --The National Parenting CenterExcellent learning tool; very informative.  Excellent production quality, fun and colorful.  Teaches Spanish using easy-to-understand images with names in both English and Spanish, familiar objects and nursery rhymes, and lots of repetition. KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror 2005 Children loved the music and colors. ... [They] caught on very quickly and were dancing, singing, and counting. Familiar pictures are shown and translated into Spanish. Afterward, children asked for translation of other words not shown. Many asked to watch it again. KIDS FIRST! KID Juror --KIDS FIRST! All-Star