Learning French as a Family: How One Homeschool Mom Is Revisiting French With Her Kids

Lauren Matthies, a homeschooling mom of two, shares how her family is learning French together, why language learning doesn't have to be one more thing on the schedule, and what she'd tell any parent who feels intimidated about teaching a language they don't speak fluently.

Can you tell us a little about your family and what your homeschool week typically looks like?

I have two children, ages 8 and 11, and we have homeschooled since the beginning. As a result, my kids don’t really know any other way. As my children have gotten older, we have more obligations outside of the home, which means that we have less time to spend on true deep dives, which used to define our homeschool, but we still love unit studies and incorporate lots of little things from many different homeschool models. We probably mostly resemble “unschoolers” from the outside, but our main guide is the “life as learning” model. We lead a literature-rich, play-driven, experience-based life that prioritizes connection. We genuinely love spending our days together.

What originally inspired you to teach your children a second language, and what language(s) have you studied or are you studying?

Travel is one of the things that our family values and prioritizes most. In general, we want to raise children who are compassionate towards all people and who are aware of different cultures. I studied French from middle school through college; I even minored in it, and yet I can barely speak the language. I wanted to (re)learn it alongside my children, both for my own benefit and theirs. We have also begun learning ASL for similar reasons.

What challenges or frustrations have you run into when trying to teach a language?

Our biggest challenge has probably been a lack of dedicated commitment to language learning. When the schedule gets busy, something has to give, and often it is the “extras.”

What has your experience been while using Homeschool Languages?

Homeschool Languages has made language learning fun for our family. It feels more like a game and really makes learning feel joyful, which is what I want all of our learning to be. It’s really fun to see my kids throw out little bits of French here and there, and I love hearing my 8-year-old tell other people that he is learning multiple languages.

How does Homeschool Languages fit into your weekly rhythm?

I wouldn’t say it fits into our “weekly rhythm” so much as we have just adopted it into our lives. We grab little bits here and there and find ourselves singing songs, using vocabulary that we have learned, and noticing when we hear French out in the world.

What would you say to another mom who feels intimidated about teaching a foreign language at home?

I get it, and yet I think that, for some reason, many of us feel like we are only allowed to teach what we know. There is so much value in learning alongside our children, and I think it is good for our children to see us struggle and not be experts at something. I really appreciate how open and go the Homeschool Languages curriculum is. It feels like a companion that helps remove a lot of the intimidation aspect of “teaching” a foreign language and makes it feel easy and natural to start learning together.

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