TOS Review: Speekee

Speekee is a Spanish course geared to young children aged 2 to 10.  It is currently used in many schools in the UK but the site also offers the course on DVD and a new online version.  We were given a trial of the online course for review.

The online course has 10 video episodes featuring Speekee the puppet and helper Jim along with real Spanish children filmed in Spain.  Each episode finds the children at a different fun destination such as the beach, school, park and zoo.  Everyone speaks only Spanish but there is English captioning available.  Catchy songs and dances help young children quickly learn common Spanish words and phrases, and downloadable worksheets help reinforce each video lesson.  The puppets and animation appeal to the younger audience but using real children in the videos helps students see how what they are learning is used in real life.

The site offers many teaching opportunities for each episode as well, such as making sock puppets like those that appear in the videos or playing a game of hopscotch but counting in Spanish.  As your students progress through the videos they are awarded cute badges.  My boys looked forward to seeing each new award as they progressed.

 

Both my boys (6yo and 10yo) watched the videos.  I think the 10yo actually got more practical learning out of the experience, but the videos definitely provided a solid introduction to foreign language for my 6yo.  The 10yo appreciated seeing the real children and was actually using Spanish outside of the course.  He is also the one who reminded me every day that it was time “for ds4” to watch Speekee lol.   The 6yo enjoyed the puppets, songs and locations the episodes were filmed in.  He did enjoy most of the worksheets as well.  The site itself was very easy to navigate and customer service was friendly and helpful.

An added bonus to this online course is that you can watch it on the Wii.  You simply go to the internet channel on the Wii and type in the Speekee web address along with your log in information when prompted.  It was great to be able to free up the computer and see the episodes on the larger TV screen.  The Wii does not have the captioning, but the course is supposed to be “total immersion” type learning anyway. 

A subscription to Speekee TV is £4.95 (or $7.50) per month and the first two weeks are free.
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I was given a trial of Speekee TV to facilitate this review.  I received no other compensation.  To see other TOS Crewmember reviews click on the banner below.