Chez Mimi is based on the Channel 4/Scotland television series of the same name. According to the site description, it provides supplemental practice activities that are in accordance with the Scottish Curriculum 5-14 Modern Languages Guidelines : Listening for Information and Instruction and Reading for Information and Instruction. In spite of this seemingly specialized target audience, students of basic French language can use Chez Mimi as an engaging means of learning common vocabulary. There is a German collection of games accessible from the same page.
Type of Material:
Chez Mimi provides teacher's notes, vocabulary lists, and practice games and quizzes at three different levels of difficulty.
Recommended Uses:
These games can be used for additional vocabulary practice inside or outside of class.
Technical Requirements:
The site requires Macromedia's Flash Player (there is a link to the download site provided on the main page). A broadband Internet connection is preferred.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The site is designed to enhance and complement begninning language instruction through a variety of games and quizzes. It provides vocabulary practice in the areas of family members, groceries/food, weather, colors, describing people, and clothing.
Target Student Population:
The target population is public school students, but can be used for beginning classes of any age or level. One of my FRE 101 students said that the bright colors and cartoon design made the site especially appealing to younger students of French. Another student said that she thought it was better-suited to younger students, not college students.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
This site is designed for beginning students,
so I do not think any prerequisites are required. However, students should review the vocabulary lists before attempting the games and quizzes. One of my FRE 101 students said, "I don't think it is too hard for anyone with a basic understanding of some French words to navigate through." Another thought the site was "educational", but "a little easy"," especially at level one.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
I found the Teacher's Notes to be most useful in helping me determine how to use the site and its various activities. I liked that this section described each learning level in detail and provided learning outcomes for each game. I also liked the presentation of practical, useful, and real vocabulary practice using a variety of activities. One of my students liked that the games "were centered on everyday French words." She liked the grocery store game because it was "tricky" and she liked the card game, "Memory Moves," that "tested [her] memory." According to a second student, the site was "very useful and fun." Her favorite activity was "Family Ties" because it was a "refresher" and it was "fairly simple to do." She felt like the visuals (the tree and the pictures) enhanced her practice session. She also said that she planned on printing the vocabulary pages for future reference for our French class and that she would recommend Chez Mimi to her son, who is taking French in high school. A third student thought the greeting cards game brought out a student's creativity. A fourth student found that the "Rainbow Rooms" game was excellent for both practicing colors and learning the names of items found in a room. She also liked the "Who's Who Game" in which she could practice describing people. My fifth student really liked the knowledge area quizzes, "Rainbow Rooms," and "Family Ties" areas because they were more "challenging," "interesting," and "helpful" than the other areas. He noticed that the knowledge area quizzes changed a little each time he tried them.
Concerns:
One student said the audio was poor in the "Grocery Store" area. It would be nice to see the expansion of topics and even more games around the same topics.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Chez Mimi is effective because it addresses different learning styles. One of my students thought the same, that the site would be helpful to auditory, visual, and tactile learners. He also thought that the spoken French aspect was good because it incorporated several different French speakers throughout the site. Outside of the classroom, Chez Mimi could be used as extra practice to reinforce content comprehension or to study for a quiz or test. One FRE 101 student thought it was a fun way to practice vocabulary on your own, because you can retry the activites until you get the correct answers. Another student said that the games could be used as group activities in class to review material or to prepare for a test. A third student thought the site was "a good tool in practicing conversational French." The teacher pages, complete with learner outcomes, are very useful and should not be missed. The vocabulary pages, while useful would have been more beneficial with pictures rather than simple English word translations.
Concerns:
One of my students found the "Rainbow Rooms" fun, but "a little bit complicated" because she was not sure what to do or how it would help her. Another student said that "the teacher should caution the students that they may encounter terms they don't know and may need to use the Help function for the specific activity." A third student did not think that the difficulty level increased when she went to a higher level. A fourth student thought that the "Memory Moves" area was not very helpful, even at level 3, and that the "Card Creator" was more for a "junior high student."
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The site is very easy to use on a broadband connection. I was able to use the site at home and at work on my PCs. One of my students did not have any trouble using the site with a Mac in a lab on campus. It is a nice feature to be able to display and hide the help feature from the buttons on the page. The same is true with the sound feature. The user has good control of the interface.
Concerns:
One of my students found that Chez Mimi took so long to load the main pages to go from one activity to another" on a dial-up connection at home. Another student said that it "took forever" to load on dial-up and that it caused her computer to "freeze once or twice." She said a teacher should assign the activities as either extra credit or students should complete the activites in class/on campus, so that students with slower Internet or older computers at home "could have an equal chance in completing the activities." A third student had difficulties running the "Cartoon Maker", as it "locked two computers up" at two of our campus locations, which use broadband connections. I also had trouble with this activity and the error message read: "A script in this movie is causing Macromedia Flash Player 8 to run slowly. If it continues to run, your computer may become unresponsive. Do you want to abort the script?" Therefore, I had to abort the activity. My computer went crazy, so to speak, when I had to abort. I had to shut the window and start again.
Creative Commons:
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