I love these French flash cards by eeBoo because they are beautifully illustrated and look and feel like really good quality, as does the sturdy cardboard box in which they are stored. There are 56 cards – eight words in each of seven categories. They are: vehicles, colours, clothing, market, room, animals and nature. Both the English and the French sides of the card feature the name of the category, the word, a picture and a sentence containing the word. The set also includes suggested games and activities, and a pronunciation guide.
To some British people, it may be seen as a downside that eeBoo is an American company (based in New York) and therefore American English is used, with spellings such as “colors”, and a number of examples of different vocabulary usage. On the other hand you could take the view that this would lead to some interesting discussions with your children about regional variation in the English language! I find it fascinating anyway – some examples include: airplane/aeroplane; pants/trousers; sweater/jumper; truck/lorry. Interestingly on the card for “l’automne”, the word is translated as “fall” but the sentence “En automne les feuilles sont belles” is translated as “In autumn the leaves are beautiful.”
American usage aside, what I love about these cards is that, among so many educational resources for children, they stand out because they are both beautiful and useful.