TODDLERS and their parents in Hereford are looking for the ‘Mayne’ chance when it comes to learning a foreign language.

With the help of Pierre the Monkey, or as the French would say, Pierre le Singe, teacher Katie Mayne is bringing a touch of joie de vivre to a new French class for pre-school children and their parents at the Kindle Centre in Hereford.

After just a week, Katie’s new enterprise, Fab-u-Lingo has struck a chord in the city, boosting confidence for tiny tots and for adults too. Already, a club for five to 11-year-olds is on the cards, and nursery schools in the county have expressed interest in a concept which makes learning French a fun experience for small children.

“Many studies have shown that pre-school children are very responsive to acquiring a new language,” explains 27-year-old language teacher Katie Mayne from Malvern, who has taught French at Aylestone School for the past two years. Now with the launch of her new business, she hopes to broaden the scope for learning language for young and old with parent and toddler groups.

Using a range of fun tactics, and with useful input from soft toy Pierre, Katie is already finding that her young students are lapping up the language.

The tiny tots are embracing French with the use of songs and games, while an adult class is getting to grips with the language with games such as bingo.

“The philosophy is for children to have fun while singing songs and taking part in activities and games involving French. Confidence is a massive thing, and pre-school children will be much better at pronunciation than if they wait until starting school”, explains Katie.

“I think this is something that is very new to Hereford,” she adds. “Fab-u-Lingo is only a week old but I’ve already had quite a lot of interest.”

What’s more, research has shown that the benefits of learning a language for pre-school children extend to other subjects such as maths and English.

“It helps children develop their cognitive abilities,” says Katie.

Pierre, who only ‘speaks’ French, is an essential part of proceedings. “I ‘translate’ for him, and the children work out what to say. He’s their motivation to speak in French.”