Quelle bonne idée! Free online homework help for French immersion students

It’s seven p.m., your kid has a project due tomorrow on le système solaire, and you can barely translate the title, let alone read the instructions. For those of us whose French know-how doesn't expand beyond bonjour, merci or ooh la la, this new French homework help program may be just what you've been looking for.

Voilà Learning is a new avatar-based online system that is currently helping over 150,000 Canadian French immersion students from grades one to 12 receive homework help en français from live teachers. With customizable avatars and a virtual world that resembles a typical French école, students can sign in Monday to Thursday from five p.m. to eight p.m. to ask questions and receive the help they need in real time. Yep, that's right—it's an after-school tutor that you don't have to pay for, and you don't have to chauffeur your kids to. Sign us up!

The company insists that their virtual world isn't a video game—the system is built to include PowerPoint presentations, videos and breakout discussion sessions. Either way, we know that kids love their screen time, so we're thinking that this match just might be parfait. Better to have them learning while they're hanging out in virtual worlds, non?

Over 20 Canadian school boards are already registered with Voilà Learning to give their students free access to the homework help program. If your kid's board hasn't signed up yet, the site suggests you contact your school trustee tout de suite.

Read more:
How to know if French immersion is right for your kid In defense of French immersion 8 things I wish I’d known about French immersion