Do you know of any software programs (over the internet or CDROM) that
will allow my little 2 and 5 year old girls to play games on the
computer in both english and another language.  For example, the
following website allows kids to practice reading and then click on
any words they are having trouble with and the computer sounds out the
words and then tells it to them:
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f
I would like a program that could do that with Spanish, Chinese,
and/or French.  However, I would like the instructions to be in
English as first and then slowly morph the questions into the foreign
language.  If this is not possible, then just a program with a very
easy interface for young kids to figure out whats going on in the game
even if they can't understand one word on the page.

If your kids are two and five years old, you are better off getting
software that only uses the foreign language. Adults are the ones that
need the stepping stone of instruction in their own language. Kids of
that age still have their natural ability to learn language that
allowed them to pick up English.

They will play the game like it is a game, and hopefully pick up a few
words in the process. The problem you will run into is that kids don't
learn language through just listening. A large portion of their
ability to learn is that they can guess rules of morphology and syntax
(word formation/grammar) by just listening to a language. But, if they
don't have a speaker of the language to test these theories on, they
will likely end up with bad habits. Kids grow up making mistakes like,
"I runned yesterday" instead of "I ran yesterday" the reason for this
is that they discovered the rule about the dental suffix from the
majority of the language and tried to apply it across the board. It is
only because they have someone that knows better that they break the
habit. If they were learning grammar from the TV, they would probably
not break that habit.

I think it is a great idea to expose kids to foreign language at an
early age when they can learn it most effeciently, but it can't be a
game in isolation. It has to be something they can converse in with
you or preferably a native speaker.

--SENATUS