Ok, I'm back from my fantastic European voyage. I didn't have time or access to the internet to share the Switzerland portion of the trip - suffice it to say that it was AMAZING and I want to spend a lot more time in my country of birth about which I know so little. The biggest surprise for us was how much fun my preschooler had. I think he's more down in the dumps than I am about being back. He keeps sighing: I miss Crans Montana; I wish I were in Paris...why can't we live in Europe...Kid after my own heart!!

For you technical people - while on the road, I purchased oodles (about 30!) kids' DVDs for my son. Naturally, it's area 2, so I figured that I needed to buy a DVD. I had asked on this or another forum about this issue before leaving, and it sounded as though it were a matter of buying a DVD that was compatible with all areas. So today we went to Best Buy, and supposedly bought such a DVD. It's a Cyberhome CH DVD-300 DVD player, and the directions say that it is compatible with all areas (it's also suspiciously cheap!)...Its manufacture date is Nov 2005.

Well...it Doesn't work!! In fact, the directions make it look like we need an "area 2 TV" -- is that the case??? If so, man, I'm going to be mad at myself.

If we can't find a solution and must use our CD on the computer, I understand that after 5 times of playing DVD from a certain Area, the reader then becomes hard-wired for that Area. If so, can we read U.S. CD roms and musical CDs?? In other words, do we just lose the ability to play Area 1 (or other Area than hard-wired) DVDs?

Thank you LOADS in advance for any help. I am truly confused and don't trust my local Best Buy!!

Gambader

A quick search on the internet found this website with instructions on how to enable your new DVD player to play DVDs from all regions.

http://tinyurl.com/9pfuk

Under pressure from Hollywood, the DVD standard includes the notion of “zones,” a completely artificial concept invented to prevent one DVD from being viewed in any area other than the one for which it is sold.

Every DVD player made by a major manufacturer is coded for one zone (1=US, 2=Europe, etc.). It will play only DVDs encoded for that zone. However, there is no technical obstacle to playing any DVD from anywhere, and some off-brand DVD players either play DVDs without checking the zone or allow you to set a specific zone before playing a DVD from that zone. Major brands don't include this feature but many can be modified to allow it, and some even allow the zone to be changed with undocumented commands.

Despite all this, DVDs also have the same issue as VHS tapes: namely, some DVDs are encoded with PAL in mind (for Europe and most of the world outside the US), and others are encoded with NTSC in mind (for North America and Japan). You need a TV that will accept PAL if you are playing a PAL DVD, and a TV that will accept NTSC if you are playing a NTSC DVD. The PAL/NTSC distinction isn't actually built into the DVD, but since the frame sizes and rates are designed for one or the other, most DVD players convert the signals to the appropriate standard on output, and so you need a TV that accepts the standard you require.

Most European TV sets accept both PAL and NTSC video input, but American TV sets typically accept only NTSC.

We modified our American DVD player to take European (but not including French) discs. So far the ones we've bought from a company in Ireland work just fine It's wonderful to be able to buy titles that aren't available in America, which includes a fair number of BBC offerings.

Thanks, I don't know how J62 found this URL (I swear I looked for an hour!) but I will check it out...or have hubby check it out when he returns from work today!

Something that does concern me - do some TVs only accept NSTC and that is it? Even if we have a compatible DVD player? We have older TVs (at least 3 years) and that might be the problem.

It's so frustrating to be so nontechnical!! It's comforting to know that some of you did fix this for the States..right?

Thanks..

To J62:

I'm not sure if you are a techie, or just very helpful (either way, thanks!!) - I just tried the directions, and it plays, but only in black and white. Have you ever had that happen? If you're not technical, I apologize in advance for the assumption (although it's a great honor in my book!!) Thanks

if they dvd's were not bought from authorized sources, you may have a number of problems with them..
wrong language.. skipping, blk and white also may be one of the peculiarities. not sure. street vendors do NOT sell authorized dvd's.

(my daughter bought a bunch in vietnam and a student in russia and they are a real hoot. the majority work fine, but the ones that don't are just to be trashed).

we live in europe and have a cheap dvd that doesn't check zones, and i guess our television doesn't interfere either. hope you can get it worked out.
it is nice to be able to pick them up wherever you go.

Take your manual. Enter "Setup" (Button on the remote). Choose "Video", then "TV System". It is set to "Multi" on your machine. Now change this entry to "NTSC" ("right" or "left" keys on the remote). From now on all you movies will be in color. (Unless it's a b/w movie ;-)

When I bought a DVD player this summer (at bestbuy or curcuitcity?) I asked about a multi-region player. They only one that would play my eurpean DVDs was thier least expensive player. I think I paid $30-40 for it! we wee able to watch the dvds on our older tv as well.
A lot of the sales "help" won't have a clue about multiregion.

gambader, we have the same Cyberhome you bought at Bestbuy. I bought 3 of them from Sam's club for $30 each, and my son set them to be multi-region. I'm a French teacher and buy many DVDs in France and all play fine in this player. Never heard of the TV having anything to do with the process.

There's quite an easy explanation for no color". If the DVD player is set to "automatic tv standard" output, it plays NTSC DVDs in NTSC and PAL DVDs in PAL. If the TV can handle both, no problem.

However, if the TV can only "decrypt" NTSC, it won't show color playing PAL DVDs. If you force the players output to NTSC (setup menu...), it will transcode PAL to NTSC. So you'll have color on your NTSC TV set, but can't enjoy the better picture quality of PAL encoded DVDs.

Many DVD players can be hacked to recognize ALL region codes. Do a Google search for "DVD Hacks" to find out more. The following site is really good:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

GOT IT!!!! Thanks to your collective advice, I am now the proud owner of at least ONE area 2 DVD (Franklin the turtle!) that works!!! The last step was to force the NTSC output and voila! We had color!! Perhaps not as vivid as it could be, but good enough for my son! I am not sure if I bought any SECAM DVDs---frankly I am too nervous to check at the moment--but it's great that it works!!

Crepes_a_go_go, what grade do you teach French to? I am in a major debate as to whether to send my son to a French International school next year. He's in a great school now (PreK) and this would be from K on. I'm finding that my teaching him French on my own isn't doing it - he understands fluently but refuses to answer, except the odd word. Assuming you teach in a non-French school, do you find that kids can get reasonably fluent in an American school? My American hubby says no, but I didn't grow up in the States and would rather hear a teacher's opinion. MERCI!

Hi Gambader,

Very interesting question.

I speak English to my 10 and 8 year old. My husband speaks Swiss German. Except for my English, they only hear Swiss German (living in Switzerland). My children understand English and the 10 year old can actually speak it, but only because we go to the US every two years. I'm hoping my 8 year old will catch on this year in the states.

In households where both parents speak English (in Switz.), the children speak English fluently.

I won't send them to any international school because my children love our little town and its school. They feel so secure and at home. They walk to school every day and even come home for lunch. It's tough on mothers who want to work but great for the kids.

Anyway, this certainly doesn't answer your French question, but it confirms why your child doesn't speak fluent French.

Schuler,

This does help. In my case, to make matters worse, I've become more comfortable in English, so that I don't always speak French to him.

Regarding schools, my dilemma is the same as yours..even though we live in a biggish city, he goes to a school 4 blocks from our house that looks and feels like the character Madeline's schoolhouse. It's so comfy cozy and intimate, and small. My son, who is easily overwhelmed by crowds and would do poorly in an impersonal environment, really thrives there.

I'm afraid that in a French system where a child can easily get lost in the less nurturing environment that typically exists, my son will feel displaced. I also feel self-conscious because it seems to me that the moms in the French school are so much younger than I (20s and early 30s) and have many kids, whereas living in the city, I seem to have lots of 40-something friends with one or two kids.

Incidentally, both my husband and son have decided that based on our awesome trip to Switzerland this year, they want to learn German instead! I'd love that for them, but want French as well!

It does help lots to know that your 10-year old is speaking English because of his trips. All the more reason for us to travel more (and longer!) to Europe.

gambader,

Now I am teaching high school French, 10th-12th grade. In America, we do it all wrong - we should be teaching foreign language in primary school. But alas, it's been this way all my 45 years so I doubt it will change.

Previously, I taught French at a Catholic elementary school, grades K-6. It was only an enrichment course, taught only once or twice a week for 30 minutes. The kids didn't really learn much, but the exposure was great. They were excited about French, and I hope it gave them a good feeling about it once they got to high school.

I live near New Orleans which has two French immersion public schools. That is the best of both worlds. Kids there start kindergarten in total immersion. All the teachers are from France. The pupils are chosen by lottery although a child with one or both parents French nationals have the right to attend since the school is partially funded by the French government.

I have a French friend whose children attend this school, and she is very pleased. Her husband is American, so both languages are spoken at home. If English is the primary language being spoken at home, I do believe the only way a child will become fluent in French is to be in an immersion situation daily at school.

Hope this helps you. Bonne chance!

This is an interesting turn in the dvd thread!!
I teach parenting classes in our local Early Childhood Family Ed program and brain research we refer to says that kids are actively making millions of new brain connections and are able to learn one, two, three...languages and switch from one to another fairly easily. As adults, it is much more difficult to make new brain connections (think of a stroke patient trying to relearn walking or talking) and therefore much more difficult to learn a new language and nearly impossible to recreate the nuances in pronounciation. Even if kids aren't fluid speakers (expressive language) they have the ear for another language and usually have good receptive language skills. In other words, any exposure to multiple languages early on goes way further than it would in my older brain!!
They say babies babble in the sounds of the language they hear at home....a french baby will babble differently than a japanese baby. Well, I certainly rambled....can you tell I think this stuff is cool??

Hi gambader,

For your son, how about summer immersion courses? There are a bunch of these in Switzerland . . . That way, he can spend a few months getting comfortable speaking, and he should carry that with him for life. Or maybe a month with his Swiss grandma?

What a great dilemma! I'm sure your son will pick up both French and German, and he will thank you for it!!

s

There are no Secam DVDs sold in France. All are PAL, and they play just fine on French DVD player and TV, all of which are PAL/Secam compatible.

Even better, they all have a "scart" socket, the 4 video components which create the colored picture are fed separately to the TV, no color encoding needed, no PAL or Secam or whatever.