If these language resources have been helpful to your family and you would like to recommend them to other families, please contact us so that we can print your thoughts on this page. Thank you for your help with this!

Adoption from Ethiopia

“I have just spoken with a few of the other case workers here at Imagine Adoption and they all only had positive things to say about your book and CD! We are all really impressed (although I am slightly overwhelmed by the thought of having to learn Amharic!). We have all found the book to be simple yet very useful. We love that you included the phonetics to help people even more. The phrases are all very helpful too. I will certainly (and have already) recommended this book to some clients and will continue to do so. Thank you so much!” Julie

Julie Lebold

Africa Adoption Case Worker

“My husband and I ordered your products (the cd and book) a few months ago.  I was uncertain if I would even use it because I felt a bit overwhelmed with everything we needed to do before traveling to receive our girls.  Despite my uncertainty, we placed 3 orders:  one for each of us to use, and one for my mom who would be spending time with her new grandchildren, ages 8 and 10. 

This product was a TREMENDOUS help!  I tell everyone I know about it and strongly encourage all adoptive parents to try it.  Before traveling, I would pop the cd in the car and listen to it as I did errands.  At home I played it while loading and unloading the dishwasher, cleaning, etc.  Even when it was just for a few minutes, I was getting a feel for the sound and rhythm of the words.  Since I am a visual listener, I would sit with the book and read the words as the cd played.  This really helped me a lot. 

On the plane I listened to it, too.  (It was a loooong flight!)  The other parent traveling with us also seemed glad to share it with us.  It was a good way to connect with them, as well. 

Most of all, I found the phrases of affirmation ("I love you," "I am proud of you," etc.) enormously helpful.  Once we were home, the phrases about the doctor's visit and bedtime were invaluable.  One of my daughters suffered from nightmares and having appropriate things to say late at night to my tearful child really consoled her. 

Our girls’ doctor is Jane Aronson ("orphandoctor.com") and she remarked on how well our office visit went and attributed it in large part to our ability to communicate clearly and alleviate their anxiety. 

I cannot thank you enough for producing such a well thought-out, professional, and practical tool. Amharic is fun and easy because of you!!”


Maura from Suffern, NY

“I traveled to Ethiopia to adopt our 2 1/2 year old daughter. I listened to the CD from this book in my car for a few months before travel. The simple words and phrases came in very handy. First, it impresses the native Ethiopians a lot when you know some of their language and builds quick bonds. Second, it was absolutely necessary for communication with my daughter to understand basic needs (e.g., tired, potty, hungry, "owie" etc.). You need to learn some of the language before travel and this has the basics you should know.”

Johnson from Michigan

“This is a fantastic item for families adopting from Ethiopia. Hearing the phrases on the CD is the most helpful of anything I have looked into. The way it is done, I can do the first section over and over until I know it. And the spiral book is great for flash card type review. I highly recommend this product and plead for the writer to do more!”

Penny from Eau Claire, Wisconsin

“I love this book and cd. It is very easy to use. I learned quite a bit very quickly while listening to it while cooking. My three year old daughter also picked up quite a bit very fast. The price is more than fair. It has everything in this book that you would need to communicate with a new child who speaks Amharic. It teaches not just important things like "where does it hurt", but also important things like "I love you." This is a priceless tool for the families awaiting their new child or family member from Ethiopia or for those planning to travel there. Two thumbs up.”

Casey from Illinois

Adoption from China

“I have searched and searched for a simple, easy to understand, Chinese language book with the basics to communicate with our child when we adopt. I received the book this week and was so pleased with the size and the content. This is the easiest language book and CD that I have run across to learn. With the English on left page, and Chinese on right, with the exact pronunciation......there's just no other book like it, if you want something to just simply communicate with your child. I have no doubt this book will be extremely useful in our adoption. The CD is great and very easy to understand and follow with a great Mandarin speaker! In my opinion, this is the perfect book to allow you to speak to your child for the first time on "Gotcha Day", and will make the transition for both parent and child smooth. Plus the size is small and easy to fit in a purse, diaper bag, or back pocket.”

Tammy from Pleasant Shade, Tennessee

“Great resource for an adoptive parent! The CD has a native Mandarin speaker who speaks slowly and repeats it for practice. The words in the manual are listed in English, in Mandarin with the English alphabet and also phonetically. We used a similar resource when we brought home our 5 year old daughter from China two years ago. This one is a bit nicer as the CD quality is better and the speaker is easier to understand. We are in the process of adopting a 13 year old girl from China now, and this resource will be invaluable to us! We play the CD in the car so that the whole family can learn.”

Patricia from Smithboro, New York

“Thank you sooooo much!!! It arrived on Monday and I have been listening to it ever since!! It is exactly what I was looking for!!!!! Just the right sentences and words I will need and want to say to our new daughter. Chinese is so difficult- and this makes it easy!!!!! I will spread the word!
THANK YOU!!!”

Jean from Plymouth, Minnesota

“Our family is in the process of adopting from China. It is important to us to learn enough of the Chinese language so that we will be capable of offering some comfort to our new baby girl. This resource is easy to use, and, as another reviewer mentioned, the size of the book makes it small enough to fit in a purse or diaper bag so that it is readily available when it's needed. My seven year old son has already learned many of the phrases, and I am beginning to feel a little less intimidated about coping with the language barrier that will surely exist between us and our new daughter. I highly recommend this resource for anyone adopting from China!”

Tammy from Pennsylvania

“We purchased this book prior to traveling to pick up our daughter in May, and it was wonderful! It was easy to use and very helpful in many situations. Our 6 year old son was looking through it during our travels just days before meeting his sister, and he was laughing that one of the phrases was, "Please do not bite." Sure enough, we had to use that one. We used phrases from the book for reassurance during times that were frightening for our daughter as well as for bonding. After our boys were in bed for the night, my husband and I would play with our new daughter and get the book out and tell her things like, "I love you. I will never leave you. We are your Mommy and Daddy." etc. She had just turned two and seemed to understand our attempts.”

Stacee from Oregon

Adoption from Haiti

"I would highly recommend Simple Language for Adoptive Families.  The book has been a great resource and I can’t wait to use what I have learned when my son comes home!  This book and CD focus on words and phrases that an adoptive family would need to use when their child comes home, not on generic phrases that might not be useful. Because of this, it’s not overwhelming and you really feel like you’re learning the most important phrases!  I think that any adoptive family would benefit from this product!"

Nicole from Chicago, Illinois

 “I bought the book and CD right after my trip to Haiti and I think they are fantastic! The books make it easy for 'lingual challenged' types as myself. My little guy just turned 1 on May 7th and I hope to get him home before he is really conversing, but it would be comforting to him if I used familiar words to call familiar things.

My friend recently went to see her beautiful little girl in Haiti and had nothing but terrific things to say about how this helped her and made all the difference in the world to building that relationship with her daughter. She was able to understand and respond to her little girl and for bonding and attachment purposes (and just plain lack of frustration!), the book made all the difference in the world.”

Kelly from Lynden, Washington

"The books are here and they look absolutely wonderful!  I really like how you wrote the pronunciation beside each phrase or sentence and then reinforced it with the CD!  Very well done!  Thanks for sending it - I am sure it will be a huge help when our daughter comes home!"

Marlene from Alberta, Canada

"I ordered the Creole set about three weeks ago.  It is so easy to use and practical.  Amy has done an excellent and professional job in putting this together.  The word choices are practical and I am excited about using my newly learned words to communicate with my Haitian sons!"   

 Julie from George, Washington

 “Oh, you can count on it being helpful.  I have the a different course but I find by the fourth CD it just gets way, way too fast and the sentences that they teach you are so specific and unrelated to adoption that it's not given me that much to work with.  I went to spend two weeks in Haiti in April and found that even ten words in Creole opened up a whole world of interaction and humour with my son. Thanks so much.”

Kristin from Ontario, Canada

“Things I love about it:
It's small and light weight but durable so I can take it just about anywhere. It's broken up into really great sections which will make finding just the words I need so much easier when our kids are home and I can't think of what I'm trying to say. The way the book is made you can use it like flash cards as far as the English translation on one side and you can fold back the Creole words or vice versa to test yourself. The words and phrases are extremely helpful and include useful phrases that were not in my other resources. I really like the CD too because it is high quality recording and the words are said very clearly in English and then repeated slowly twice in Creole giving you a chance to say it over and over before moving on!
Just fantastic! I'm sure it will prove to be a huge blessing to many families. We have just had it this week and have already been through it over and over again!”

Angela from Corona, California

Russian Adoption

“I love the book and CD. It has phrases which are specifically useful with children. It is easy to use and easy to find phrases you are looking for. I have been playing the CD in the car and chuckle as I mangle repeating the Russian phrases and I think I'm scaring the other drivers, but it's easy to follow along which is what I need. If you are looking for a few phrases to get you by during the adoption process, this product is great.”

Jennifer from New Hampshire

“Thank you for your book. We just returned with our daughter last week. Your book was a tremendous help in communicating with her during our trip 2 visits as well as on the journey home. At our court hearing, the Inspector even mentioned that we were using Russian with our daughter to make her feel comfortable. My husband and I had tried to learn Russian while we were waiting for our referral, but none of the books we bought were helpful for our situation. It has been a tremendous help to us. We will continue to let others know about it.”

Jana from Kentucky

“The small book is a great size to use daily plus to pack on your trip. The CD is a great tool to practice with in the car. I liked having the book to reference the words that I just couldn't figure out.

I LOVE this book. It has very useful phrases that will be needed for adoptive families. It's not a travel phrasebook; it's specifically for interacting with your new child. The phrases are ones that I will actually use and are grouped by topics - Bedtime, Family, etc. I know I won't be able to remember all the phrases if they're long but I'm able to get the key words. This is really, really helpful for someone adopting a child from Russia, especially if your child will be a toddler or older. I am practicing with it so I can communicate with my child when she arrives!”

Angela from Bloomington, Minnesota

“Our family has been listening to the CD in the car on and off for the last month. It is very user friendly! My 4 year biological son has even picked it up. In fact he probably speaks better Russian than my husband and I.

The CD says the English version of the word, and then repeats it twice in Russian. Once for you to hear, then the second time so you can repeat it.
And all of the words are appropriate for what an adoptive parent would need. This has been a purchase we were very happy we made!”

Jennifer from Miles, Iowa

I recently purchased this CD and Phrase Book and it proved to be invaluable. I downloaded it onto my phone, ereader and computer as well as listening to it on my drive to work every day. The Russian speaker is very clear and it was so easy to learn the correct pronunciation. I was able to test myself at home with the phrase book and it cemented the phrases I had just learned. Although my daughter was only 12 months old when I adopted her, I was able to speak to her in a language she was more familiar with. If there is one thing every adoptive parent travelling to Russia needs; it is this CD and phrase book.

Naomi

Adoption from Spanish speaking countries

“Worth every penny! We are so grateful to Amy and everyone involved with creating this and offering it. A *MUST* for adoptive families where Spanish is the native language of their children. Contains helpful words, questions, statements, and many terms of endearment you can use immediately. Out of everything I've got to date my husband LOVES this the most. In three years of searching this is the only package I've found that is designed exclusively for communicating with a child. All the other language learning tools out there are designed for communicating with an adult. You aren't going to ask an adult whether he needs his diaper changed or wants his teddy bear and you aren't going to ask a two year old for the current exchange rate or for directions to the bank. Other language aids are just not helpful for speaking with small children. If you are good at searching you will find pieces and parts scattered throughout the adoption community but you will not find in one place and I doubt you will find all the helpful things in this set. Whether you want one book to help with communicating with your child or you want to supplement this with adult level Spanish learning aids so you can become fluent, please do your family a favor and get this.”

Lisa from Kansas City, Missouri

“I received my copy today! I was surprised at the size - it's much smaller than I thought it would be - which is just PERFECT! I can imagine any family needing to use this will be thrilled at having it laying open on the countertop in the kitchen or in the car without being in the way. It's about the size of a CD, and about a half inch thick. Nice and sturdy with the spiral and CD all contained, I'm thrilled with it!

My little three year old is walking around the den, listening and repeating right now - the CD has both English and Spanish on it. English first, then Spanish, space to repeat, and Spanish again - by a native speaker. It's clear, and slow enough for learning, but not too slow to be laborious. As we listen, my heart swoons to think of how this tool will help a mother connect with the newest addition to the family from another culture and language background.

I'm contacting my church today (we help with an orphanage in Mexico) to be sure they have this book as a resource!

Every phrase you need - here it is!

Great job!”Senora Gose from Bryan, Texas
Creator of Flip Flop Spanish

Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 1

"This was just what I was looking for! It’s a nice small size book that has all the basic phrases an adoptive parent would need. The basics and phrases of affection etc. I wasted time and money on other learning Spanish books, DVDs and tapes. This two part cd and book set are perfect for the parent to be whose child speaks Spanish."

Melissa from Shorewood, Illinois

"The book and cd are just what I was looking for. I couldn't have asked for anything more tailored to our needs. Very pleased to have found it!"

Peter from Cataumet, Massachusetts

“This book is perfect for any adoptive parent needing to learn some basic sentences in order to immediately communicate in Spanish with your child. "Yo soy tu mama" is my favorite one!! I have popped the CD in the car and listened and practiced along as I am driving. The book is great too because it shows how to pronounce each word. I would recommend this book- a must have for any family who needs a quick lesson in basic Spanish!”

Ivy from Jackson, Tennessee

“We have fallen in love with this simple Cd and booklet made especially for adoptive parents. It is a pocket sized spiral bound book (I love that it will fit in my purse while we're in Colombia!) that contains all the most common phrases and sentences an adoptive parent might need in the first few months with their child. It also has a companion cd that says the sentence first in English, then the Spanish is repeated twice with time in between for you to practice it on your own. And, the voices are very pleasant to listen to! My husband downloaded the cd onto his Itouch so he can listen in his work vehicle. He is able to listen more frequently than I am so he is really flying with it! Right now he has the chapters "Words of Affection", and "Boundaries" memorized and is working on "Bedtime". I'm just starting "Boundaries". We figured we'd go out of order and prioritize what phrases we will need right away!”

Tiffany from Maryland