US-based iTunes has some international content, but truthfully, it is pretty limited. Whether you live in the US or elsewhere, double your access to minority language content (music, audio, video) that you can use on your iPod for additional language exposure for your kids.
How? Purchase MP3 and video files from the iTunes store for your minority language (the language your children are learning). By this, I mean, make purchases from the international iTunes stores, such as those for France, Japan, Italy, Poland, Peru, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and on and on. On the other hand, if you live in one of these countries, you can access the US iTunes store. It’s a little bit tricky, so keep reading for how to get around Apple’s country-specific requirements.
Why? Well, iTunes (like the music and film industries) only releases certain items to certain markets. Accessing international stores gives you access to much more material than if you only buy from the store aimed at your country of residence.
Pros of Purchasing from iTunes International Stores
– gain access to a vast amounts of original language content from which to choose.
– don’t pay shipping costs as you do when you buy “physical” items like CD’s that must be shipped internationally
Cons of Purchasing from iTunes International Stores
- you have to pay in the currency of the company store you are using.
– you need to have either a credit card from a bank in the country where your iTunes store is located, or a country-specific iTunes gift card (keep reading for tips on this).
How to Purchase International Materials from Country-specific iTunes Stores
Step 1) Open iTunes and click on the ITUNES STORE link on the left side of the page. Then, make sure you are on main store page. (This assumes you have already installed iTunes; if not, go here first: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/).
Step 2) Scroll all the way to the bottom of the main store page until you see the MY STORE drop down. Click to see the long list of international stores that are available. From the list, select the country for the iTunes store you wish to access.
3) If you already have an account on iTunes in the country where you live, be sure to sign out of it before continuing. Then, click to sign in again on the button in the top right of the iTunes store. The first time you wish to log in to a new country store, you must Create a New Account. When asked for an account user name, be sure to use a different user name than your original home country account. Fill in the information requested with information that is local to the country store you wish to access. For example, if you wish to access the German iTunes store, use a German mailing address (such as a friend’s or your in-laws’). (Don’t worry, Apple won’t check, but be sure to check “no contact by postal mail” if given the chance so that you do not set your friends or relatives up to get junk mail.)
If you have a bank card from a bank in the country for the iTunes store for which you are creating the new account, use that. If you do not, the only other option to pay for your purchases is to get a hold of an iTunes gift card in the currency of the country you are targeting. For example, if you wish to use the iTunes store for Spain, you’d need to have a access to an iTunes gift card in Euros. (I am not sure if the card has to have been purchased in Spain, in this example, since I did not go this route. Any comments on this?) Pick one up next time you are traveling or beg your friends or relatives to send you one for your next birthday or Christmas gift.
Once you have two accounts (one for the country where you live, and one for your minority language country/international iTunes store), you simply sign out (click on your user name in top right hand corner of screen and click on Sign Out). Then, click Sign In again at top right corner of screen and log back in with your second account. If you try to log on to one of the stores with the wrong account–iTunes Italy, with US log in, for example–it will give you a message that your account is only good in the Italian store, and kick you into that store. That is actually helpful, since it helps you keep straight which account (and currency) goes with which iTunes store.
Once you are logged on to iTunes with the new country account, you can purchase files (songs, audio, video) just as you would normally, play them on all machines you authorize (up to the maximum allowed by Apple), burn CD’s of them, etc. You can also continue to purchase files from your original account (US or otherwise). I have done this for several years and the two accounts have never conflicted, or even known that the other one exists.
In this way, I have purchased many French songs and audio stories (for my kids) and music not found in the US for my husband and me, as well as videos. The video selection on international iTunes stores is behind the US selection (presumably a licensing issue again), but as time has gone on, the iTunes video selection in non-US stores has increased, and it seems like it will only continue to do so. I have purchased episodes of French children’s shows and French versions of American shows (like Mickey Mouse Club House in French). As the French-produced (and other international) content in the iTunes audio selection continues to grow, there will be less of a need to purchase content translated from US sources.
For more on using the iPod to encourage language learning, see my previous post on using YouTube videos on your iPod.
Posted in Audio, iPod, Music, Resources, Videos
