Most three-year-olds spend their days playing and many are only just learning to string short sentences together.

But while normal toddlers have only a basic grasp of their native tongue, hundreds of young children in the West are learning to "parlez Français" and "hablo Espanol".

After-school Le Club Français clubs are opening all over the South West, teaching children aged two and a half to 11 to speak a second language.

French and Spanish speakers are running sessions of Le Club Français, which started in 1985, in Cirencester, Cheltenham, Abingdon, Stroud, Bristol, Thornbury, Nailsea, Clevedon, Portishead, Yatton, Weston-super-Mare and Faringdon.

Entrepreneur Anna-Kate Fuller decided to venture into teaching after detecting a gap in the market for young children to learn a language.

Mrs Fuller, who learned French from an early age and is passionate about the benefits a second language brings to a child, started her first class in Cirencester.

"Not only will it help in terms of having that foreign language ability in later life, but it's a fact that children who learn a language early in life develop a greater propensity for mathematical problem solving, increased confidence and a marked increase in their ability to learn new things in general," she said.

The clubs teach French or Spanish through fun activities such as songs, plays and craft – all the things that a normal children's group would do.

Fluent French speaker Harriet Knight runs Le Club Français classes in Bristol, including an after-school club at Colston's Primary School.

Mrs Knight and two teachers – Laura Udakis, 24, and Guillemette De Quillacq, 21 – teach about 10 children every week.

The teachers are animated and lively as they engage the class and encourage French interaction between pupils.

Ms De Quillacq, who has lived in England since September last year, is impressed how quickly English children pick up her native language – especially the youngest members of the class, who are five.

"I really love working with kids. It's great to see them learn, they are amazing," said Ms De Quillacq, an international business student at the University of the West of England.

Mrs Knight, who has been involved with Le Club Français since the late 1980s, believes it is important the teachers speak with the right accent, as children imitate exactly what they hear.

"Children tend to be extremely uninhibited," she said.

"They are also very, very good mimics, so we need to ensure that our teachers, who are either French native speakers, or students who have been studying French at university, have very, very good accents, because that is the accent that will then be reflected by the children."

"Children can start with Le Club Français from the age of two and a half."

"We operate in many nurseries up and down the country. Here at Colston's children can start from Year One. It's usually the children in years one to four who are the most interested in the classes.

Mrs Knight learned French from eight and studied French and Russian at university before working as a tour operator in Europe and as a French teacher from the late 1980s.

To find out more about Le Club Français go to www.lcfclubs.com.