A good introduction to the language
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Having no knowledge of French (having learnt German at school) but with a keen interest to start learning, this course was an ideal way for me to get stuck in. The lessons revolve around keywords introduced in turn, which are then used in the subsequent conversations; then you have to try and remember them. The fact that they are used in dialogue within a context does make the words easier to remember. Each lesson is only 10 minutes or so long, which is particularly helpful for people with a short attention and motivation span (like me)! As a CD course, it is of course possible to transfer the tracks onto your mp3, so that you can revise your knowledge on the go - and the succinct and compact booklet helps as well.
The downsides are that it is perhaps a little too basic; for those already with at least schoolboy/girl level French, it will leave you wanting. A thorough completion of the course will probably get you to a good level of holiday French with some basic phrases, but if you are going to do some serious learning, I'd advise going for a traditional textbook and audio course as the booklet is a little too concise for that purpose. Similarly, if you are looking to improve your written communication or reading, this is also not suitable as it is predominantly a casual speaking course.
This audio course does what it saids on the tin - it eases you slowly and easily into the basics of spoken French, as the first step towards learning the language. If this course compels you to start studying French seriously, then all the better!
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Not double dutch
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Sometimes titles like these can equal hard graft. Listening and re-listening. Whilst there is by its very nature an element of this -this hand holding exercise works rather nicely and begins at a nice easy level. My french was years ago intermediate and this has worked as a nice refresher -it has eased me back into what I hope will be end up being a reasonable grasp of the language.
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Good but limited.
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Having learnt French from the age of 11 to 15 and forgetting it all by the age of 30 I wanted to brush up on my basics, I figured the easiest way would be to put this onto my iPhone and make it more usable than being limited to being near a CD player. I found that the booklet itself that comes with the three discs to be as useful as the discs but is easy to misplace due to its small size.
I feel that this is ok as a refresher course but probably quite good for complete beginners. Having already learnt these basic phrases I found that the CD's really weren't what I was expecting and similar things are now available straight onto iPhone / MP3 Players.
If you are completely new to the French language this is a good place to start out, you will hear good French accents and pick up the basics in hours, although there are plenty of other ways to learn the same basics the price tag is great.
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Oui. Non.
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I've never been very good with language. English often defeats me, Spanish confuses me, and what French I can remember was absorbed through osmosis from seeing hundreds of films set in Paris and fancying my teacher. Any kind of language course is going to help, even something as simplistic as this, and though it's relatively interesting to work through the exercises, its difficult to know exactly who its for other than an absolute beginner, and there can't be many of those, that like me, didn't at least try to memorise the verbs and tenses as homework. I don't think there's enough here to bluff your way through a Gallic holiday and wouldn't something more in-depth begin with these principles anyway?
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Good at what it does.
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We are new to French. Our children have been learning Latin for some time, so picking up the language has probably been easier than it could otherwise have been. This little pack of CDs that can easily be placed onto an MP3 player/iPod is actually pretty cool. It isn't unique though- and because of that might not be the best purchase you could make. What makes it worth a second glance is the format and the target- simpler phrases used in conversation that can be easily digested. Our kids actually liked it a lot. Even so, for the more serious learner this would be something to use in a pinch (before a holiday for example) and not something you would use to *learn* French. That being said it is by a trustworthy publishing house (Collins) and if you *are* someone who needs to learn conversational French fast could be just the ticket!
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