Learn to Speak French 8.1
4 CD set wіth Learn tο Speak, thе mοѕt effective way tο learn a foreign language.Build уουr fluency іn French using thіѕ feature-rich five-CD collection. Learn tο Speak French’s 100 lessons аnԁ adjustable study рƖаn expand уουr French vocabulary аnԁ perfect уουr pronunciation. Chοοѕе frοm a variety οf instructional features, including cultural video clips аnԁ a talking dictionary. Learn tο Speak’s voice recording, playback tools, аnԁ speech recognition technology Ɩеt уου practice уουr French, develop уουr ear, аnԁ hone уουr pronunciation. A conversational CD completes thе collection, adding a final polish tο уουr newly асqυіrеԁ abilities.
- Custom instructions аrе tailored tο suit аnу users’ study needs аt аnу level
- Over 100 complete exercises tο build skills іn pronunciation, gramar аnԁ writing
- Build a stronger grasp οf thе language wіth interactive simulated conversations
- Advanced speech recognition tools аnԁ record/playback capability enhance еνеrу moment οf уουr learning experience
- Talking dictionary аnԁ video clips detailing culture hеƖр рƖасе thе language іn іtѕ context
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Good speech recognition,
This program [is pretty inexpensive], and no, it’s not going to teach you to speak French fluently. I’m not good with languages, but I’ve found that making a run at French has required years, lots of reading, different books, spending time with movies, streaming audio over the Internet, and all sorts of things. This one…program isn’t going to turn you into a fluent French speaker, no single book, piece of software, or class will.
I didn’t get much use out of most of the functionality in this product. But I do like the speech recognition very much. The program has a meter that gives you an idea of how well you’re pronouncing words. It’s hard to get it pegged into the green (at least for me), but when I do, I believe that I’m pronouncing the words pretty well. In fact, I took a level 3 class at Alliance Francaise here in Chicago, and was as good as anyone at pronunciation, and was complimented by my teacher, despite being behind the rest on most other aspects of the language. This was entirely due to working with the speech recognition feature in an earlier version of this product.
I think it’s particularly helpful in light of the fact that language labs seem to be out of favor — at least they didn’t use them at the Alliance Francaise. There aren’t many sources of help available for learning correct pronunciation.
If you’re expecting this package to teach you French all by itself, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re serious about learning how to pronounce things, this is a great tool, and for [the money], I think it’s a fantastic deal.
If anyone from The Learning Company reads this, I’d like to suggest that they bring out a new product focusing completely on pronunciation and vocabularly. If they had a product with maybe 10,000 words, and solid tools for learning the subset of the vocabulary you needed, I’d pay a couple of hundred bucks for it, at least.
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|Anglophone in Quebec loves this program,
I’ve lived here over half my life and don’t speak french, not because I don’t know what to say, but because I’ve always been afraid that it wouldn’t sound right. This program is great for learning the correct pronounciation, and the conversation feature helps with thinking fast. My kids (ages 6 &
were not doing so well in french class last year but they’ve been practicing with this program and gaining confidence. It’s a lot of fun to use, especially the speech recognition meter, we take turns and compete to see who can get farther into the green area. Looking forward to having a french conversation with my french husband.
My only problem with this program is that even though it’s new, …the online programs that are supposed to be downloadable to your computer are no longer available. Not saying that the CD’s don’t have plenty to keep me busy but I feel a little [left out] because they discontinued them so soon.
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|We’ll always have Paris…,
First one negative: The Learning Company does have to get better at listing what platforms their software really works on. Version 8 does not run on Windows 2000, Windows 8.1 has problems with XP, but works fine on Windows 2000. If you’re planning on buying this software, be careful about which version you buy.
That said, this software is a good learning tool for picking up French. It will not be enough on it’s own (what one tool ever is for learning fluency in a language?), but it’s an incredible supplement. You see and hear French being spoken in a number of situations and by a number of different people, all with different accents, ages, and occupations. A book will not give you this (though a book will be better for learning the rules of grammar such as verb conjugation). Pronounciation is particularly hard for english speakers learning French (I speak from experience). Having the word spoken repeatedly while printed on the screen is a boon for figuring out how French is supposed to sound (again, a book will not do this as well).
The program relies on rote memorization for success, which is unfortunately one of the menial and grudging realities of learning any language. Each vocabulary word is tied to a picture (e.g., ‘ici’ has an “X” with an arrow pointing to it), and the drills rely on your ability to interpret these pictures. Most are not difficult at all to figure out, but some can be ambiguous. Each lesson moves from a list of vocabulary words into these drills, and then into a conversation usually between 2-4 French speakers. Once you have these phrases and sentences down, there are more drills. Lastly, each lesson includes games: “Go Fish” (against a strange horse/dog creature with a southern drawl) and a crossword puzzle. You can play the games at any time (though it’s harder to know this in version 8.1 than it was in version 8.0). Finally, you have a conversation with a French speaker via your PCs microphone. It’s as close as you will get to having a native speaker on hand for practice, though it has the limitations of any computer program (this part of the program has crashed on me, but not frequently enough for me to give up on the software).
Lastly, when you speak into the microphone the computer will judge your progress on a continuum from ‘tourist’ to ‘native’. This is a little tenuous, and I would encourage people to pay more attention to the playback of their voices rather than worry if they’re attaining ‘native’ status (I have also heard that sometimes these programs don’t work well with native speakers – a French-Canadian relative of a friend of mine once used this program, and was consistently told he was a ‘tourist’).
Overall, it’s a very good tool to help you along with learning French. It will not learn the language for you, but it will be a valuable help.
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