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Title: French Level One (Learn in Your Car)
ISBN: 1591251893
Author:
Henry N. Raymond
Publicate Date: 2004-12-22
Publish: 2004-12-22
List Price: $19.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
Format: Audio CD
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.12
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.97
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Another Boring Memorization Language Course
This is just another one of those dumb, boring, and lazy memorization courses that doesn't have a clue about teaching a language.
The first lesson is basics, which only teaches things like, I, you, her, him, and we. Not much else. From there they figure you are now fluent in French so lesson 2 goes into transportation words and phrases. The next 14 lessons do the same thing, picking a topic and just rattling off a bunch of phrases, once in English then twice in French, before going to the next phrase.
In some of the later lessons of Level 2 they do go into some more basic things but these should have been covered way at the beginning. You will be so frustrated within the first few lessons of Level 1 that you will never make it this far. If you do, there is no reason for them to go into these basics as their method is simply to memorize phrases.
Another bad thing they do is use wrong translations. In some of the lessons they want you to say "Excuse me" which in French is "Excusez-moi". However, they keep translating it in French to "s'il vous pla??t" which means "please". Two totally different words. It is hard to do a course when you have to keep wondering what words they are teaching you are wrong and which are correct.
I have to agree with the other reviewers who said this is nothing but someone reading out of a dictionary with no teaching, memory aids, pronunciation help, conversation, or grammar.
The only thing this course will do is make you hate learning a language.
If you want a good basic introduction into French, try "French in No Time".
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2: Very effective and great for the commute to work
I bought this b/c I will be going to France this year and while I know they speak English, I think it would be nice to know a little French. They have a great way of presenting the words so you memorize them more effectively. Great for the drive to and from work.
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3: A talking phrasebook.
If you're looking to learn French as an entire language, and not just chopped up phrases, then put this down. The CD's do nothing but state the English phrase, then the French phrase twice. There is no grammar, no cultural notes, not even an introduction or a guide to pronounciation, so the learner has no starting point whatsoever. It doesn't help that the lady's high pitched voice makes you never want to hear French again. If you're traveling, or if you have other resources, then this CD might be useful to some extent. If you're planning on actually learning French, don't get this.
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4: Not the easiest was to learn
I wasn't very impressed with this audio tape. Unless you have taken french classes in the past I don't think you would be able to learn anything with this. All it does it say a phrase in English and repeat it in French...and it moves very fast. It doesn't explain grammar rules or help with pronounciation. I would reccomend this for someone who already knows some french, and just needs a refresher before they travel to France. Also-most of the vocabulary in the first volume pretains to travel. So unless you are actually going to France I would not buy this.
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5: Learn In Your Car is a GREAT way to start out a language
I've already become fluent in Spanish and also speak Japanese quite well, and the learn in your car CD's are the perfect way to get started, although they are definitely not the only thing you'll need to learn a language. I just started learning French and this series does suffer some from the woman's voice, which I am happy to see was not just my imagination or the normal way to speak French. Overall, it is a great starting point, but eventually it is best to switch to a method that doesn't just translate everything from English as that could also be what keeps you from reaching true fluency.
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