All The French You'll Need/8 One Hour Audiocassette Tapes/Complete Learning Guide and Tapescript (Cassettes) (Language Dynamics : Takes the Foreign Out of Language) (French Edition) [Audio Cassette]

Mark A. Frobose (Author), Language Dynamics (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 1999 | Series: Language Dynamics : Takes the Foreign Out of Language

With this course you receive free, expert online language tips and advice on how best to learn a foreign language. 'All The French You'll Need' is a basic to high intermediate French language course that does exactly what the title suggests; it teaches you what you really need to effectively communicate in French without the needless grammar and seldom used vocabulary. The course's easy-to-use format was developed by the experts at Language Dynamics Inc. with an emphasis on speed and simplicity. This highly acclaimed course includes 8 one hour audiocassette tapes which feature the founder of Language Dynamics who guides you through the course in English while a trained native French speaker teaches to actually 'speak' French as it is actually spoken by the natives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

When I bought 'All the French You'll Need' I thought it might be 'just another French course'. I couldn't have been more wrong. 'All the French You'll Need' is by far the clearest, easiest, and fastest French course I have ever used. I just pull these tapes off my shelf a week or two before leaving for France (or whenever I need a review) and in a few days I'm ready to go. What I really like is the clear English explanations and the rich native French voice of Celine and the useful content, which emphasizes the most important aspects of the language. -- Phillip Goett

About the Author

Mark Frobose is a well known foreign language author, teacher, and speaker. Mark founded Language Dynamics Inc. in 1981 with the express purpose of simplifying the foreign language learning process through the creation of fast and easy-to-use foreign language courses. This course is the successful result of his compnay's many fruitful years of teaching countless individuals from all walks of life to effectively communicate in a foreign language.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Language Dynamics; Cas/Bklt edition (September 9, 1999)
• Language: French
• ISBN-10: 189356424X
• ISBN-13: 978-1893564244
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,326,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars W hy the good reviews?, April 24, 2003

By 

C L (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All The French You'll Need/8 One Hour Audiocassette Tapes/Complete Learning Guide and Tapescript (Cassettes) (Language Dynamics : Takes the Foreign Out of Language) (French Edition) (Audio Cassette)

I am a beginning French student. This product comes with audio tapes and a short pamphlet. The audio tape is of a non-native male speaker (I'll refer to him as the "teacher") and a native French female. The teacher begins the course by discussing pronunciation and having the native French lady pronounce the alphabet and different sounds. This lasts about five minutes. After that, the teacher then begins to introduce narratives and vocabulary, again using the French lady to pronounce words.

There is nothing particularly novel about the way vocabulary or conversations are introduced. You start with self-introduction, move to days of the week, months, time, etc. You can get this with almost any course--Berlitz's French on the go is one, and it is a lot cheaper. The reason NOT to buy these tapes are:
1) The non-native speaker includes HIMSELF in the conversations with the native speaker. (Couldn't they have hired another French person to do this?)
2) Vocabulary is repeated twice, as with most other audio courses. However, amazingly, the English translation is also read twice, and even more uselessly, sometimes the second part of the English is read slowly to match its slowly read French counterpart! A quote from the teacher's narration: "OK, so how would you say 'the days of the week'(pause)How(pause)would(pause)you(pause)say(pause)'the(pause)days(pause)of(pause)the week? (French)" This is a waste of time! If you want to learn French you must hear French!! not English!
3) The teacher is clearly recording the entire tape in one recording and for some reason did not go back and fix errors. So sometimes there are pauses while he finds his spot in the script, or says, "Ok, uh, lets move on."

Why spend your money ... on a product that is poorly edited and does not give you the most French for your time? If you want to spend your money to learn French, I suggest the Pimsleur programs, which are very well thought out, planned, and edited, although much more expensive ... If you want more bang-for-your-buck, try Berlitz or Barron's programs, both of which offer only native speakers, are edited well, and progress along similar lines as "All the French you Need." The Barrons is of similar price, the Berlitz much cheaper.

I don't understand why so many "diplomats" recommend this product. I am a beginning French student that has reached near native fluency in Japanese and professional fluency in Chinese. I know how to learn languages. I wasted my money on this product and strongly recommend you not do the same.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effective and Immediate Communication, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: All The French You'll Need/8 One Hour Audiocassette Tapes/Complete Learning Guide and Tapescript (Cassettes) (Language Dynamics : Takes the Foreign Out of Language) (French Edition) (Audio Cassette)

I am a former US diplomat and current international business consultant. I can say that Language Dynamics courses are the only courses I know of that are truly dedicated to effective and immediate communication in the target language. Academic courses often reflect the literary interests of professors, many of whom never had the experience of learning the target language as a second language. With these courses, you can hit the streets after every lesson knowing you can say more than you could yesterday.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars ALL the FRENCH YOU NEED, July 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: All The French You'll Need/8 One Hour Audiocassette Tapes/Complete Learning Guide and Tapescript (Cassettes) (Language Dynamics : Takes the Foreign Out of Language) (French Edition) (Audio Cassette)

These tapes are advertised as helpful for the beginner to the high intermediate. I took 7 years of French in High School and University and am embarking on a career as a Flight Attendant, so I bought these tapes to assist me in brushing up my skills. I am very disappointed in them. I did not find them helpful at all. Unless saying things like, "Tomorrow, I'm going to walk on the sidewalk." is going to help you. Or, "Do you like the Post Office?", Oh yes, its a favorite pastime of everybody. I don't think in my entire English speaking life, I have ever had the occasion to say that. ... It would have been great to have more than one native speaker as an example. ... I think these tapes are very expensive, and not worth it. They might only be helpful to the very beginning student that is playing around with learning French, because this most certainly is NOT "All the French You Need".