Fluenz French 2 - Windows

by Fluenz

Product Features

• Build your vocabulary and language abilities
• Spell and write accurately
• Speak without a script
• Retain what you've learned
• Read and understand your new language

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• ASIN: B001B14B7A
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 22, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,103 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #60 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > French

Product Description

The only interactive language program offering an immersive environment that recreates the best elements of great one-on-one tutoring.

Be Fluent in French

The Harvard, Cornell, and University of Chicago graduates who developed Fluenz were determined to create a program that conveyed the uniqueness of French while providing a step-by-step path through the language. By bringing the magic of a great teacher to the computer screen, Fluenz French makes reaching fluency in this beautiful language possible for every single learner.

Love French, Actually Learn It

As believers in the uniqueness of French, the program designers wanted to move beyond the cookie-cutter approach typical of computer language education: methods that boast a suspiciously simple way to learn French and treat adults like children by emphasizing the association of words and pictures.

Fluenz brings the magic of an amazing teacher to lead, challenge, and inspire adults and teens with a real love for French. The application is ideal for those who need everyday conversation skills, as well as for those who want to establish a strong foundation for advanced learning.

An effective approach for English Speakers

There is no more effective way to understand French liaisons, verb conjugations, and masculine/feminine endings than from a tutor explaining these important subtleties in English. And there is no way to learn French well without mastering these fundamental elements of the language. Because French and English share roots dating back to the 11th century, they have many similarities that can help English-speakers reach fluency.

The Magic of Learning: Audio CD for Your Car or iPod

The Fluenz French Audio CD is the ideal complement to the interactive program. The CD was produced at the Fluenz Lab to provide engaging audio workouts that mirror the p

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best language CD out there!, March 7, 2010

By 

Bike Man (Québec) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fluenz French 2 - Windows (CD-ROM)

The Fluenz French learning software is great. I bought French1 before I moved to Québec, it really helped me get started. I attended a French Immersion Class for 2 months and what I learned on the CD gave be an advantage in the class. After the class I ordered the French2 program and they made it even better than the first. I would highly reommend this for learning French. My inside tip would be to order French 1 and 2 together. You will want the 2nd program and you will save big. Bonne Chance!

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but sometimes buggy and inconsistent, June 3, 2011

By 

Charles Troy Tripp (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fluenz French 2 - Windows (CD-ROM)

Having used both Fluenz French 1 & 2, I can say my French is much better than it was after a year of French in high school (this was a LONG time ago, by the way). I am still far from fluent, but I can read French now with some level of proficiency. I plan on purchasing the remaining Fluenz French series.

I do have some complaints. The original disk I got was defective, and while Fluenz did eventually ship me a replacement, it took more work to convince them of the problem than it should have taken (only a few days, but it shouldn't have taken more than 1-2 e-mails, in my opinion). There are some inconsistencies in the classes; my biggest problem is that some of the lessons have the last one or two sentences clipped off in the dialog, but the full dialog is present when the presenter follows up with her "break-down" of the lesson. And even after upgrading the software using the on-line patches Fluenz provides, the software crashes far too often (maybe once every ten times I use it).

But these a primarily annoyances, and not enough to sour me on a mostly very good product. I hope that French 3, 4 and 5 give me extra depth. I also hope Fluenz comes out with an iPad version (I understand one is under way).

One last note; my listening comprehension isn't coming along as well as my reading and writing. I think this is an overall problem with any class that relies so heavily on static lesson plans, and I don't know how to overcome that in software. What I've been doing is relying on a video news iPad app called "France 24" and listening every night to their 10-minute news summary. This has helped bring my listening comprehension up a bit, plus it's interesting in seeing the news of the day from a different (non-American) perspective.

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Price Tag is PAINFUL!, May 12, 2009

By 

Always Samsung "ravereviews" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fluenz French 2 - Windows (CD-ROM)

I really enjoyed the demo that was provided on the Fluenz website for French. I was pretty much sold and decided to purchase this very expensive program in hopes that I would fully learn the language & be immersed in everything French. For the hefty price tag, I expected a bit more.

Let me start off by saying, I love the French language. I think it's a beautiful language and in my opinion - the only romance language. I don't count Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese. I also think French people are very classy & sophisticated etc. Not animalistic barbarians like people in the US.

I'm a college student taking intro to French and needed way more help learning the language, aside from the time spent in class. Since my professor doesn't offer tutoring sessions, I needed to find alternatives. It was either this or Rosetta Stone & RS doesn't offer a free demo on their site that satisfied my hunger for knowledge on a product before purchase. Plus, the price tag on RS French one thru three was way over my budget. Another thing I disliked about Rosetta Stone is the fact you can not use it on multiple PC and laptops. I have one of each in separate rooms, so I need the flexibility. Fluenz seemed like the way to go. I was very much lost in class and couldn't remember definite, indefinite, conjugation of verbs etc. There are so many rules to the French Language. So, I needed a learning tool that was actually going to work.

I couldn't wait to get into the first lesson because I loved lesson three (That was being offered as a free demo). To my surprise Sonia Gill (Interactive Tutor) did not start off the lesson one with the alphabet. I am passed the alphabet at this stage, but a refresher lesson wouldn't hurt and I could only wonder why the first lesson wasn't the alphabet. What would beginners do? Each video lesson can range from six minutes to ten minutes. I wouldn't mind if the lesson went on for an hour, as long as I'm learning. I have only gotten through lesson 6 and don't want to give a biased review for something I have not fully completed. So far, I am pleased. Hopefully, when I progress further, she will get more in-depth with the verbs, conjugations, inversion, passé compose etc, because that is crucial in French grammar. The Fluenz navigator seemed like a waste. And the iPod Audio seemed like a rip off to me. There was only two audio CDs as promised, but each track ranges from six to ten minutes, with each CD carrying eight to ten tracks. So, I'm not exactly thrilled about that. I felt really ripped off. I thought the audio CDs were the actual lessons transitioned over to a CD for the iPod.

It seems like Fluenz is trying their best to recreate the actual experience of being in a class room, but they haven't fully seen it through the eyes of the student yet. I do think recreating that experience is an excellent approach. Overall, I am pleased so far. But for the price I expected a bit more. I would sacrifice the pretty packaging, so the actual DVD-Rom program had more content. I would have loved my purchase even more if the price tag was split in half.