Customer Reviews

French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture, the Capretz Method: Part One

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"French in Action" is a complete, college-level language course intended for students who have aspirations of fluency. The course consists of five components: video tapes (or DVDs), audio tapes (or CDs), textbook, workbook and study guide. All the components work together and are necessary for the course to be effective. The course utilizes an immersion method, meaning that after the first couple of lessons, everything except the study guide is in French. In spite of its high profile and ready access on public television, I don't think it's a good course for beginners. It moves quickly and would probably be best for someone with previous study in the language. The course would be nearly ideal for a college-level student with at least a year of high school French under their belt.

It's a full meal. There are 52 lessons divided into two, 26 lesson parts. Each part can be purchased separately, but any way you slice it, the entire course is a considerable investment in both time and money. Working about an hour per day, it's paced to be handled at the rate of about a lesson a week. At full speed, you might be able to finish it in a year. Because most of the lessons involve some kind of conversational practice, the course is best taken with a partner or the help of a tutor. Self-study students might be tempted to eliminate the conversational and writing exercises, but doing so would be a mistake. Those exercises constitute at least half of the value of the course.

One of the real strengths of "French in Action' is that it puts an emphasis on the French language the way the French actually speak it, which is quite a bit different from the way American phrase books tend to teach it. Right from the start, you're listening to the language at full speed in all its idiomatic glory. If you're anything like me, you'll have the sense of always struggling to catch up. But, I like the fact that the early emphasis is on listening and getting a sense of the rhythm of the language. Younger students will probably like the fact that after the first several lessons, they will have learned at least a dozen ways to insult their friends.

One of the weaknesses of the course is that the audio tapes really need to be used along with the workbook. Hence, it's difficult (though not impossible) to use them in the car during long commutes. Don't expect a standard presentation, because the material isn't handled anything like standard French textbooks. Tenses, for example, are introduced so matter-of-factly that the very first words you utter are in the future tense. And there is no emphasis at all on word-for-word translation. In fact, quite often you're listening to idiomatic phrases in which the individual words when analyzed don't make much sense, but the meaning of the entire phrase when spoken in context is perfectly clear.

"French in Action" is a real grown-up language course for students with mature study skills and sufficient interest to get through it. I, myself, have taken a couple runs at it over the years and have only recently developed a successful study routine. Though the video program is on public television all the time, it's not a casual course at all. Don't believe the promos that suggest that all you have to do is "listen, watch and get involved". Just watching the shows on TV won't get you very far. You will spend at least 350 hours going through the entire course and probably more like 700-1000. That may sound like a lot, but by the end you will doubtless have a better understanding of French than you would have had from any other commercial package.

Updated, but great, companion textbook to the wonderful public TV language show of the same. Just 52 episodes and you'll be on your way to speaking French. One of the easiest and better language courses available for free on PBS. Also published under the same title is the hardcover edition of these two parts in one book. Pick whichever you like - they're identical; two seperate books for lighter carrying or one complete edition for convenience.

This video-audio-workbook course is incredible! I took three semesters of college level French many decades ago in a wonderful native speaker tutorial and found on my infrequent trips to France or Quebec that over the years, my quasi-fluency had faded away. I took an adult education program with a competant native speaker recently and found the traditional high school textbook, CD, testing regime inadequate. In all likelihood, Noelle. the High School student from Atlanta who did not like the book, probably was denied the whole package. In fact, the text relies on the PBS TV video or the free broadband video version (...)-AND the 52 Casette Tapes or CD's and workbooks I and II. In order of importance, I would rate the Audio or CD and workbooks I and II above the text and video. Granted, it is an expensive package (...)but it also the closest thing to an immersion program this side of the Atlantic. So, Yale University Press overcharges. But all textbooks are out of line. This package is a bargain amongst bargains. Incidentally, the two Study Guides do very little and may be skipped altogether. However, the rest of the package MUST BE USED TOGETHER as a whole. Capretz, recently retired from Yale, is a rare master teacher and this program precludes the need of an intermediate teacher.

Steven Sykes in a great review covered virtually everything I could hope to say about this textbook, so I'll just add a few comments.

You should be aware that this is not a textbook that you can use without other materials either to learn French or to review the language; it is useful only when used with the other components of French in Action. The textbook consists solely of transcripts of the main scenes you'll encounter in the videos, with a few supplemental reading materials, and some cartoons and photos that illustrate the vocabulary introduced in the chapter.

French in Action is a magnificent course, and you will, if you apply yourself diligently, learn to read, write, speak, and understand French with reasonable proficiency. The heart of the course is a series of 52 half hour video programs, available on DVD or (if you live in the US or Canada, free from the Annenberg website, just Google French in Action). Audio programs available on CD or cassette, written workbook exercises, and the textbook reinforce and build upon the grammar and vocabulary you first encounter in the videos. The reason to use all four components is that, by the end of each chapter, you will have seen (videos), heard (videos and audio programs), said (audio programs), read (textbook), and written (workbook) the words you are learning. By that time, the French you were meant to learn in that chapter has become a part of you.

There is a study guide for the course that you can skip entirely unless you are in a formal course that uses the end-of-chapter quizzes. Watch the video for each chapter first, then listen to the first track on the audio program for the chapter, then complete the workbook assignments in order (the workbook will point you to the appropriate sections of the audio programs and the textbook).

The genius behind French in Action is that you learn in a virtually 100% French environment from the very beginning, so you are not thinking in English, but in French, from the start. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but, if you stick with it, it will all start to make sense. I don't tend to gush over products, but this is the best course on any subject that I have ever followed.

One final piece of advice if you choose to learn French using this course. You can skip chapter one (video, audio, and workbook), it's just an all-English introduction to the structure of the course. With one exception, you learn nothing in chapter one that you will not figure out on your own by the end of chapter two. The only unique insight you'll need to know from chapter one is to pay attention to the gestures that the French speakers make in the video programs.

If you are learning French, don't hesitate, do this course. This will teach you more about the French language and about France than any other course out there. The TV episodes can be viewed direct from the learner website.

The Capretz method is a wonderful learning device, and it provides great review and enrichment for more advanced speakers. However, it is very flawed for high school and even college use. First the videos are dated, so immature audiences are unlikely to take them seriously. Secondly, the workbook and exercises are targeted at beginning French speakers. Yet it is very difficult for a beginner to follow the dialog. If, however, you skip Part I and go to Part II, you may spend a lot of time trying to orient the students to the Capretz method.

My recommendations for intermediate studens is to use the videos and textbook (no workbooks!) to enhance listening and reading comprehension. Then consider the excellent En Bonne Forme book, CDs and workbook as an alternative or supplement.

En Bonne Forme provides actual literary passages for reading and listening comprehension, extensive vocabulary lists, and grammar that will advance every facet of your French language skills.

If you are an intermediate student with limited funds and time, then try En Bonne Forme.

Used in combination with the audio materials, this course promises so much more than the usual (colors, numbers, basic greetings, etc.), and places a strong emphasis on pronunciation and idioms. You finish with a useful knowledge of French--the kind people actually speak. Comprehension is difficult at first because the speakers talk at a normal pace without overemphasizing the words, but it is this technique that leaves one able to know what people are saying without having them slow down.

As for the method of delivery--it's fun! The textbook follows a narrative structure, specifically a story about Robert, an American student in France, and Mireille, a young and witty student at the famed Sorbonne in Paris. There is love, mystery, and lots of important cultural information on the way, as well as an underlying humor that made our class laugh quite often. I recommend it highly for use in a class, and if you are willing to dish out the cash, for independent study as well. It has everything you need to gain a firm grounding in French language, culture, and idioms.

You can buy the textbook with both parts together or separately, but either way, you will want to know what happens with the story, so be ready to order both parts, one way or another.

I have taken a few different stabs at learning French over the years. There was the beat up college book that my grandma used in college that I tried to use. There were the tapes that I listened to, repeating words over and over as if to tattoo them onto my brain. There were the workbooks pulled off of the shelf that asked you put a name next to the picture. I've tried Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur. Everything helped a little - I could probably order dinner in Paris if I had to and maybe find the bathroom, but not much else.

So then I picked up the Capretz Method. It is a little out of date - you have to giggle at the clothing and hair in the videos - but it is, hands down, the best method I have ever used to learn French. After a few months of immersing myself in the program, and make no mistake, it is a very involved program, I am starting to think in French. I could hold a competent conversation in Paris and I can work my way through reading French on the internet (placed my first order off of Amazon.fr the other day). This course is more work than any other I have tried, but it is far more useful. I am fully confident that after finishing the lessons I will be quite comfortable conversing in French.

It isn't easy, that's for sure, you have to be involved in the verbal, visual, aural, written and reading parts of the program to get the value out of it, I wouldn't even bother with just the book or just the workbook. But if you put in the time and the work, you will learn far more than you ever thought possible.

For the money I would recommend Capretz any day. If you have a week and need to feel at least familiar, pick up Pimsleur. If you want to speak and read French with some fluency, pick up French in Action.

This immersion technique to learn French by famed Yale professor Pierre Capretz is by far the best devised in the field. The course has bee around for over 20 years and is a classic. I have only an elementary knowledge of French and have sampled many different methods to improve my French. This was introduction to French nearly 20 years ago and I have not found any single course better than this. I recommend this to any enthusiastic learner of French. Keep in my that the companion video or audio are essential components of the course and can get a bit pricey. However, from my experience, its definitely worth the investment.

This textbook and workbook ROCKS! I copied the audio discs from the school library to my iTunes, so I have the audio lessons on my iPhone.

Some 35 years ago, I took 4 years of French in high school. Last year I decided to attempt to re-learn this fascinating language. Although the video and text were created in the late 1980s, and some of it seems out-dated, it is still entertaining, and you learn French! I even found a fan club or two online, when I got curious about the actors. Even though I remembered a lot of my high school French, I still studied very hard, since I had forgotten so much vocabulary and verb conjugation.

No method of learning is going to work miraculously, just as there is no miracle diet. You do need to apply yourself, but the goal is worth the effort. This method of learning and the story line is fun, which makes learning fun, which in turn helps you learn. You can watch the corresponding Annenberg Foundation videos online for free (small) or purchase a set for $450. [...]

Do some research, check out the reviews, then get started learning French with "French in Action!"