Customer Reviews

French I, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I finished all three levels in the series. I originally bought the course because I was about to move to Geneva, Switzerland, and was in a hurry to learn French, having absolutely no knowledge of French previously. This series is a very introduction, albeit expensive. The course alone will NOT make you fluent, and it does not purport to do so. At the end of the second level, I can go to a resaurant and speak to the waiters comfortably, introduce myself, make plans with friends, among other things. Right now, after finishing all three levels, I can make reservations, chat superficially in French with neighbors and friends, and shop without much difficulties. In fact, I find that I can understand a lot if I speak to a person face to face, especially if the spoken words are accompanied by vivid expressions and gestures. Unfortunately, I still cannot understand what goes on on TV or radio, though I find that I can pick up phrases or words here and there. I've taken 3 years of Spanish in high school, and 3 years of German in college, and I would say that I speak French much better at this point, realizing, though, that I have forgotten a lot of German and Spanish. My pronounciation of French, I've been told by many, is quite good.

Now, this course does not contain any explanations of grammar, culture, or much in the way of reading. However, if you have ever learned a romance language before, or know English grammar, you would be able to figure out the verb tenses and the correct way to use them (or even conjugate them) pretty easily. In terms of reading, I find it useful to have a dictionary with you while you are doing the lessons. When the course introduces a new word, look it up in the dictionary and see what the word looks like. It also helps with memorizing the word.

The course is excellent, but one should still proceed slowly. I do each lession at least 2 to 3 times before moving on, twice in the evenings, and once in the shower in the mornings as review. I don't stop the lesson during the pauses to think of the answer because I figure if I truly know it, I would be able to answer within the pause. By the third listen, I can usually answer within the pause.

Don't expect miracles and be realistic. You still need to take time to listen and absorb the materials. However, the course is designed in a way that encourages you to use it. After I listen to the lesson, I usually want to go out and use it immediately, and I characterize myself normally as a shy person. Definitely buy it if you are going to invest the time and need to start using French immediately. After finishing the series, you will be at the stage of learning curve where your speaking/listening skills can improve exponentially, provided that you are in an environment where French is a necessity.

This review is a comparison of three very different recorded French courses - Pimsleur, Behind the Wheel French 2 and French with Michel Thomas Intermediate/Advanced.

I have tried and failed several times at learning a foreign language but, when I started working for a French company, I decided to try one more time. I was attracted to Pimsleur because of its promise to focus on the basics, and I was not disappointed.

The approach taken by Pimsleur is to introduce you to a word or phrase in English and then have it repeated several times by an expert speaker of French, punctuated with long pauses so you can listen and repeat. In this way, the course takes you through typical basic situations - going to a restaurant, finding a doctor, working in an office, making travel arrangements, buying items with Euros, etc. New words and concepts are gradually introduced along the way and each session loops back to remind you of things you learned on earlier CDs. I especially liked the great effort that is put into making sure you clearly hear each word, even to the point of painstakingly breaking down words and phrases into separate syllables. This is especially important for English-speakers who may have trouble with French pronunciation. I also liked the fact that the course never dumped a lot of things on you to learn at once - for example, numbers are introduced a few at a time in natural situations such as telling time or counting change. The same is true of days of the week and months of the year. This is a very intelligent way to help people learn large categories of words.

Each learning unit (French I, French II and French III) consists of about 30 CDs, each of which is about ½ hour in duration. There is also reading material so that the student can see in writing the words and phrases that are being said out loud on the CDs. The expectation built into the Pimsleur course is that you will listen to one CD a day and then move on to the next. For me, I found that I often had to listen to the same CD three, four or more times before I felt comfortable moving on to the next. For that reason, it took me over a year to get through French I, II and III instead of 90 days. But by the time I was through, I had a basic grasp of the language and had even gone to Paris and managed my way through a couple of simple conversations in French.

As another reviewer said, however, you can't expect miracles with this course. You can take all three units and go to a French movie or watch French TV, and still understand very little. It prepares you for basic survival in a French speaking country - not much more. The Pimsleur course includes very little technical explanation of what you are learning or the rules of grammar. A small irritant is the fact that the 30-minute CDs are not broken into separate tracks. But overall I was very pleased with how well the Pimsleur technique helped me remember words and basic sentence structure, mostly in the present tense.

For me, the biggest negative is that there is no Pimsleur French IV! So once I got through the first three courses and decided I wanted to keep learning via the Pimsleur method, there was nowhere to go! That's why I was forced to switch to a different instruction method, so I purchased the Intermediate versions of both Behind the Wheel French and French with Michel Thomas to help me get to the next level.

I found that Behind the Wheel French is a very different course from Pimsleur. It's basic philosophy is that you should learn by listening - as you did when you were a child learning your native tongue - and not be instructed on lots of grammatical details. So, a lot of the material consists of what I'm tempted to call an "audio phrase book," with an English speaker saying something followed by a French speaker saying the same thing - there's not a lot of repetition or "looping back" as with Pimsleur. You may hear a word or phrase and then never hear it again, so you don't get the reinforcing effect. Also, I could not always understand the native speaker's words and there is often not enough time allowed in the recording for the listener to repeat. But there are some real special nuggets in Behind the Wheel French. In particular, I liked the story-telling segments where they first slowly go through a simple story told in English, with each sentence repeated in French. Then, the native speaker retells the entire story in French at a normal pace - this is great for educating your ear to understand French as it is heard in normal usage. There is a similar very nice feature where the speaker will go through the same narrative in the present tense, the past tense and then the future tense - very useful to hear exactly how words change depending on the tense. Behind the Wheel French also includes some practical information about social situations in France, some slang and colloquialisms, and LOTS of vocabulary.

French with Michel Thomas is yet again a very different course - it is serious instruction for serious students. That said, Michel Thomas does everything he can to make it easy, including his opening admonition against workbooks and homework. The format consists of Michel Thomas (a very charming and witty guy) working with two students who are probably no better at French than you are. Thomas is very relaxed and is a superstar at coming up with clever tricks, tips and concepts to help you remember how to navigate this language that has 18 tenses. Lots of things that I could not figure out from the other courses are thoroughly and clearly explained by Michel Thomas.

So which course would I recommend? My experience with Pimsleur convinced me that it is the best foundational course. It will give you the basics in a very thorough disciplined manner that you can easily follow - expensive but worth every penny. Michel Thomas is a must for anyone who is seriously interested in becoming proficient at this language, because he is extraordinarily skillful at getting technical grammar concepts across without actually calling it grammar. Michel Thomas is the next best thing to having a private tutor and his course complements Pimsleur very effectively by providing lots of explanation. The Behind the Wheel French is great for improving your ear and building vocabulary, but it is hard to imagine that anyone could become conversational in French with this program.

Over the years I have studied many languages, using several methods and media, and I can say without any reserve that the Pimsleur method is by far the best. The lessons are structured in such a way that promote natural learning & retention of the material. Two things that I love about the Pimsleur courses are (1) Pronunciation is stressed, whereas in most language programs this vital topic is only given cursory coverage, and (2) Repetition, Repetition, Repetition! When you are learning a language, especially when you are eager to move quickly, it is SO easy to fall into the trap on covering a lot of material and fooling yourself into thinking you have it mastered. More likely than not, you're forgetting much, if not most of what you learned previously. In the Pimsleur lessons they repeat new material several times, prompting you in several different ways, so you learn new material better. In addition, all new lessons contain at least some review of previous lessons, so it forces you to review and use old information.

That being said, learning a new language is never easy, and this course is no exception. More likely than now you'll have to go through the lesson a few times before really feeling comfortable with the material. Furthermore, given the rather obscene price of each course, I wouldn't saying you're going to be learning a whole lot. You really do need to go through all 3 levels to benefit from the courses, and even then while you might have a really good grasp of the overall structure of the language, you're probably going to be severely lacking in areas like vocabulary, familiarity/fluency with verb conjugations, etc. Chances are if you try to have a real conversation with a native/fluent speaker you'll be able to say a lot, but I doubt you'll get very far before you're struggling to express yourself.

But don't let that scare you. The Pimsleur courses are a very, very good starting point for learning a new language. A common problem that most people have is going through rote exercises, getting to a certain point in the language, quitting, and never really learning anything. These courses are interesting, consistent, and engaging enough so that that very major hurtle shouldn't be a problem. Also, because it's an entirely oral/aural course, if you actually repeat everything as instructed, by the end of level 3 you are going to have a comfort level with speaking that most courses (and even college classes) won't give you.

In conclusion, I love the concept, I love the course, but the price stinks, especially given that just going through level one isn't really going to take you very far.

A couple of months ago I bought the Rosetta Stone program. I love it, and it's helped me immensely. However, after hearing a lot of hype about Pimsleur, i decided to try it out. And I love this as well.

What I like about Rosetta Stone is that it gives you an overall education of the language - reading, writing, speaking, understanding etc. However, while it gives you a good understanding of the language, it doesn't teach you everyday speech.

What I like about Pimsleur is that it does give you everyday speech and it helps with pronounciation. What I don't like is that it doesn't teach you to read or write. You can understand and speak it, but that's where it ends. Now, especially with a language like French, it's hard to just hear a sentance and know which word is which, and which sounds belong to it. I don't know about other people, but I like to imagine the word. And I like to know the word, not just the sounds.

As you can see, both have their pros and cons. But one's pros is the others cons and vice versa. You won't ever find one perfect program, but these two together come pretty close.

By using the one I understand sentance structure, grammar, reading and writing. And the other takes off from there, giving me practical usage and pronounciation.

If you just want to be able to speak and understand the language, then this is perfect for you. If you want more, I suggest you try both of these together.

I'm not just getting on the bandwagon, but I have to go along with those who award the Pimsleur French I course five stars. Here's what you need to understand: This is a no-nonsense course all about learning to SPEAK and UNDERSTAND SPOKEN French. That's what they advertise, and that's what they deliver. There is very little about French culture (only what comes through in the CDs), almost nothing about reading, and nothing about writing the language (at least not in this series). When I first got the package, I thought they left out the book. But THERE IS NO BOOK. What you get is a little folder of just a few hundred words that explains the Pimsleur teaching method and giving you study tips. In a nutshell, here are their rules for success. Listen for ½ hour per day and absolutely repeat aloud after the native speakers. Just "thinking" you spoke the words and phrases won't cut it. You learn by SPEAKING ALOUD.

Do NOT take notes. Taking notes causes you to develop a lousy accent. This is especially important with French where proper pronunciation is critical. Working exclusively from the brain rather than the written word is the basis of the effective Pimsleur technique. If you think you have mastered 80% of the material in your half-hour session, go on to the next lesson THE FOLLOWING DAY. Do NOT do two consecutive lessons in a day unless you are reviewing a lesson you have previously taken. This is important. The half-hour sessions are intense, but hey, it's only 30 minutes. It's kind of like exercising. If you discipline yourself to do it every day, you'll get in shape quickly and stay in shape. Lesson one boggled my mind, and I had to repeat it four times. I almost gave up. But eventually the rhythm of the language comes through, and you'll only need those single 30-minute sessions. The Pimsleur people say that after 30 lessons you will have advanced to the intermediate level in SPOKEN French. I believe them. Someone taking a college course will not get to this level nearly this fast, but again, they are also working on reading, writing, and culture.

Get ready to drill, drill, drill, drill and drill some more. Sometimes you'll want to say, "All right already! I get it!" But these people understand the need for repetition, and they know what they're doing. Toward the end of the course you use a very small folder to see what written French sounds like. But make no mistake; the emphasis is absolutely on SPOKEN French. The Pimsleur folks note in their folder that the most important part of learning a language is grammar and pronunciation. Imagine building a brand new house. You want to put up a good structure (grammar and pronunciation). The "furniture" (vocabulary) can come later. There is little vocabulary in the course. That can come later and it's much easier. Don't worry about it yet.

When I first started with Lesson 1, I really sounded like a mush mouth, and I doubt if a Parisian would even have had a clue what I was trying to say. But now, if I may say so, I think I sound pretty darned good.

I highly recommend the course, and I will definitely be buying the next course in the series.

The first level of this three level kit spends a lot of time teaching you the bare basics of the French language. By the 8th it really became irritating when the speaker would ask me to say "Do you understand English?". However as you progress you realize that this constant reptition is extremely helpful.

In the later lessons there is a stronger focus on composing your own sentances. The grammar becomes more complex and they even introduce you to tenses. Overall I think this makes the kit a great introduction to the French language. I give it four stars instead of five because I feel that it doesn't help enough with the pronunciation. Being a beginner in French can be very scary espeacially since French has some difficult to pronounce consonants, in particular the gluttoral /r/. In addition it doesn't offer much for vocabulary, but as long as you use this kit in conjunction with another book (Easy French Reader makes up for Pimsleur's speaking-approach) you should be fine.

If you are planning a trip to France, and you need to actually speak French, get this set. Within about a month, you will have mastered the basics of communication. The French will understand you and you will be able to ask the way to the bathroom.

The course trains you to respond automatically. This is very important. I've found communicating in a foreign language to be stressful, and when confronted with a native speaker, my mind goes blank. Grammar rules fly out the window. With Pimsleur, you learn the grammar but without the drills. But sometimes I felt like Pavlov's dog, responding to stimuli.

Are you going to be able to discuss politics in French? No way.

Will you be able to read French, a language in which 50% of the letters are just there to confuse you? No way.

Will you be able to say that you are hungry, lost or want to find a hotel? You Betcha!

A very big downside about this course is the price. Also you do not progress very far. But the progress you do make is almost permanently implanted in your brain. The phrase:
Permittez-moi de moi presenter has been etched in my memory. (No guarrantee on the spelling)

If you plan to continue with Pimsleur, don't waste your time with French II. Go directly to French III.

I have brought the complete sets of three volumes for both French and Russian. I recommend them with glowing enthusiasm to many friends and work colleagues. In fact I would say I rave about them - something I seldom do. Many of them have caught the language bug off me after trying Pimsleur courses - whether French, Cantonese, Arabic or Italian. One person said Pimsleur was the only thing in 20 years that he had found to help him learn Cantonese and zoomed through the first volume at an amazing pace!

I am a fluent speaker of English, German and Japanese. I have taught languages myself and have additionally studied French and Latin in the past. I am something of an amateur linguistic with a life-long love of languages. When I speak German (I studied it at university for a year) people's jaws drop because I sound like a native speaker. I love reading Goethe in German and also read technical journal articles on molecular biology, but I really wish I'd discovered Pimsleur earlier. Over the decades I have been exposed to countless different linguistic approaches to learning languages, but none have impressed me as much as that of Pimsleur. I have even ordered CD courses in German from Amazon.de from companies such as Langenscheidt. The language CDs available in German are far superior to the vast majority of the courses you can get in the English language, but still only Pimsleur teaches language in the same way that I have intuitively learned to learn languages on my own over the years. I am so happy that someone has gone out and 'bottled' the secret techniques of good language learners so that people everywhere can discover how much fun learning languages can be.

If you buy cheaper alternatives to Pimsleur you are short changing yourself severely. Costly though you may think they are, enrolling in a course or getting private tuition will cost you at least as much and probably far more. Being a fluent speaker of a language and being a good teacher are also quite different things, so you may yet end up with teacher who is fluent at a language but poor at teaching it. With Pimsleur you are guaranteed a meticulously structured approach to learning in which you can have complete confidence. Also many of us lead busy lives and may have trouble making it to classes. With Pimsleur CDs and an MP3 player you can learn while you drive, while sitting in the train, while waiting in long queues or while going around the supermarket. Half an hour here and there soon adds up.

Needless to say my Russian friends are floored when I speak Russian. They say I speak with virtually no accent. With time I think I will expand my knowledge to the point that people think I am a native speaker. I did that with German and I have every reason to believe that I will do it with Russian. I plan to one day read Dostoevsky in Russian. As for the French course I brought that for my partner. I also quickly did as many CDs as I could before our trip to France and again people were pleasantly surprised at the quality of my French. Before the next trip to Geneva I went through some more lessons and people in shops would stop to compliment my French. The things that came up in these situations were often almost word for word out the Pimsleur lessons which ingrains the ability to intuitively respond to these sort of verbal prompts.

In the case of French in particular the proximity of the French language to English allows you to progress at a much faster rate than with, say Russian or Arabic. In fact the things I have learned doing the lessons have helped me to even begin to read French books with the help of a dictionary. In fact I even brought a book in French from Amazon recently as a result. Pimsleur gave me the platform to further my language abilities in a way that no other course I have ever seen even comes close to.

Lastly my minor list of criticisms:

1. Although the intuitive natural learning techniques of Pimsleur should be the basis of learning languages, I am still a great believer in studying old fashioned grammar (I did Latin!). For every language you can find yourself a ready nice grammatical text. I wish Pimsleur would sell a text book companion to their recordings that makes learning grammar as fun as their recordings.

2. The recorded sound quality on my Russian CDs was washy. The words sometimes sounded unclear. The French CDs so far have been much better though still less than absolutely perfect - but surely for this price I can't believe this is an issue.

3. Lack of full printed transcripts of all of the recordings. Maybe they can provide this on a CD-ROM if printing it is too expensive.

I have tried a lot of audio methods, and Pimsleur is still the best by far. It is more expensive than most other audio methods, but it really works and it is enjoyable. Perhaps if you learn a language with family and friends and share the material, you can share the cost and practice with others! Or after you have completed the lessons, sell them (if you are generous, donate them to your library). Pimsleur really helps with proper pronunciation and uses a technique that makes what you learn stick in your brain - not any gimmicky memory tricks. Pimsleur covers a lot of basic material, but it does not overload the beginner with vocabulary or grammar - a case of less being more. However, I do wish Pimsleur included a print version of the audio material. At the end of 90 lessons (French I,II, and III), you will not speak at an intermediate level - no audio method can do that - but you will speak easily and well at a beginner level. Doing Pimsleur first, before taking a formal foreign language class, is the best way to go. I can't recommend Pimsleur highly enough.

During each 20-30 min lesson, you interact with a speaker - asking/answering about 120 questions. The information is repeated at just the right time so you easily remember it later. There is a booklet with reading exercises (and audio) for lessons 10-30.

The CDs provide a natural way to learn the language thru interaction. You don't memorize verb congregations or vocabulary out of a book, but instead learn them thru use in many practice conversations. I have enjoyed this approach because each day I can see a difference and it almost seems effortless (not like studying).

I have already purchased and stared French II and will to continue with French III.

The learning curve compared to my classroom language class (I took Spanish in High School and College) is dramatic! I cannot speak any Spanish based on those three years, but after a month with these CDs I can confidently speak and understand simple French and had a great time traveling in France this year.

I also purchased an iPod Nano so I could practice while walking the dog and traveling. Mostly I listen in the car to/from work.

If you are unsure, I recommend taking the path I took and purchase the $20 set of lessons 1-10 first.