Customer Reviews

French III, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur)

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

Have you had the same history of learning a language in the past as I've had? You buy a set of CD's or tapes, listen to the first one or two and find that you can't quite hear the pronunciation of a simple word or phrase. That word builds on other words and phrases and before long you find you don't understand what you thought it meant and the CD's or tapes end up thrown in a drawer never to see the light of day again. Over the years I've accumulated a drawer full of these.

I first met this Pimsleur language courses on a business trip years ago when I needed something interesting to listen to an a 2 hour drive. I bought the "teaser" first 8 lessons of Pimsleur French. These lessons were different than any other language CD I had listened to in the past. The words were completely clear, repeated several times by male and female voices, and there was never a question of what you were hearing or what it meant. Unlike some other language courses, Pimsleur doesn't just teach you phrases, it teaches you what each of the words in the phrase mean and rearranges them in several different contexts. I ended up buying the whole first course and then went on the buy the second and third. The third follows along, just like the first two.

The lessons start with the most commonly spoken phrases and subjects, like greeting someone, asking for directions, telling time, and talking about everyday subjects. The voices are very clear, you never have a question about what was said. And one lesson builds on the previous, adding more phrases and using words from the last lessons combined with new words. These lessons have you participating in conversations right from the start. It forces you to think about the way you put words together to form a sentence. You aren't just parroting back phrases with mysterious words. You're actually thinking in the language, even in the early lessons.

I've always had this fantasy about learning a some French and then just waking up one morning, suddenly speaking and understanding all, as if by magic. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way and you do have to apply yourself to learn, but for me, Pimsleur is the most painless way to learn a language. It doesn't feel like a chore.

The way I went about learning French I, II and III is to take the CD's along whenever I get into the car. The lessons are a little under half an hour each, and even a trip to the store is at least 10 minutes each way, so I get through the better part of a lesson. I can't tell you the number of times I've sat in the driveway after returning home to finish a lesson.

I try to get through one lesson every day or two. Some are more difficult and take several repetitions, some are easy and I can comprehend in a couple listens. What has worked for me is to count the number of errors I make and go on to the next lesson when I make 10 or fewer errors in a lesson. One lesson builds on the next and there is lots of repetition so this has worked very well for me. I also listen on my iPod often when I'm doing some mindless task. It makes the work go faster and I feel like I'm accomplishing two things at once.

Some people have complained about the lack of visuals with Pimsleur. There are a few words that they go over for pronunciation in a little booklet at the end of the lesson, but most of it is audio. I always thought I was a visual learner, but I found that I learn just fine with the audio. And I can find more time to listen than I can to sit down with a book. Of course, I wanted to also read French in order to practice my language skills. After several lessons I bought the Oxford French Mini dictionary that you can find on amazon. It's tiny enough to keep on the side when you're reading a book or magazine, and has over 100,000 words. I looked up a few French newspapers online and practiced reading those. Amazon also carries magazine subscriptions to a couple French magazines and a newspaper which come out weekly. My subscription to Paris Match was interesting enough to keep me reading, sometimes a couple hours per day. And amazon.fr is a whole new world in French. (And to my delight, after logging in there, my "1 click" magically works just like it does here!)

The other complaint I sometimes read about Pimsleur is that it's expensive. For me, I figure you get what you pay for. That drawer full of discarded language tapes and CD's that I couldn't use probably added up over time to a lot more than a Pimsleur course. The Pimsleur courses are fun to use and you actually learn something. The French courses gave me the ability to converse with people when we went to France on everyday type things and even more importantly it gave me enough knowledge of the language to build on it. I highly recommend it.

I have completed Pimsleur I (beginning),II (intermediate) and III(advanced)levels. I also first used and completed Rosetta Stone with which I did not learn the French as quickly as with Pimsleur.Rosetta Stone has more vocabulary but the pronunciation is more difficult to catch than Pimsleur. Rocket French is great for grammar but it will not give you the smooth understanding and speaking ability of Pimsleur. I also used the improved Foreign Service Institute (FSI) called Loquella (loquella.com).I would recommend using loquella.com first because you learn the French sounds and the letters and words they go with. Loquella gives sentences at the same time as a native speaker saying them.It has time for responses.After you complete loquella.com then go to Pimsleur. In so doing, when you hear only the audio on Pimsleur (it does not have a written down dialogue) then you will not only know the sounds but how French is written. I have a M.A. in the teaching of languages and speak fluent Spanish and read Greek, some Arabic and have studied Hebrew. I am a visual learner but in spite of this the timinig increments that Pimsleur uses worked very well for me even though I am not an auditory learner. His brain research on what the human brain can absorb in specified amounts of time seems to really work. I hope this is helpful.

I have ordered all three levels of the Pimsleur French courses through Amazon, and for me, it couldn't be easier. I was taking a French conversation course at the same time in college, and I learned much faster with the Pimsleur method. I listen to the CDs on my early morning walks, while I'm on my bicycle, and in the car to and from work - so I hear and speak French about 2 hours daily. The French III Comprehensive has made it much easier to hear the language as it is spoken in French films (though I struggle with some of the idiomatic expressions), and I can participate eagerly in my French Club with the more advanced French speakers. If you're on a budget, it's great to be able to sell the program through Amazon, when you have completed the course, as I have done. I would give the product five stars but Pimsleur doesn't include a readers manual, only a reference guide. I've listened to other French instruction programs, but I kept returning to Pimsleur.

I first purchased Pimseuler's French I in 2004 in preparation for a trip to France in 2005. I was pleased with what I had learned and what I was able to use when I actually needed to speak with someone while in France.

Once I decided to make another trip this coming September (2010), I dusted off French I, finished it, and purchased French II. After finishing that, I bought French III and I'm currently about 1/3 of the way through it.

The length of each lesson is approximately the same as my commute to and from work - 30 minutes by car. I work on each lesson as many times as necessary to get 80-90% of the content before moving onto the next lesson -- usually about 3 or 4 times. Each lesson builds on prior lessons and in addition to review, usually 5-6 new phrases and/or words & concepts are introduced. The program relies on listening and repeating. Some of the content is geared more toward business use than pleasure/tourist use, and more time is spent on the use of formal pronouns than familiar pronouns. However, that is good since one is more likely to use formal pronouns when traveling both for business or as a tourist.

I tried Rosetta Stone, thinking that both the written & spoken lessons would be better, but I really prefer Pimseuler as it is much easier to pronounce the words correctly by ear than when I see them written out.

I recommend the Pimseuler program for anyone who wants to add to their language skills for foreign travel.

Very strong on repetitive drills, but constantly changing the context to make it more interesting and teach you how to use the words and phrases in different situations. You will learn quite a lot, but when you are finished with this third level you will not be that fluent. You'll still need to continue on with some other type of language training to aquire additional vocabulary, verbs, and conversational practice before you can really function in French. In addition, it is mostly oral training so you'll need to study formal written French separately. Still, it's a good way to start, and you can do it in the car or during walks, etc.

Pimsleur French course I II and III are very comprehensive. They provide you with very good pronunciation and you definitely develope and ear for French as it is spoken in France. They introduce new phrases and then put them in common French conversations. They then reintroduce these phrases throughout I, II and III so you definitaly understand them. This increases your confidence two fold. You hear yourself speaking as they speak and you repeat it enought to feel confident speaking everyday French. I will be going to France soon and I will be staying at a little city in Provence. I am looking forward to speaking to the French people there and all of this is because Pimsleur is such an excellent program.

I have a college degree in French that was not really worth the paper it is printed on because I graduated more than 20 years ago and had forgotten most of my French. I decided to try Pimsleur French (after also using Pimsleur Spanish), and find the same positive benefits to both. Pimsleur works because it has you USE the language. Other programs may claim to introduce more vocabulary, but Pimsleur will have you using and retaining your new words. Most programs tend to run through endless lists of vocabulary that quickly drown the user in a sea of new words. Pimsleur carefully introduces related words a little bit at a time and has you apply those words in short conversations. After you give the answer, Pimsleur gives the correct answer, so you can hear if you said it correctly. My college French came back quickly as I moved through Level I, and I also filled in some gaps with vocabulary I never learned. After working through French I, II, III, and Plus, I remember a great deal of college French, have learned new vocabulary, have vastly improved my accent, and have a much better ear for listening to dialogue in French movies. Pimsleur frustrations: no explanations of grammar rules, no real book, and the fact that it stops after only three full levels. An excellent and cheap companion is the book "French Made Simple," which compensates for some of these Pimsleur shortfalls. The true Pimsleur cost is less than it appears because you can recoup some of your cost by selling it back when you are finished.

I had been doing Penton Overseas Learn in Your Car series for over a year when I decided to give Pimsleur a try. At first I thought the conversational nature of the lessons was a real plus. But then I realized how very little new vocabulary I was actually being introduced to me. After going through French III and then French Plus, I have to say that I was disappointed. Purchase of the program was reimbursed to me as part of my work, so I wasn't upset by the purchase. Still, it made me wish for more lessons (i.e., a Level IV) for the Penton French series. I have since gone back to Penton and now use Rosetta Stone for more extensive learning.

I am currently working on Pimsleur III, after successfully complete I/II. It is absolutely amazing. Very easy to use - I listen & speak while exercising or while cleaning. The conversations build as you go and you can imagine talking to people in their native tongue. My only complaint is that Level III is the last level!! I REALLY wish Pimsleur would creat IV/V/VI - I'd use them all!!