Customer Reviews

Let's Talk French "Today" (Immersion +/Audio Cassette)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This tape helps you understand SPOKEN French. The French language just SOUNDS so different from our English that a student can actually be quite advanced in grammar/vocabulary, and yet be unable to understand anything he hears!!!

The cassette has four dialogues presented in story segments. (Think of each segment as a chapter in a story.) So first you hear about a couple deciding to go out for dinner. Next you hear about a fishing trip. Then a family is planning its vacation. Finally, two ladies plan a shopping trip. Then the cycle resumes with "chapter 2" of each story: You learn how the dinner turns out, what happens to the ladies in the store, etc.

Like Penton's VOCABULEARN course, this is a single-purpose tool. Its goal is to help you hear and understand. I give it 5 stars because I really can't imagine any way to improve on the tapes. (Please note, there is another Immersion + tape you can try. I will review that one later.) After using these cassettes, you should record some French movies with your VCR.

All-in-all, this is a fine product at a good price.

Finally a tape that teaches French without constantly lurching into English and breaking the French rhythm. Each scene is introduced briefly in English, orienting the listener to the scene just as you'd be oriented if you were there ("Father & son are loading the car for a fishing trip..."). Then you hear the dialogue in French three times: fast (identify the trouble spots), slow (figure out the trouble spots),fast (understand the whole thing). It's the way you'd learn if you lived in France and didn't hear any English. The conversations are funny, full of French wit, and the situations have enough tension to hold your interest. Some of the speakers use slang and/or have slight regional accents. I wish there were more tapes like this.

This is the first tape I've listened to that is actually clever and funny. As other reviewers have written, it takes repeated listenings to "get it," but it's well worth the effort. The regional accents are an education in themselves. I highly recommend this tape.

I purchased this because I had one in Italian. This one is older and the second "listening" section for each story is spoken too slowly. On newer versions this is corrected. Still, for the price, a great bargain and a good way to improve listening skills. Serious learners probably will want to pay a little more for a newer version.

I tried several French tapes to back up my high school French knowledge, but I didn't get much out of them, this one included. Too much of the typical nasal-sounding, boring conversation that you have no desire to remember. Could I have gotten more out of it with a bit more effort? It's possible, but this was pretty painful.