Customer Reviews

Getting By in French: with Audiocassettes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unlike Berlitz, which gives you long, wordy sentences to memorize, Getting By In French teaches you quick phrases that the French use themselves, without the excess verbiage. How to understand the responses you will get using keywords is also stressed. I used it to practice for a few weeks before my trip, and it made communication much easier. I even got compliments (!) from the French (!!) in Paris(!!!)!

Do you need to be spoken slowly to and have everything explained and repeated to learn it? Well, I sure do! Especially when it comes to learning another language and this book does the trick!! Other tapes I tried first made me think I could never learn French... Thank god I tried this one. An Excellent introduction to the language.

I have had many years of French in America which in no way prepared me to speak anywhwere in France...especially in out lying country regions.Formal address of each person is mandatory at all times with proper attire(coat/dress pants/tie/dress shoes for men , skirt/dress and dress shoes for women)will get you every where in France as long as you speak as fast as the tape or faster.I played the tape each day for 2 months and everyone understood me.Eight years of American French will not help without extreme speed in talking. Best intro tape ever,,,don't forget the new Euro. Viva La France and good luck , Capt, Mike

French is very difficult for those who have never learned another language. I made use of this tape/book combination for about a month and was truly able to "get by". I found as many do, that just giving an effort put me in good graces with people I came in contact with. They would then most often speak in English. Give the book and tape a good effort--Lots of repetition--and you'll benefit.

I guess it depends on what your goal is and whether you have studied a foreign language before. I've studied Italian, German and Greek and have managed some level of proficiency in all of them. By this time, I have come to know what I like in a language course and what is most useful. I think this particular course is probably best utilized as a supplement. I've been listening to it a few times a week for a couple of months. I'm not sure whether I've really learned anything I didn't already know. (French is similar to Italian, so I have a head start on the language.) At the beginning of a language study, I do think you should acquire an idea of how regular verbs are conjugated in the present tense and I can't say that I'm really getting that. I'd like to hear a verb phrase in all persons and numbers, like "I'm going to the store, you're going to the store, she's going to the store, we're going to the store, etc." Then I'd like a tape that would give me all the most useful phrases I'll need, like "I'd like room for two nights" or "a glass of red wine, please." I think I could get more out of a tape that simply gave the phrase in French and then repeated it in English, rather than have a whole little scenario, as this course does. However, the value of the little scenarios is that they give a good idea of what a typical conversation about a certain subject may be like. This way one can get a pretty good idea of the questions he may be asked and get some practice in recognizing them when he hears them. (I know from experience that there's nothing more embarrassing than asking a question in a foreign language and then not being able to understand the reply.) With that goal, I think this little course could be a valuable supplement, but I would not recommend it as the primary learning tool. If I had a time limit to learn French, I would have moved on to something else weeks ago. I don't think this lays down the basics quickly enough for someone who has previously studied a Romance Language.

This is an excellent, quick guide for business and pleasure travelers to France. The accents are perfect and it teaches you the basics quickly. I recently sent this as a gift to a relative's daughter who is a high school student (whose school does not have a lanaguage lab) so that she could practice speaking the language. I used this set years ago to teach community ed. classes to business travelers. Works great!

I really like this product - so much so that I also have purchased, over years of traveling, the Getting By series for German and Italian, as well as the one for French. Rather than being comprehensive, these lessons provide what I've needed as an independent traveler - nothing more, and certainly nothing less. A terrific product that is perfect for me, at least, during my freeway commute. It is as the company says - learn this material, you can indeed get by - even in France, where they seem a bit more picky about the language than elsewhere.

Here's the downside: These lessons remain on cassette tapes, and appear to be unavailable on CDs. When I bought my set of these things years ago, a cassette player was as ubiquitous in a car as a steering wheel, and in a home as a kitchen. I doubt that's the case anymore. It certainly isn't the case for me. So for Barron's to not have burned this data onto a set of CDs seems like a terrible shame. And that's the only reason I rate this at four stars, less than the full five stars.

JonT

i searched and search, tried rosetta stone and all kinds of useless things. traveling to France or a French speaking country? This is it. Fabulous tips like - you don't understand the concierge's answer because he is speaking too fast in answer to your question if a room is available - listen to the tone of voice - if his/her voice goes up - voila! you have a room. if his/her voice goes down, try the next place. don't understand what's on the menu? look around the cafe, catch the waiter's eye, point to someone else's plate, and say "si vous plait." boy, does this make traveling and getting by easier. and for me, anxiety relieved, the tongue loosens, and voila! french emerges. tortured French for sure, but as long as you are not in Paris, the people will generally respond good naturedly to your attempts. The French are quite friendly actually.