Instant Immersion French Pro 7 CD Platinum

by TOPICS Entertainment

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 11.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005UWHA
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 21, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,144 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #76 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > French
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

"La pieuvre est sous le lit." While this phrase won't get you around the streets of Paris, you will undoubtedly find Instant Immersion French Pro to be full of fun examples and illustrations that cement your learning. (And if ever an octopus does actually appear under your bed, you'll be prepared.)

Instant Immersion French Pro gets you off to a great start with your French-learning endeavors. This seven-CD-ROM set offers a wide range of learning tools that accommodate many learning styles. With so many discs, we were surprised to see a quick installation. The discs offer the Tell Me More software (four discs), a French vocabulary-builder disc, French Plus, and a bonus audio CD.

The three content discs in the Tell Me More series--beginner, intermediate, and advanced--jump right in with language lessons, games, dialogue practice, speech recognition, and grammar. Not a stitch of English is to be seen or heard, even on the beginner disc. We started by checking out the demonstration, which was, in a word, annoying: no non-audio option was available, the presentation was about five minutes long, and it looped, not allowing us to exit. But after charging into the program itself, we were impressed with the creative presentation of learning tools: against the backdrop of a film set, students can take part in "scenes" of dialogue, video, or exercises. The technical options were plentiful as well, allowing us to turn off speech recognition (if you don't have a mic, or don't care to do that), change text size and audio quality, and set a number of other preferences. The games were fun, although a bit challenging without any knowledge of French. The Tell Me More series does offer a number of learning tools that aren't immediately obvious: right-clicking on words and phrases brings up pull-down menus that offer needed translations and pronunciation guides. Also, we found the speech recognition to be a little overly critical. However, the "report card" at the end of a lesson gave us a nice sense of progress.

The other two learning discs--a vocabulary builder and French Plus--seemed like the place to start with our foray into French. Through picture association and memory games in the vocabulary builder, we quickly got into the sound of the language. The French Plus CD-ROM also offered picture association, plus interactive activities. This disc goes into greater depth than the vocabulary builder, through 22 lessons ranging from the simple names of nouns to more difficult grammar topics.

Comparing this package to other language packages out there, we found the interface inviting and the activities engaging. We recommend this for learners at any stage of their French education as a valuable resource. --Emilie Herbst

Amazon.com Product Description

Start speaking, reading, and writing French today. Whether your study is for business, travel, or school, Instant Immersion French Pro's teaching methods and technology combine to create a language experience that delivers results. This seven-CD set features four Tell Me More language learning CD-ROMs, a French vocabulary builder, French Plus with 22 interactive lessons, and an audio CD that lets you practice your conversational skills anytime, anywhere.

Tell Me More's four-CD-ROM suite offers beginning, intermediate, and advanced lessons, and forms the core of this comprehensive French language series. You'll be guided through lessons complete with video clips and animations on vocabulary, grammar, phonetics, conversations, conjugation, cultural traditions, and more. Interactive speech recognition even corrects pronunciation and intonation. And because everyone learns at his or her own pace, lessons can be personalized.

The French Vocabulary Builder combines visual and memory learning to maximize retention. Use the recording feature to practice vocabulary and compare your speech to that of a native speaker's. French Plus covers speaking, reading, writing, and listening, helping you grow more comfortable with French over its 22 interactive lessons. Explore tenses, culture, directions, and more. In no time, you'll be able to communicate effectively. An added audio CD rounds out the collection, so you can practice anywhere, even en route to your French-speaking destination.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth it for beginners, March 20, 2002

By 

S. Alexander "samalex" (Waco, Tx) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Instant Immersion French Pro 7 CD Platinum (CD-ROM)

The box says you can "Quickly start speaking, reading, and writing French." Well, though it does have tutorials on quickly picking up the language, it has nothing to show a beginner how to pronunciate the letters and accents.

The first program, Tell Me More, is all French with no English translation. This is four of the 7 CD's that only helps someone review French that already knows it. Example, it'll show you a picture of a boy and a soccer ball, then have some French text and prounce the text in French. You don't know if they're saying "Boy with Ball", "Boy Playing Soccer", "Boy Playing" or what. Does no good for a beginner.

The French Plus CD is a different product and like the Tell Me More is more of a review for those who already know French.

The French Vocabulary Builder is basically a dictionary that pronounces certain words, but again, no syntax on how French is setup... so still no go for a beginner.

And the final CD is an audio CD, which again, isn't for the beginner.

To top it off, the package came with one sheet for instructions that basically says, Put in the install CD and follow the instructions. 7 CD's with a fancy package.

Save your money and choose another package. This is definately not worth it for beginners. The person that rated this 5 stars must work for the company.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not very good, April 15, 2002

By 

Alan Bouyssou (Greenville, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Instant Immersion French Pro 7 CD Platinum (CD-ROM)

This didn't help me at all. You have to already speek french to get anything out of it. It doesn't teach you how to speak french, just how to pronounce french words. I wish I could get my money back.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Teach Basics/Not worth the Money, October 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Instant Immersion French Pro 7 CD Platinum (CD-ROM)

This program includes 7 discs...True...but....NONE of the 7 discs teaches ANYTHING about basics. No introduction to basic grammar and form, not even introduction to the alphabet. The first 4 discs called Tell Me More are a big waste of time if you do not know the slightest bit about the french language. Also, it took some time to get the Tell Me More programs loaded and working on my system, which crashed my system more than me having to work and use it. All in all it is not worth the money...it will not teach you ANYTHING. This goes for the other Immersion Language Pro language versions, because all of them include this Tell Me More programs.