Customer Reviews

Learn in Your Car French, Level One [With Guidebook]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

these CDs work pretty well for commute time (I have 2 hrs each day). the small booklet is helpful for simple grammar tips, and also for pronunciation guides. another nice feature is that a genuine French woman is pronouncing the French words, rather than an american -- this helps with developing a more authentic accent. It may help to have some other experience with a foreign language to learn with these CDs. I will be ordering the second set of CDs in this series.

I bought the tapes in preparation for a visit to France. Being a slow learner, it took my a few weeks to get the hang of it, but the lessons are just about the right length, and very well organized. When I arrived in the country I was surprised to find that people not only understood what I was saying, but took me for a native and responded as if I knew the language well! The most important lesson is how to tell someone to please speak slowly!

I would buy the cd version, if I were to do it again, since searching for lessons and repeating them over and over on tape is not very convenient.

The only complaint I had with the content of the tapes was that there wasn't enough material on 'chit chat'. I learned how to get along in hotels, cafes, and shops--in fact I was able to obtain a discount in a store without using any english--but found it hard to carry on a simple conversation.

By the way, my experience with the French people was that when I made an honest attempt at their language, they were very friendly and helpful.

Overall, these tapes made my experience much more enjoyable. I highly recommend them.

I 've purchased three different "Learn French On Tape" sets in the last few years, and "Learn In Your Car" is by far the best. I've just started taking "real", in-person lessons at Berlitz, so I've been able to put these to the test-and they've given me a great head start. Humble though the level one tapes are, their virtue is that they are VERY simple, and believe it or not, the french DOES sink in, a little at a time, as you're driving around or on your daily commute. The thing about language tapes or CDs, of course, is that you take quite a chance when you buy them-you can't know if they'll be any good until they're unreturnable! Hence my review-and my heartiest recommendation to try this particular series. Bon chance!

I had just finished Pimsleur's Quick and Simple French for English Speakers, and was quite enthralled with my progress in that program. I bought this hoping to pick up some additional French without having to invest in the full Pimsleur program. Instead, I learned that there is NO substitute for Pimsleur!

I could forgive the high-pitch Frenchwoman's voice that other reviews complain of. The problem is that there is no TEACHING-- all this thing does is throw French words and phrases at you. There is nothing in the way of memory aids, repetition, reinforcement, or conversation. There is no explanation of grammar. In the "adjectives" section, for example (yes, there is an entire section that lists out adjectives with no other context whatsoever), the woman says the adjectives two different ways, presumably the masculine and feminine forms, with no explanation of why there are two forms and which is which. As another reviewer put it, this is really just someone reading you a dictionary!

I will henceforth confine myself to Pimsleur. It's expensive, but what is the point of spending even a small amount of money for something useless? Try the Quick and Simple if you want a taste of the method, but believe me you will want more! Amazon carries the Comprehensive program, and has links to other sites that not only sell the Comprehensive Program at a discount, but will also buy back your set when you're ready for the next level.

I like this audiobook. I have tried Language Dynamic tapes and Living Language tapes. This is by far the best. The audio quality is good, and you can learn some French after listening to it repeatedly. However, I am a slow learner of language. I found that the tape teaches too fast, and the pause between phrases is too short for you to repeat. The pronounciation is too quick. However considering its price, it is the best buy.

If you have lots of money, I strongly recommend Pimsleur tapes. IT IS THE BEST TAPES I HAVE EVER USED. EXTREMELY USER-FRIENDLY, MAKING ANYONE, INCLUDING LANGUAGE IDIOT, TO LEARN A LANGUAGE PAINLESSLY.

I have had a few years of French in High School and a semester in college, and it is amazing how quickly you can loose a language if you do not use it. I had purchased this complete set (level 1 - 3) to supplement the Living Language's Ultimate French to get more practice on pronunciation and some CDs that can be taken on the go. I have found that these CDs work well in some ways, but have some flaws.

These CDs are great for adding some new vocabulary to your language base. Some grammar is covered, but you will definitely need an additional resource to truly get a better understanding of the grammar rules.

As mentioned, there are a few flaws that are somewhat annoying:

1. The sound is set up so that the spoken English comes from one speaker and the spoken French comes from the other speaker. This is fine if you are listening on a regular stereo, but is difficult if you are trying to listen to it using headphones. Also, the volume is not balanced very well between the two speakers.

2. French speaking woman has a rather high pitched voice and can sound a little "sing-songy". She also seems to add a few extra syllables to some of the phrases. For example, when she is pronouncing "une carte de credit" (credit card), she pronounces the 'e' in 'une' ("oon-eh carte de credit"). To the best of my knowledge, this should not be pronounced.

No French music? No long-winded promotional introduction? I was actually disappointed at first! Then I realized these tapes teach in a simple, direct fashion, and that with persistence they will substantially improve your French vocabulary fairly quickly. After three weeks I am no native speaker, but I already know that my vocabulary and pronunciation have improved. Is this the best series available? Not having tried others, I can't say. However, I can respond to other two reviews here at Amazon by saying: If you expect to learn a significant amount of French after having had the tapes for "a day," you must be kidding. And I don't think someone who is not a French speaker is any authority on whether the woman on the tapes is pronouncing correctly. (Duh.) Her voice is a little high-pitched, but fairly pleasant. If I had more money, I would probably get the CDs for sake of ease, but when it comes to rewinding, any review is good review.

I listen to this on my drive to work every day. I like the way it jumps right into the lessons- you hear an English word or phrase followed by the French version. It goes fairly quickly. I believe it could have started out with more basics first- it introduces transportation and currency before teaching you basic numbers. If you already know the basic concepts and pronunciation, this is a great review. As a beginner course, it can be difficult to follow, unless you're reading along or are an excellent auditory learner.

I have to second the opinion of another review in stating that as an audio program, the Pimsleur is FAR more thorough and helpful for a beginner trying to learn French. Yes, it's expensive, but you get what you pay for, and "Learn in your car" is a much poorer substitute.

This is what I think is the shortcomings of the program:

1) This audio CD is basically a repetition of helpful words, phrases and sentences, first spoken in English, and then in French. This may seem a useful way to pick up a language, but as been shown by a number of other programme, this way of learning is hopelessly outdated. Make no mistake, you won't learn a language merely by rote one-to-one verbal translation.

2) There is NO attempt to show any conversation between native speakers, or how one should react under circumstances. There is no recording of people speaking with one another. For instance, the section "At the Restaurant" makes no attempt to show the interactive conservation between you and the waiter, just containing a series of verbal sentences that one can bark at the waiter.

3) As mentioned several times before, the French-speaking woman's pitch is quite high and can sound rather unpleasant on the ear. This is a minor quibble though.

A realistic expectation when buying this guide is that you will possibly end up knowing a number of set French phrases or words. This will NOT help you to learn anything enough to start a decent conversation though. You will NOT learn enough grammar to conjure up your own conversation either, in contrast to the Pimsleur, which will give you a massive headstart in French.

In short, I was rather disappointed with this series. As such, I will not purchase the succeeding Learn in Your Car 2 or 3 in the same series.

Six weeks prior to going to France, I ordered the CD's. Used them daily prior to the trip and found them helpful to refresh my limited French from years ago and prior trips. A glaring omission: The CD's teach you to ask for a menu in English, but give you absolutely no food items in French!!! This is a real problem, given that you gotta eat in France and not all restaurants have their menus translated into English, or if they do, there are still some French food names sprinkled throughout. This can be alarming if you do not care for tripe or some other non-translated specialties. A lesson on basic food names would be essential for this series to be really useful to a newcomer to France. Can't really recommend it.