Customer Reviews

Mastering French Level Two: Audio CD Package (Mastering Series/Level 2 Compact Disc Packages)

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

 

 

I am giving this item one star because the description of what this package contains needs to be better, not for the contents of the package. These are the Foreign Service Institute lessons which are available online for free. There are a total of 24 units, each containing multiple lessons. This Level Two package only goes up through unit 12, so anyone looking for a more advanced course will be quite disappointed, as I was. Nothing on the package cover or the description of the item states this, and it is not until you have opened it up and discovered that in fact it is not the advanced lessons do you find this out. Once the package is opened, it can only be returned to Amazon for 50% of what you paid.The quality of the recording is better than the online lessons, and it includes the book, which is also available online but is 500 pages to download, so it is better than the free online material if you want better audio quality and don't want to download a huge number of pages. It is NOT the second more advanced series of units, however, so do not buy it if you're looking for advanced level material. Units 13-24 do not seem to be available other than the free online source. If the package or any description of this item had indicated it was only lessons units 7-12, I never would have purchased it. By finding this out the hard way, I lost half the purchase price when I returned the item.

A good resource for improving your spoken french. There is almost no english translation, so one must have a solid foundation of vocabulary and verbs prior to using these cds. The book is nice to have in case you don't understand a spoken word, but is way too boring to read by itself (more of a back-up manual). The audio cds are of excellent clarity and very well done. This program is best for audio learners, or for when reading is inconvenient (driving, while resting/relaxing, when your eyes are fatigued, etc...)

This series is the continuation of Level 1 which I recently completed. The approach is "old-school" but sound: drill until you get it correct. At the same time, I don't find it boring. If I know a particular grammar rule, I can always listen to the speakers and work on pronunciation and rhythm.
I have tried other methods, and I have also studied French in high school as well as college. My frustration came in visiting France and not understanding a word. With the Barron's series, they do not slow down the speaking, and they do not pronounce every syllable as though speaking to a three-year old. They give you real language. My (pleasant) surprise has been in watching French films and understanding what they say (granted, only 10-50% of what they say in some cases, but still a big leap from my college French).
Make no mistake, however. This course is not complete. They work on grammar, for example, but you do need to have a parallel grammar book (McGraw Hill has a good one) as well as a vocabulary book. This course, does, however help tremendously with speaking and listening comprehension. (As a side, my problem in France was mostly listening comprehension. Since then, whenever I have been able to get someone to slow down I do much better. I hope that Barron's will fix this problem as they do speak at the pace of a native speaker)

This set includes 13 CD that cover units 7-12 from the FSI French course. It is a tremendous resource to drill grammar and improve your listening skills. Each unit follows the same useful structure:

1. Dialogue
2. Useful Words
3. Vocabulary Awareness
4. Drills
a. Lexical Drills
b. Learning Drills
c. Practice Drills
d. Questions
e. Answers
f. Review Drills

This set expands on Mastering French Level One. It introduces passé composé, adjectives (forms & positions), object pronouns, subject pronouns, imperatives, and a few other concepts.

This serves as a very good tool for the intermediate-level student.

99 per cent of the material is NOT translated, so this means you have to do a lot of work to understand the material. With no verb conjugation material, it is very difficult to translate. I bought the Oxford French-English dictionary at about $50 so I could look up the conjugated verb to translate the sentence. Very poor of the authors to not translate at least 50 per cent of the material. You will spend hundreds of hours translating the material. Unless you want to spend that much time, I would not recommend buying it.