Customer Reviews

Ultimate French Advanced (CD Pkg) (Ultimate Advanced)

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

 

 

This is certainly a useful combination of text and audio but I don't think the authors got it quite right. The text is a little on the light side wrt grammar and the audio examples of "useful phrases" are very definitely odd.I work as a surgeon and I can't remember the last time I used the phrase "the doctors are talking about a liver transplant and possibly a bypass"! I guess the idea is to use examples of grammar rather than anything one might use in practice, but the utility of the work could have been improved with a little more care.
The grammar component was a useful summary but I would still recommend "En Bonne Forme" for early advanced studies.

This is the best I have found and I have tried several books. This is, hands down, better than the Tell Me More Series and better than Pimsleur. I have lived in France over four years and I re-read this book regularly. I also find something new to learn. It is well worth the cost!

The course is very well structured. I like especially the dialogues for their liveliness and the business information provided in the 'Le coin des affairs' section. There is also a good coverage of grammar, but not always enough explanation is provided so that from time to time I need to consult another source. That's why I rated the course four stars. However, this is the best advanced French course I've seen.

I loved the first book (which is why I was surprised that all the Pimsleur lovers trashed it, but oh well). The first level has so much grammar and verb conjugations that it really makes you learn the language rather than just picking up a few phrases for survival travel. If you want to get a great start into French fluency, the Ultimate Beginner is definitely the way to go. That being said, The Advanced was extremely disappointing. There was little in the way of formal grammar (I guess they expect you to pick it up in the quick dialogues). Like most of the other reviewers, I found the dialogues to be not applicable in the real world (unlike the first level, which really does take you through some real life situations). It gives a though review of the first level grammar, but it really helps to be walked through it as they had done in the first level. You really are not introduced to new verbs the way a student on his own should be (like, once again, they had done in the first level). Sound quality is poor, but manageable. To further your French past the first level, I would reccomend the Living Language Verb Builder and the Vocabulary books. I work as a French teacher by the way, so I hope this helps.

I have the Italian version of this product and it is much better so this is a disappointment. Sound quality is awful - need very loud volume and everyone still sounds like they are talking in a cave. Can't imagine I will ever need to say "red and yellow reversible damask cotton" in English, let alone in French. Situations not realistic, voice-over actors bad. Still -- the lessons are good reviews with lots of new and useful vocabulary. Definitely for the patient or very advanced student of French, but I agree -- LL's French 2 is a better product.

This is a good resource, but it is definitely for the student who is aiming for the advanced level. Although I am learning much grammer and many new words from the course, the situations are not everyday. I have also used Living Language French 2 and found that to contain many more everyday situations and more userful language.

I finished the Beginner-Intermediate Ultimate French and picked up a copy of Advanced. The only things advanced about this book were the dialogues--I was surprised and disappointed to find that a lot of the grammar in this book had already been covered in the beginner-intermediate version. Don't bother with this book. Chances are, if you're at an advanced level, it doesn't have much to teach you.

For years, I have been studying several foreign languages, at different levels. In the process of doing so, I have utilized a variety of methods and tools for self-practice purposes, books on tape, CD courses, magazines, etc.

The "Living Language" series of Ultimate French courses has been, hands down, the best I have found. It is different from others in that each lesson provides a wealth of new vocabulary. The focus is a conversational one, rather than the "stiff", grammatically-centered and more traditional systems of foreign language instruction.

Each dynamic unit is comprised of an extensive thematic lesson/dialogue (relevant to today's world), followed by an explanation of the vocabulary, as well as, new phrases, verbs and grammattical structures.

The two sets of CDs mirror the manual's dialogues. One set is exclusively in French (with pauses for repetition). The other set, contains the English explanations. So, depending on your level of comfort with the language, you may choose which one to stick with.

I highly recommend this package for anyone interested in learning French (note: there is a beginner one, as well) or, if you simply want to utilize it as a "brush up" tool, like I now do.

What the listing failed to mention was that the coursebook is accompanied by CDs that you can download to an MP3 and carry with you.

As are most living language materials, this course is boring.

I love French, I love learning it, but this course is about as exciting as reading a technical manual.

A lot of courses out there are fun to learn, make you laugh, and you find yourself WANTING to understand so you can enjoy the humor or out-of-context situations. (Like the book French Now!)

Plenty of useful info in this course, even more useful if you need something to put you to sleep.