Customer Reviews

Ultimate French Beginner-Intermediate (CD/Book) (Ultimate Beginner-Intermediate)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved, loved, loved this package! In fact, I'll have to buy a new book soon since my old one is so worn out from nights of study and review. This set, to me, is so much better than Pimsleur. It all depends on what you wish to learn. Pimsleur is all audio, so from a purely conversion vantage it might be better for tourists, but it doesn't teach you the ins and outs of the language. Grammar is basic (sometimes non existent). This is the exact opposite. You learn the language properly, by learning how to build it noun by verb etc. It's the way that every child should be taught his primary language (but seldom is, hence Prof. Higgins' rant!). After completing this course (which, if you're studying it thoroughly, should be at the rate of a lesson a week), you will have all the tools you need to construct sentences in several forms of the past, present, and future, as well as having a very solid foundation for pronunciating (most students biggest complaint about French) correctly. I bought this set my senior year of high school to prepare me for college French, and I must say, I learned more from this set than I did all four years of high school French and the first year of college. If you really want to lay the ground work for French fluency, voici le livre!!!

The Living Language Ultimate series is my personal number 1 choice when it comes to learning foreign languages, and this French version is no exception.

The whole course is based around realistic dialogues, so you are learning spoken French all the way through the book. Of course you will learn to read it too, but the focus on the spoken language to the extent to which it is presented here helps you build up speech patterns.

Each dialogue features certain language points that are covered in detail in the explanations that follow. These explanations are easy to follow, but extensive enough to give you everything you really need to know, rather than obscure facts and features of the language you are never going to need. In addition, cultural notes support each unit.

The audio component is unique to Living Language, a far as I know. Of the 8 cassettes or CDs, 4 are for use in class, and contain only French. The other 4 are for use at those times when you are travelling, exercising etc. i.e. when you are unable to use the book but you are able to listen and repeat. The `On The Go' recordings feature explanations in English, which support and reinforce the learning you do with the textbook. Far from being a gimmick, these recordings offer a unique element to the course, which allows you to extend your knowledge, even when you cannot learn in a traditional study environment.

A further feature of the course is the advanced volume, which is based upon the same conversational approach as the beginner/intermediate course, and which offers the student the option to take the language further in a format he or she is used to, and therefore, comfortable with.

Admittedly, Living Language Ultimate seems to cost slightly more than other self-study courses on the market, but they are well worth it, and with the Amazon special price you really are getting a bargain on a solid and well integrated language course, that will undoubtedly stand you in good stead whether you are a self-learner or a student of French.

If you're serious about learning French, and you are only intent on purchasing one course, then I recommend this one.

Excellent self study course as is all of the ultimate series. If you are motivated and organized in your studies you can learn much from this course not only about the language but also how to use it which is most important. You will not need a teacher. In fact I have never known anyone to become truely proficient through classes. You must study every day. I would reccomend this course along with Barrons mastering. Barrons for the drilling method which may be old but us tried and true and Ultimate for the up to date diologues and vocabulary. Also listen to movies with french tracks and also the internet news in French can be invaluable in developing your listening comprehension.

I am French and I teach French as a foreign language. I highly recommand thsi method. It starts with simple dialogues which get trickier and trickier but very gradually. The voices, intonation and accent sound really authentic too. A very good choice !

For the analytically minded language learner who really wants to LEARN the language, this course is probably the most balanced available. It is well laid out and presented in a clear, concise manner. There are plenty of practice problems. The text itself takes you farther than most beginning language courses and the advanced book (sold separately) picks up where this one ends. There is lots of audio--two separate series on the CDs, one following the book, the other supplemental (can be listened to while you are driving, exercising, or whatever).

I like the Living Language books because they are self-contained and I don't feel as if I need to be working through other course books concurrently as I do when working through offerings from some other language-learning publishers. The only negative for me personally is that the vocabulary comes quite fast. I find myself getting way ahead in the grammar while being stalled with loads of vocabulary. This, however, is a personal weakness/strength issue and you may not have this problem. Other than that, I can't think of a thing that I don't like about this course.

How does this offering compare with other company's offerings? I would have to say that Living Languages and Hugo are my favorites. Hugo is great for stripped down, no fluff presentation. I really like their stuff. But, they tend to be very intense and typically do not have sufficient practice problems. Living Language is more balanced and takes you farther with the grammar and vocabulary. I'd say the two are tied for my favorites. Teach Yourself also has some great offerings... but choose wisely, because they are not consistent and offer some real dogs as well. Living Language and Hugo have a consistent format and you know what to expect from all of their courses.

Of course, this book will require study. It is not a "Learn French While You Watch TV and Eat Popcorn" or "French in Your Sleep" or "French in the Blink of an Eye" course. As long as you go into it knowing this and are willing and able to actually study and invest some time, you should have a good experience with Ultimate French. If you don't like to study and invest time, you'll have a great new dust collector in a protective clamshell sleeve.

For a beginner, the dialogues on the CD are spoken much too quickly! I would understand if they were spoken quickly one time to be able to hear how they would sound naturally. But then they need to be repeated more slowly so that a beginning student can try to follow along. Even the repetition phase of the CD (when you repeat after the native speaker) goes too fast. For intermediate french, this would work, but not for beginning.

I've used Pimsleur and Oasis Audio (AKA The Complete Idiot's Guide)and I find The Living Language program best for my style of learning. The others are based almost exclusively on aural learning, with extremely limited grammatical explanation, in most cases none at all. This replicates the way a child learns his first language, and may well work for some adults, but I need to know what a word "looks like" and I need to understand the logic behind a construction. Living Language combines written explanation and oral illustration very nicely. The advanced version, both French and Spanish, is very idiomatic and requires a good grasp of the material in the Beginner/Intermediate level. Because these programs contain both a book and CDs, they may be more expensive than some of the others, but they contain an awful lot of material. If you're new to the language, you could easily spend a year on the Beginner/Intermediate program.

Bought the book for about $15 from Amazon, not paying too close attention to the details. Reviews are glowing and give one the impression that the book comes with CD or CDs. (I said I didn't pay attention.) I was waiting eagerly - heading for France next year and would like to be able to find my way around without resorting to mime. So the book has arrived and not only are no CDs included, they are available on Amazon for $190 additional!?!????!!! I'm trying to think of some cute little joke to make about it, but sorry, it doesn't seem funny.

As I write this, I'm a little over halfway through this program, and I am very pleased with it. The four CDs for use with the book are very clear and useful in helping to pronounce French correctly. The book is an excellent text-all points of grammar are explained clearly and plenty of examples are given to illustrate how to use the language correctly. The dialogues are easy to learn and very practical-they contain things that the average person would actually talk about when visiting a French-speaking area; topics such as food, shopping, buying train tickets, sightseeing, and so forth. The book also contains an excellent and useful appendix, which recaps points of grammar and has a section on letter writing.

So why four stars instead of five? My main criticism concerns the "Learn as you Go" CDs. I do not find these terribly helpful. They contain extra phrases like "The chair is made of mahogany" that the average user is extremely unlikely to need, and that with no transcription whatever, so it's hard to say if you've repeated it correctly or not. I think the "Learn on the Go" CDs could have been put to much better use recording the many grammatical examples in the text. In their defense, they do go over the pronunciation of new verb conjugations as they are introduced, and that IS very helpful. The space on these four CDs could, however, in general have been much better used.

The book does have a few minor flaws. For instance, in one early dialogue the year 1960 is said, at a point when only the numbers up to 19 have been taught (and in French, 1960 is said as one thousand nine hundred sixty). There are a few other things that would confuse a complete newcomer to French, though if you've had any exposure to French before the book won't give you any trouble. Even if you are completely new to French, I would still recommend this product. If you make it through the first few units it will go very easily afterward if you stick with it. Also, though the course is self-contained, I would strongly recommend getting a dictionary and a verb guide to go with it. Then you will have all the tools you need to learn basic French independently.

This course's few flaws are far outweighed by its many good points. It is enjoyable to use and very informative. It demands effort, of course-like everything worth doing. I believe this is the best self-teaching course for French available, and I look forward to moving on to the Advanced set soon.

I checked out the "ultimate french" set from the library because I enjoyed the "Beyond the basics" course for Italian by the same company. I've found that Living Language is very inconsistent in the style and presentation among its various levels of courses and languages covered.
This is one style I didn't like. It just plain turned me off from continuing on.
There is one set of CDs that are supposed to go along with the book, and another set supposed to be used alone, independent of the book. I find this presents too much double coverage in a negative way: It becomes confusing, perhaps overwhelming to a beginner. This would be alright if the spoken and written lessons weren't also too quick from the outset. A pronunciation lesson would have been nice as a first lesson (I only recall a written one that seemed to be a preface in the book). The native speakers then proceed to speak at a normal pace and style for a native. At this level, at the beginning of a course, speakers should slow down and enunciate even if words are ultimately meant to have a slur from one to the next. I am sure that this course could be useful for those who have had previous contact with the french language; it seems that the "beginner" section of the course is really a review for intermediate learners.
I'll try the Complete French (Teach Yourself series) book/CD; as a language tutor and student, the book follows a philosophy that I've found to be very helpful in learning. I'll review that if I ever use it.