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Title: French II by Pimsleur Language Programs ISBN: 0-671-31554-4 Publisher: Pimsleur Intl Inc Pub. Date: 01 January, 1999 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 16 List Price(USD): $345.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent, but don't expect miracles
Comment: I have been using the series starting from French I about 4 months ago, and I'm at the beginning of French III. I originally bought the course because I was about to move to Geneva, Switzerland, and was in a hurry to learn French, having absolutely no knowledge of French previously. This series is a very good purchase, albeit expensive. At this point I can go to a resaurant and speak to the waiters comfortably, introduce myself, make plans with friends, among other things. I still can't converse comfortably in everyday situations, or understand what's going on on TV, but I find that I can pick up phrases or words here and there. I've taken 3 years of Spanish in high school, and 3 years of German in college, and I'm at about the same level in French already (having forgotten a lot of German and Spanish)
Now, this course does not contain any explanations of grammar, culture, or much in the way of reading. However, if you have ever learned a romance language before, or know English grammar, you would be able to figure out the verb tenses and the correct way to use them (or even conjugate them) pretty easily. In terms of reading, I find it useful to have a dictionary with you while you are doing the lessons. When the course introduces a new word, look it up in the dictionary and see what the word looks like. It also helps with memorizing the word. Regarding one of the previous reviews, about the use of the familiar form, I disagree. I use the familiar form all the time. In fact, before I learned it, my Swiss friend (I met here) was telling me that I was being too formal with him. Plus, toward the end of French II, the lessons begin to focus on the polite form again.
The course is excellent, but one should still proceed slowly. I do each lession at least 2 to 3 times before moving on, twice in the evenings, and once in the shower in the mornings as review. I don't stop the lesson during the pauses to think of the answer because I figure if I truly know it, I would be able to answer within the pause. By the third listen, I can usually answer within the pause.
Don't expect miracles and be realistic. You still need to take time to listen and absorb the materials. However, the course is designed in a way that encourages you to use it. After I listen to the lesson, I usually want to go out and use it immediately, and I characterize myself normally as a shy person. Definitely buy it if you are going to invest the time and need to start using French immediately.
Rating: 5
Summary: A good start
Comment: I have been a continuous language failure for years, never taking language lessons at school, attending various private lessons and struggling with tapes and CD's. I have lived in French speaking countries (Belgium and France) for 3 years and have learned very little in that time. I even live with a French woman, who I am marrying, so what's my excuse?
Nothing has worked for me.......until now! I do NOT really enjoy working in my spare time, which was part of the problem. Since purchasing the Pimsleur I have actually begun to speak French, since this course does not feel much like work, I have no problem following it.
I do half an hour each day, no paper, no pens and no reading, I just listen. Unlike the previous reviewer who hates the use of "tu", I have found it essential. I have mixed "tu" and "vous" on several occasions and found that no one is ever offended, as they are just so happy for an anglophile to be trying to speak their language. If someone asks you to "tu-te" them and you continue with "vous", this will be taken the same way as persisting in calling someone Mr or Mrs after they have asked you to call them by their first name (as a snub), so I think its considerable presence is valid.
Pimsleur has offered me a life line here. As long as you follow the course exactly, you will learn rapidly, but don't expect too much, as many people do. This will not make you fluent overnight, or even over several months (although you will have survival French within hours), as only being around French speaking people and practising on a prolonged regular basis can achieve that, but it is an excellent start and worth every last cent.
Rating: 3
Summary: good, but vocabulary is scant and emphasis is misplaced
Comment: I have used both the French (through Level II) and Italian (through Level III) versions of the Pimsleur language tapes. Both French and Italian use virtually the same script, and both have virtually the same strengths and shortcomings. Since all the other reviews seem for focus on the strengths, I will add a counter-perspective and discuss the shortcomings. I can live with the very limited vocabulary because a good electronic translator can give you all the vocabulary you need when you get in-country. I recommend the Franklin Bookman "French Professor" translator, which Amazon sells. The Ectaco is good for Italian, also sold by Amazon.
Both series really annoyed me by placing an unwarranted emphasis on the "familiar" forms of speech ("tu" instead of "vous," etc.)which would be appropriate only for talking with very small children, and very close friends. Nobody who buys this series is likely to have very close friends in France, nor of speaking to large numbers of very small French children. My university French course does not teach the familiar forms (the equivalent of "thee" and "thou" in old English) at all because it is unimportant, except to native speakers, and using them offers an unnecessary opportunity to offend someone if used improperly. A tourist or business person would not use "familiar" forms at all. French I (one) doesn't contain familiar forms at all. They creep into the series at about Lesson 8 in French II and persist throughout the remainder of the French II tapes, in a percentage totally out of proportion to their importance to the purchaser.
When I made this same criticism of the Italian II tapes two years ago, a company PR guy (kindly) sent me an email that said something like, "we know you're never going to use familiar forms, but we want you to be 'exposed' to it, just in case you run across them." In years of traveling in France and Italy, I never heard a familiar form used, except in some print and television advertising, where the advertiser is apparently trying to act like family to the customer. Bottom line: the emphasis on familiar forms in the Level II series is disproportionate to actual importance, and is a real waste of time and money, especially in a very expensive series that is scant on vocabulary to begin with. Pimsleur had better things to do with tape space and they wasted it teaching familiar forms instead of vocabulary.
Otherwise, I agree with the comments of the other reviewers that the series is, on the overall, the best that is available, especially if you regularly spend lots of time in your car and can listen every day. If Pimsleur redesigns the series, they need to delete or diminish the emphasis on familiar forms of speech and use that tape space instead for traveler/business relevant vocabulary. I define "relevant vocabulary" as involving trains, planes, automobile rentals, booking hotel rooms, ordering meals in restaurants, finding directions to museums and such, NOT playing tennis . . .
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Title: French III: Pimsleur Comprehensive by Pimsleur Language Programs ISBN: 0671315552 Publisher: Pimsleur Intl Inc Pub. Date: 01 January, 1999 List Price(USD): $345.00 |
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Title: French I by Pimsleur ISBN: 0743518349 Publisher: Pimsleur Intl Inc Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $345.00 |
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Title: French I: Pimsleur Comprehensive by Pimsleur Language Programs ISBN: 0671315536 Publisher: Pimsleur Intl Inc Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $345.00 |
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Title: Pimsleur Instant Conversation French by Paul, Dr. Pimsleur, Pimsleur Language Programs ISBN: 0743525736 Publisher: Pimsleur Intl Inc Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: The Ultimate French Review and Practice: Mastering French Grammar for Confident Communication by David M. Stillman, Ronni L. Gordon, NTC Publishing Group, Author Unknown ISBN: 0658000748 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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