Since my trip was delayed by a year ;-( and we won%26#39;t be going until June 2008, I want to take the time to build up as much conversational French as possible! I have high school French (25 years ago arghhh) so I am not starting from scratch, but I am definitely rusty! My google search of language CD%26#39;s gave some positive reviews of the Michel Thomas ones (aw7 - how far are you with those CD%26#39;s), but I%26#39;d love to hear about actual experiences with any version.
Thanks! (or should I say merci...)
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I just finished his first set of CDs (pack of 8) and am really pleased with them. I also took some classes my first two years of high school (almost 20 years ago) and found these CDs to be the perfect way to get back into it.
They start out with forming sentences, not %26quot;bonjour, numbers, days of week, etc%26quot;....but %26quot;would you like to go to dinner with me tonight%26quot;, %26quot;I am going to stay here%26quot;, etc. I found myself being able to have simple conversations with a friend that is fluent. She listened to the CDs and thought they were well done.
You mostly learn verb conjugation, sentence structure, etc. Not much on nouns but I%26#39;m also reading an instruction book to help with improving my vocabulary.
I am travelling alone to Paris for my first trip to France in 3 weeks. I feel so much more confident after listening to these tapes. I purchased the Advanced series, which I just received and am really looking forward them.
In addition to the tapes and book, The BBC also has some helpful information. www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/index.shtml
Also watching French news via online has been somewhat helpful.
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Eager students of French should not ignor the many free souces of study materials:
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/
http://french.about.com/
If you really want to know how a word is pronounced:
http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php#top
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aw7: Had you looked at any other CDs? I%26#39;m really curious to find out after you get back if you think the practice helped your confidence speaking French! How long are you going for in 3 weeks?
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I%26#39;ve looked at some other CDs (in flight french, etc) but this one seemed to be the best. I looked at reviews on Amazon.com for various CDs. I thought about Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone but the reviews for Michel Thomas were better and it was less expensive.
I%26#39;ll be in Paris for a week. Can%26#39;t wait! I%26#39;ll report back on the trip and how the tapes helped me.
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Have a great time - I%26#39;m looking forward to your trip report - en francais???
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Interesting to get some other well reasoned views re Michel Thomas CDs. [Sadly he died fairly recently.] Few people with any experience of learning languages would argue convincingly that
this couse is not excellent. in every way.
The new format vidoe ones of Elisabeth Smith too are excellent .
.Primeur is rather like still using minidisc technology.
.It really is worth every hour of your time to learn to speak another language.So many people particualry the english venture abroad %26amp; think if they speak engl;sh loudly enought %26amp; rudely enough they will succeed in conveying what they wish to.
Moroever a minium of trilingual wil be de rigeur unless one seeks no further than to attain the median salary/earnings
Good studies Gerlis
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I%26#39;m learning with the Michel Thomas 8 CD set and I%26#39;m finding it very helpful when it comes to learning sentence structure. I%26#39;m looking forward to trying it out on my next trip to Paris, and a French colleague of mine is being very helpful with pronunciation.
The vocabulary isn%26#39;t huge, but it gives you enough to get by, and also the confidence to guess at some words. Apparantly even a non-French speaker already knows 12,000 words of French - it%26#39;s all a matter of accent.
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And if you think about it, nouns are the easiest thing to fake ;-) My kids are in French immersion at school, so learning to speak French will help me help them with their homework as well. I%26#39;ve actually found that having to work my way through french language websites for tourist sites or accomodation - each time I go to a similar site, it%26#39;s a bit easier! I think I will take the plunge with the Michel Thomas set - thanks very much for the reinforcement!
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tktf --
Check out your local library - you may find that they have a set for you to test drive, so to speak.
Bon chance.
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Bonjour j%26#39;amène mes enfants en France,
My advice would be to listen to the French CBC news(called le téléjournal on SRC in French) since you will be already familiar with some of news it will be a good way to make your ears familiar with the French sounds. Bernard Delorme and Céline Galipeau don%26#39;t speak to fast and articulate clearly.
Bonne chance.
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