SmartFrench: Beginner Level - Learn French from Real French People by Christian Aubert
|
Our Price: $49.95 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $38.19 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of SmartFrench: Beginner Level - Learn French from Real French People
Book Review: How to differentiate the written and spoken French
Summary: 5 Stars
I've searched and searched, read reviews of products after products. I then tried SmartFrench and it was exactly what I needed! Just amazing.
I spent a little over 2 years learning French as a hobby (to kill time during my commute). I had tried Pimsleur, FrenchInBoston, LivingLanguage, a couple of books, and internet sites like french.about.com. I had recently watched a kid's DVD movie by switching the audio to French. I was a little ticked off that I could barely understand the conversations. Once I turned on the subtitle in French, I could then understand a lot of it. Obviously, I was lacking listening skills.
SmartFrench, unlike the other popular teaching methods, it teaches how to listen to the spoken French just as it is used in real conversations. Many other audio programs, you have someone reading a script in French. The sounds are quite different when someone is talking French compared to someone who is reading French.
After going through the beginner and intermediate lessons, I watched the DVD movie in French again. WOW, what a difference! I could understand so much more ... of course, I still have to increase my vocabulary to understand the full movie. I then went back to the Pimsleur Volume III. You see, Pimsleur, as many have noted, they don't teach the written French. The ending lessons of Pimsleur contain French dialogues at full speed. In many occasions, I could not figure out the divisions of the words if I were to write down the conversation. And now, thanks to SmartFrench, they are all very clear.
I no longer need to be buying more French audio lessons to improve my listening skills. I will be fine as long as I learn a few new words a day in order to fully understand a movie or conversation in French. Thank you, SmartFrench!!!
Book Review: Great method to tune your ear to "real" spoken French/ comprehend it/ and start speaking it.
Summary: 5 Stars
What I LOVE about this SmartFrench CD are the interviews with 19 different people (chef, fashion model, musician--you get the idea). You can listen to each person talking about their career (very interesting!). There is a very high quality booklet included with the CD. The booklet contains the text of what each French person is saying about their career. The French words are color coded so that whatever is not pronounced (silent) is printed in another color. That is SO helpful to me! Now I am able to read a little, too. The English text is also included. French text on left page, English on right--so you can compare.
It's one thing to learn French in a classroom, but it is different thing entirely to hear it spoken by native French speakers. This CD helps to tune your ear so that it makes sense.
I use the booklet a lot. It goes over how to pronounce the alphabet, numbers and silent letters. It has charts of `sounds'. I have a lot of materials at home to help me learn French, and most methods forget to teach/review the basics.
Also included are "Useful dialogues when you visit France" for use in the subway, on the street, in the taxi, café, at the concierge's desk, restaurant, a friends wedding, post office, museum, hotel and airport.
I really love using this SmartFrench CD. I was a beginning French speaker before our trip to France 3 months ago. Being in France helped attune my ear to the language, but I could only pick up a few words. This CD is helping me to comprehend a LOT more French when I hear my French friends talking, and I am beginning to speak so that I am understood!
Book Review: Great method to tune your ear to "real" spoken French/ comprehend it/ and start speaking it.
Summary: 5 Stars
What I LOVE about this SmartFrench CD are the interviews with 19 different people (chef, fashion model, musician--you get the idea). You can listen to each person talking about their career (very interesting!). There is a very high quality booklet included with the CD. The booklet contains the text of what each French person is saying about their career. The French words are color coded so that whatever is not pronounced (silent) is printed in another color. That is SO helpful to me! Now I am able to read a little, too. The English text is also included. French text on left page, English on right--so you can compare.
It's one thing to learn French in a classroom, but it is different thing entirely to hear it spoken by native French speakers. This CD helps to tune your ear so that it makes sense.
I use the booklet a lot. It goes over how to pronounce the alphabet, numbers and silent letters. It has charts of `sounds'. I have a lot of materials at home to help me learn French, and most methods forget to teach/review the basics.
Also included are "Useful dialogues when you visit France" for use in the subway, on the street, in the taxi, café, at the concierge's desk, restaurant, a friends wedding, post office, museum, hotel and airport.
I really love using this SmartFrench CD. I was a beginning French speaker before our trip to France 3 months ago. Being in France helped attune my ear to the language, but I could only pick up a few words. This CD is helping me to comprehend a LOT more French when I hear my French friends talking, and I am beginning to speak so that I am understood!
Book Review: The Best French Language Program I Have Tried
Summary: 5 Stars
I took three years of French in high school over twenty years ago, and I recently decided to take up the language once again. I have tried various programs, such as Rosetta Stone, Michel Thomas, and Pimsleur. However, when I tried to have a conversation with native French speakers, I was always disappointed because a) When they spoke at a natural pace, other than picking out a word here and there, I could not understand what they were saying and b) While I could make myself understood, I was told that my sentences were too rigid or unnaturally formal.
As far as I know, Smart French is the only program available that teaches the student to speak in a natural and fluent manner. The program begins with an excellent review of French sounds. Then, a series of vignettes are presented in which an interviewer discusses a topic with everyday French speakers such as a model, a chef, an art curator, a metal worker, an actor, etc. The converstations are presented in stages. The first stage, breaks down the sentences into bite sized segments in slow motion. The ensuing stages move progressively faster, until the sixth stage, when we hear the actual interview at normal speed. At first the converstions seemed impossibly fast, but after listening to them a few times, I began to understand more and more of what the speakers were saying.
The Smart French course has helped me tremendously in developing an ear for French as it is spoken by real people and in improving my accent. In my opinion, it is by far the best program available, and the best value for the money.
Book Review: THE FRENCH WHISPERER!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want to be like the majority of Americans who have taken a foreign language in high school or college and can hardly decipher a word of conversational French then Smart French is not for you. On the other hand, if you feel that the value of learning a foreign language is to understand NATIVE speakers and hear the language as it is actually spoken then Smart French is a MUST buy. This program will completely demystify the art to French spoken language--and it is an art. When I heard my first lesson I honestly felt betrayed by my other programs--why didn't they simply tell the truth about French pronunciation like Smart French does? That is why if you have had years of instruction or not even one French lesson this program will benefit you.
You get a booklet with the written dialogues, the alphabet, and helpful pronunciation tips. You also get a a CD which effortlessly takes you through a rich library of interesting conversations. The secret to Smart French is that it breaks it down for you--lesson by lesson. One of the most important things in learning a language is to utilize your listening skills--something that had always terrified me until Smart French. Go through each dialogue step by step and you will lose your fear and finally gain the confidence to trust your ears. Then pick up your old language books, tapes, and French movies and you will be amazed when you finally understand the speech patterns. I highly recommend this program--ENJOY!