Home study courses

[Lulubel]

My partner and I are considering moving to France in a couple of years, and we want to get a good head start on the language.  So far, we've both done GCSE French a "few" years ago, but we want to be able to communicate fairly comfortably by the time we get out there, and be at the stage of what I call "thinking in French", without needing to mentally translate to and from English.

I work shifts, so we can't commit to local courses, and we haven't managed to find a native tutor here in the far west of Cornwall, so we've been looking at home study options.  The most interesting option we've found so far is Linguaphone Pro, which is expensive, but seems like a pretty good deal if it really takes you to degree standard.  Does anyone have any experience of this course, or can anyone recommend any alternatives for home study that would get us to the same point (or further)?

[Pierre ZFP]

I never got on with the Linguaphone courses but admitedly it was a few years ago so has probably changed out of all recognition.  I also thought it was hellish expensive.  I've used some of the Michel Thomas CD's (there are complete courses available) and found them very good.  I can put a CD on in the car and do the exercises as I go along.   Bit of a problem in traffic sometimes as in 'Ooo noooo I can't negotiate this busy roundabout and talk to the CD at the same time'.  I think there's a few other forum members who use Michel Thomas CD's too, I'm sure they'll be along soon.

[chessfou]

How far are you from your nearest public library? Unless it's a tiny one (far west Cornwall ... hmm, probably), they should have a range of language courses that you can borrow (usually for a small charge).

[Lulubel]

I've just had a look at the Rosetta Stone website, and that looks quite interesting, especially the 12 month online subscription (a much cheaper option than buying all 3 levels, if you can get through them all in 12 months).

I'd seen the Michel Thomas CDs on Amazon, and noticed they were very popular.  It's nice to hear from someone who can confirm they're good.

My nearest library is pretty useless as far as languages are concerned, but it is very small.  I'll check out what's available in our nearest bigger town next time I'm there.  It probably has a better library.

Thanks.

[DerekJ]

A few comments on the Michel Thomas.

In the past I've "tinkered" with a few home study french courses but with limited success. With decision to buy a house in France (we complete next week!) I decided I'd better seriously look at improving my french. BobT (of this forum) mentioned MT to me and I ended up buying the 8 CD Foundation course. I liked this a lot and ended up buying the Advanced course, the Language Builder and the Vocabulary.

I feel that they have worked for me and I've found his method and style exactly right for me. I don't like the Vocabulary course and I've stopped trying to use it. It isn't taught by him and despite the publishers claim that it uses his methods I don't agree with them.

I think language learning is a very personal thing, so what works for one person won't work for another.

Have a look here for a free download of the beginning of the Foundation course.

If you try that you will get the general feel as to whether MT is for you or not.

[Tara1]

Hi

I have also been trying to improve my French. Similar to you I did O level french many years ago and ssince then had done a refresher course (a few years ago now). I have also tried the Michel Thomas CDs which are pretty good and am working through the advanced course. I also have the Pimsleur French Intermediate CDs which are fairly simple (maybe look at the advanced I debated which level to start on) but seem to be sinking in, loads of repetition. The only downsde is an American narrator with a really annoying voice. I am also taking one to one lessons with a native french teacher (based in Nice) via webcam/headset which is really helpful and you can book lessons with him when you want them - any time. If you are interested I will PM he website (you can have a couple of trial lessons free).

Also there is a book called Twisted doors which is basically a story

(with audio CD). The story is written in French with English

translation alongside. After each chapter you ar given vocab etc to

learn and a quck quiz to see what you have remembered

http://www.thetwisteddoors.com/

I have been looking into free resources to take a look at Ma France BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/mafrance/

or

http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/

Hope this helps

[Pads]

Hello Lulubel

How far west are you ? Im in North Cornwall and have found a nice private teacher by ringing the schools and night school teachers untiil I found one that would see me privatley.

I also Use home coarses and have found Micheal Thomas very good. plus I use others that I have picked up here and there.

Recently while in france I went to a early learning type shop and picked up some books with matching CD which makes for fun listning like little red riding hood and puss in boots [8-)]

I also have the twisted door which is very good.

The link to Ma france is also a good link lots of games and things to do  

I find for me its good to have lots of different things so you dont get bored hearing the same thing over and over

Good luck to you[:)]   

 

[Richard T]

I agree with others about Michel Thomas. The style is quite different from any other language course and approaches it by teaching you how to string a sentence together on the basis that once you've grasped the grammar the rest is just vocabulary - some of which you can probably guess anyway.

What it lacks for the beginner, in my view, is the simple everyday words and phrases - bonjour, une bière s'il vous plait, il fait beau n'est ce pas?, merci bien etc - which make social interaction a little smoother. So if I was beginning again I'd probably plump for a mixture of MT and, say, the bbc course mentioned above.

Although my own French is reasonable I have just listened to the whole of the MT course (all 8 CDs) along with my wife who is just beginning. I have to say that although most of the grammar is not new to me I certainly learnt a few things which hadn't been obvious to me before such as the rule for use of the words "en" and "à" in relation to countries: en France, en Suisse but à Japon.

Richard T

[Maricopa]

Hi All

I don't wish to spoil the great Michel Thomas love-in, but as a word of warning to the OP, he isn't everyones cup of tea.  With his heavy germanic accent, and the "stupid" woman who is so frustrating to listen to, it can be hard going.

Personally, I prefered the structure of a class, followed by being on the ground as it were, but I accept that is irrelevant to the question asked.  There are regular programs on BBC2 overnight that are well worth recording and watching later, in addition to the very good BBC language website.

Best of luck whatever method you choose.

[DerekJ]

[quote user="Maricopa"]

Hi All

I don't wish to spoil the great Michel Thomas love-in, but as a word of warning to the OP, he isn't everyones cup of tea.  With his heavy germanic accent, and the "stupid" woman who is so frustrating to listen to, it can be hard going.

[/quote]

I completely agree, and that is why I recommend anyone of thinking of going down the Michel Thomas route to first of all download the freebie lesson I gave the link to in my previous post. This is actually the first of the 8 CD Foundation Class CDs and will give anyone the feel for whether the style of MT is for them.

btw, the pupils in the Advanced Class are different and IMO a lot less irritating than the woman in the Foundation Class.  In the Language Builder Class there are no pupils.

[Doodle]

Hi,

I started with MT and worked through all the courses which I thought excellent and then went on to the vocabulary course (MT follow up by someone else) which just didn't work for me as I didn't like the way this course was put together but also felt I needed more day to day phrases. I signed up for the Open University beginners course and that I enjoyed very much and you get a tutor to speak with which is very helpful for ironing out those uncertainties !

Hope this is of help. Chris