Learning French
 

Hi. Has anyone used the "Rosetta Stone" learn French pack, if so what do you reckon to it as it is quite a bit of dosh to fork out if it isnt that good:unsure:
Many thanks
ClanickP:)

Re: Learning French
 

Hi Clannick,

The locals (i'm in Wnnipeg) that i'm staying with actually bought the Rosetta French pack sometime back but have never got round to using it.

I gathered from what they said that it is one of the better ones to go with.
They are both retired teachers so i would assume they did the right research before purchasing it.

Hope that helps a bit.

Learning French
 

I tried, then tried again, and noting...I could not Learn anything. But others I know, Using the same program, succeeded far more impressive.I guess it depends more on the student and less on the software...:thumbup:

Re: Learning French
 

The BBC have a good website for learning french, and it's free

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/index.shtml

Re: Learning French
 

Reminds me of the British schooling system, I studied French for six years, learned all the verb forms and mechanics of the language, and cannot hold even a basic conversation in French. I suppose immersion is the best way.

Re: Learning French
 

Thanks all for your replies. Ideally immersion would be the best but just not possible. I have bought the Rosetta stone package last night. so will post in fluent French before christmas;). Ebay second hand market price is very good so will not lose much when it comes to sell it.

ClanickP:thumbsup:

Re: Learning French
 

Bonne chance.

Re: Learning French
 

That is a waste of time. Francos only use about half of the 14 tenses.

Re: Learning French
 

let us know how you get on, we were thinking of buying it, but the price is :ohmy:

Re: Learning French
 

Quick tips: Don't buy these expensive packages. Its very dependent on how well you can make this work for you and if it doesn't, its a lot of money to lose.

Learning French will require a good bit of work. Here's what I suggest:

1) Make French friends. Seriously, this is what immersion is all about. Meeting French people that you can relate to and become friends. This will help the most. You could look up groups at a University of even communities.

2) Watch a lot of French movies. With DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, you get subtitles and it will help to gain more vocabulary and expressions. (This could be tedious though, I'm not a fan. There are nice documentaries, however.)

3) Watch French TV channels. Check out the French News Website Radio-Canada.

4) Read French: you can start with Children's books and work with basic sources for verbs and grammar on the Net. The move on to newspapers of News Websites like Radio-canada.

5) Buy a good French dictionary and start learning words you use daily. A trick on how to pronounce the words you learn: search for them in Youtube and listen. Example: Milk is Lait in French and looking it up on youtube brings up an ad for milk and at the end you can hear the word. Not only that but the girl says Un verre de lait while showing a girl drinking a glass of milk. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anlekYlomNs)

I know it sounds silly but besides the actual work of learning the basics from the Internet, these tips will help you to get a functional grasp of French if you are serious about it.

Re: Learning French
 

Plenty of lessons on YouTube.

Re: Learning French
 

Sorry to say it mate but I think you've spent a lot more money than you needed to, Rosetta Stone is far too expensive. Ive been learning french conversation from a book that came with two audio cd's and Im learning it and retaining what I learn because its structured well and I can now hold basic french conversation after only a few months, it cost me twenty quid and the next in the series is twenty quid and the one after. If I were you I'd return the Rosetta Stone get your money back, buy something like this http://www.thehouseofoojah.com/audio...udio-book.html and invest a little in french tuition and it will still be cheaper than Rosetta Stone.

Re: Learning French
 

Especially if you find a student from a francophone country who's in need of a few bob and will tutor for it. A unilingual francophone lover would also be a good thing to have (until you learn French or the lover learns English).

Re: Learning French
 

I would imagine there are a fair number of oppourtunities to learn French where you are. Maybe there is an adult class of some sort that would help you learn and also meet some folks.

Re: Learning French
 

Hi. Thanks for all the replies. I am currently having one on one tuition from a lecturer at the local college. That is only once a week for 2 hours. The rest of the time during the week I have my head buried in the old books trying to gain more vocab etc. I will give this Rosetta a try and see how things go. If it is rubbish then I will sell it and probably lose about £80. ;)

ClanickP