5 comments about Eazyspeak French Levels 1 and 2 (PC & Mac).

1. After reading the reviews for various French language programs it has become apparent that "one size does NOT fit all"! This is not for those who have studied French in school or had classes in speaking French.
   
   These are quick, fun lessons.....an easy way to pick up French words or phrases if you are visiting France for the first time. It will not necessarily teach you how to say complete sentences or paragraphs. But you will learn basic words to begin your homework and progression to more difficult skills, if you desire. You can make it as repetitive as you want without being bored to death! The lessons are presented in a whimsical way for all ages.
   
   One important note: the disc will need to be updated with free downloads from the Kutoka website to bring your software up-to-date and functioning properly. (Kutoka is the company for EazySpeak). Amusez-vous bien!



2. I got a bad taste from this software for 2 reasons.
   1. It's not for adults.
   2. The Mac version seems to be a bad port of the Windows version. It pounds the processor. It also requires the CD to be present in the drive in order to function.
   
   So this may be ok (not great) for a child on a Windows machine (with the CD always present) otherwise you can do better even with free podcasts.



3. I wouldn't say that this is a real learning tool. It's fun and a good supplimental tool to what ever language program you are using. I had problems getting the software to run on my home PC which I bought in 2001 but has windows XP. It did run with out a problem on my new lap-top. So if you have a PC that's a couple years old, you might have problems getting the CD to run too. Maybe there's a language barrier?



4. Tried it in 3 seperate computers - 2 xp 1 vista - and the software does not work. Messages refer to files that are missing or in the wrong directory.



5. This software makes learning french fun! I bought if for my 7th grader to help her in school. And I even use it. I am thinking about getting the spanish program too. (for myself) :)

2 comments about Rosetta Stone French Level 2 with Audio Companion.

1. I got a free upgrade when I logged on for the seond or third time and now the sound function does not work. Also a bit better description of the product would assist. I found that I was far more progressed than that level so it has only been useful mainly to get the pronunciation better.



2. This is really the best program I have ever used to learn a language. It is rather expensive, but since I got more out of it than other programs it is worth it.

3 comments about Rosetta Stone French Level 3 with Audio Companion.

1. Terrible to install, boring lessons, not helpful. There are some exciting other ways to learn French--try[....]-for about $40/year, you can have all kinds of lessons and interactions with other French speakers. Or, rent French films and practice listening while following with subtitles.
   
   This was my second try with Rosetta, so I should have known better. I have Turkish Level 1, which taught me useless words such as "horse" and "elephant"...I never did learn how to say "hello" or "thank you."



2. Yes, the Rosetta Stone products are expensive. but they actually WORK, and will have you speaking much more quickly than you'd ever imagined. definitely a worthwhile investment.



3. I took a couple years of French, so I figured I could skip to level 3 and polish it off, so I'd be fluent. Wrong. You have to use levels 1 & 2 first in order to know how to use this program. It is not quite as easy to use as one might think.

5 comments about Berlitz French Premier (Win/Mac).

1. Easy to operate, provided most often used phrases and words,screen saver a good idea. Seems to be current for latest slang and usage. Good for reviewing and brushing up language skills



2. I too had issues installing on a Mac. What worked for me was to click and drag the installation icon onto my desktop, and then run the install from the icon on my desktop. Then go to you applications folder and voila.



3. It was hell to install the product on Mac. It did hang up during the installation, and it wouldn't start afterwards.
   
   I finally made it, and once I got it running it proved to be a very nice piece of software. A little buggy, but the resources, the included games, and this "immersion environment" is very good and enjoyable. If I plan to learn any other languages - I'll definitely buy Berlitz.
   
   Two final pieces of information:
   1. This course is good for people who know at least a little French. That was excellent for me.
   2. My installation procedure on Mac. Follow the exact order.
   - copy everything from CD onto your Hard Drive
   - install "fonts"
   - install "before you know it"
   - install "learning system"
   - check Applications/Berlitz Learning System
   - copy everything from CD:/commons to Berlitz:/Media
   - copy everything from CD:/titles to Berlitz:/Titles



4. By far the worst software installation I have ever experienced. There is no way that this product went through any kind of quality assurance--it simply does not install. Fortunately, by the fifth attempt, I looked at the Amazon.com comments for this product and found the steps for hand copying files that a previous reviewer provided (thank you!).
   
   Once installed, I found the product to be a satisfactory, basic introduction to French. I think that it is worth the price, at least, once you get it installed.



5. This is a classic example of you get what you pay for. Software is not at all intuitive, interface is not user friendly and program is confusing. I returned this and bought Rosetta Stone.

5 comments about Fluenz Version F2: French 1 (Win/Mac) with software DVD, audio CD, podcasts, and Navigator. Learn French with the latest upgrade..

1. Fluenz French is much better than either Tell Me More or Rosetta Stone. The DVD-ROM plays beautifully and the graphics are very good. The lessons are interesting and the exercises continuously reinforce earlier concepts. I've used it for about 6 months and it really is worth the investment.



2. I really enjoyed the demo that was provided on the Fluenz website for French. I was pretty much sold and decided to purchase this very expensive program in hopes that I would fully learn the language & be immersed in everything French. For the hefty price tag, I expected a bit more.
   
   Let me start off by saying, I love the French language. I think it's a beautiful language and in my opinion - the only romance language. I don't count Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese. I also think French people are very classy & sophisticated etc. Not animalistic barbarians like people in the US.
   
   I'm a college student taking intro to French and needed way more help learning the language, aside from the time spent in class. Since my professor doesn't offer tutoring sessions, I needed to find alternatives. It was either this or Rosetta Stone & RS doesn't offer a free demo on their site that satisfied my hunger for knowledge on a product before purchase. Plus, the price tag on RS French one thru three was way over my budget. Another thing I disliked about Rosetta Stone is the fact you can not use it on multiple PC and laptops. I have one of each in separate rooms, so I need the flexibility. Fluenz seemed like the way to go. I was very much lost in class and couldn't remember definite, indefinite, conjugation of verbs etc. There are so many rules to the French Language. So, I needed a learning tool that was actually going to work.
   
   I couldn't wait to get into the first lesson because I loved lesson three (That was being offered as a free demo). To my surprise Sonia Gill (Interactive Tutor) did not start off the lesson one with the alphabet. I am passed the alphabet at this stage, but a refresher lesson wouldn't hurt and I could only wonder why the first lesson wasn't the alphabet. What would beginners do? Each video lesson can range from six minutes to ten minutes. I wouldn't mind if the lesson went on for an hour, as long as I'm learning. I have only gotten through lesson 6 and don't want to give a biased review for something I have not fully completed. So far, I am pleased. Hopefully, when I progress further, she will get more in-depth with the verbs, conjugations, inversion, passé compose etc, because that is crucial in French grammar. The Fluenz navigator seemed like a waste. And the iPod Audio seemed like a rip off to me. There was only two audio CDs as promised, but each track ranges from six to ten minutes, with each CD carrying eight to ten tracks. So, I'm not exactly thrilled about that. I felt really ripped off. I thought the audio CDs were the actual lessons transitioned over to a CD for the iPod.
   
   It seems like Fluenz is trying their best to recreate the actual experience of being in a class room, but they haven't fully seen it through the eyes of the student yet. I do think recreating that experience is an excellent approach. Overall, I am pleased so far. But for the price I expected a bit more. I would sacrifice the pretty packaging, so the actual DVD-Rom program had more content. I would have loved my purchase even more if the price tag was split in half.



3. I purchased the original version of this product from Amazon and then upgraded directly from Fluenz when version 2 was released. When I reviewed version 1, I gave it 4 stars because of some errors and stumbles in production, but overall liked it very much. The second version has dealt with the problems in version 1, and removed my one concern. This is an excellent beginners French product; you will learn a great deal while using it, and you will do that kind of exercises necessary for second language acquisition. Also, if you have any technical difficulties, Fluenz will respond very quickly and courteously.



4. I discovered this product during my Rosetta Stone trial period, obviously unhappy with their product. What I really disliked about Rosetta was its essential paradigm toward teaching a foreign language - they assume we learn as adults in the same manner as we learned as children. Their goal is to replicate the total immersion experience of being a language-less child, and thereby teach us a new language similarly. After struggling to find the value in Rosetta, I came to realize that this approach does not work for me at all. When Rosetta says total immersion, they mean it; you won't find english explanations for anyting anywhere. Granted, it attempts to teach you particular things (e.g., vocab, grammar, etc.) by linking concepts to images and words (e.g., it'll say the word for orange, and you have to select which of 4 presented images is an orange). While this approach is great for vocabulary, it utterly fails for most of the nuanced grammar explanations. For example, the question phrase est-ce que is used generally for yes/no types of questions, while qu'est-ce que is used for "what" types of questions (what do you want to eat); learning this distinction by observing static images of people/things is nearly impossible. Fluenz, on the hand, recognizes that we do already know a language (English), and attempts to teach French by relating it to English, infinitely better. Level one includes 30 or so lessons, each of which is structred as follows: (1) a brief (1-3) minute intro given by a very pleasant woman who details what we'll learn in that lesson; (2) a dialogue situation of two people conversing in french (watchable line by line, and then in 3 formats (straight audio (no subtitles), audio + french subtitles, and audio + french and english subtitles)), (3) a ~10 min lecture following where the same female explains in great detail everything that occurred in the dialogue, (4) phrase matching (match french phrase to its english), then multiple translation exercises (translate audio only, translate written, etc.). Simply phenomenal. I cannot recommend this product enough, and am anxiously awaiting level 2.



5. I am on session 25 of the 30 in Fluenz 1. I bought French 1 + 2, but thought that I would review French 1 while the memory is fresh.
   My background is as a false beginner - three years studying French in junior high / high school and a class at Le Alliance Française de Washington, DC. Nothing quite stuck though, so I started from scratch (again) to get my foundation solid.
   
   Fluenz is the first method that has actually stuck in my head. I've started to half-think in French and to formulate sentences and understand the grammar better than I have before. I would highly recommend it to everyone, but especially to people who are looking to travel in France because at the end of Fluenz 1, I feel reasonably confident that I could handle the airport, the train station, and a restaurant with a degree of grace.
   
   That being said, if you are looking to actually learn the language and not just get by for a few weeks, you cannot rely on Fluenz alone! If you do, you'll never get anywhere with vocabulary and verb conjugations! There were some sessions where I swear they only added one or two more words to the already limited vocabulary and some words/phrases that they pronounce differently in different sessions (e.g., Est-ce que pronounced with the -ce emphasized and without the ce emphasized). At the end of this program, your knowledge of friendly conversation beyond rudimentary conversations with shop people/waiters/custom officers will be next to non existent. Also, while I understand why they have not covered "tu" ("you" in the informal) yet - to keep the information overload and confusion to a minimum - I think that not doing so is a mistake and my French tutor looked at me like I was crazy when I said that my program hadn't covered it yet.
   This is an excellent start, however, and a great compliment to private tutoring, coursework, or diligent self study.
   
   The software itself works fine on my MacBook and conveniently reminds me where I've left off last time I used the software. It doesn't have any key issues like Rosetta stone does, so I bring it with me when I'm at my parents/boyfriends/etc. house and use it on their computer pretty regularly. Sometimes the voice of the tutor and her lips fall out of sync - that's easily fixed by pausing the program and hitting play again. Once or twice I answered a question correctly, hit enter, and was told that it was incorrect. I'd double check against their answer, make sure I did not have any extra spaces in it, and still be wrong. Only to back up to the last question and start over again, type the same thing in - and have it go through. A little obnoxious, but not frequent enough to be a huge issue.
   
   Their "podcasts" are misnamed - more like "Supplementary Audio Material." Podcasts are updated frequently and are streamed onto your iTunes (for example) - these you have to manually download and really aren't much different from the Audio CD, only with slightly different vocabulary focus.
   It has taken me about three months to go through Fluenz 1 (working on it 30 minutes a day almost every day).
   
   I would give this four stars instead of five because I think that it doesn't quite go far enough in the way of vocabulary and verb knowledge and because there's a few kinks in their system that need to be worked out. Don't let that missing star deter you though - this is totally worth the money.
   
   Other sources I am using to help me learn French:
   Private tutor (once every other week to work on pronunciation)
   French Grammar: The Key to Reading - If you can get your hands on it, this is awesome. Every native speaker I've shown it to has been impressed by it's clear, comprehensive approach.
   French for the Humanities (French and English Edition) - the companion to French Grammar.
   Easy French Reader

4 comments about Rosetta Stone French Level 1 & 2 Set with Audio Companion.

1. It's true, as mentioned in another review, that you are not allowed to share or resell the software once you've purchased it. You also can't install it on more than one computer - so think carefully about where you want to use it. They really want to avoid you getting all you can out of the system and then passing it on to a friend.
   
   That being said, the software is really good. I bought the previous French 1 & 2 (without the audio companion) for my family, since we are going to France this year. I have some French from school, my husband did not. The system is truly intuitive and easy to learn. You start learning basic nouns and verbs, colors, numbers and so forth, just like you learned when you started reading baby books. Before you know it, you're moving into much more complicated sentence structures and complex thoughts, but the basis has already been laid. We have learned a lot, and we've had a lot of fun. We will be purchasing Level 3 shortly.
   
   So, overall an excellent program for learning, but they are very restrictive with how it is used by individual learners.



2. I've used Rosetta Stone in the past and I am impressed by the lessons. My complaint has nothing to do with the content -- 5 stars there! However after spending close to $400. on a product for my personal use I would have expected a much easier process for installation. I had issues with each install step -- and perhaps these are related to Vista but without tech support there is no way to tell. My computer would lock up, wrapper errors and finally after 2 hours of trying to install the activation disk and two language lessons I launched Rosetta Stone and found the program did not respond. I install applications for living so I consider myself a good judge of what should be an appropriate systems response.
   
   Calling technical support was no help -- they're not open on the weekends and only run a 9-8 operation M-F. Again -- after spending so much I would have thought the support would be there... Left alone, I researched the Rosetta Stone support site only to find that with version 3.2.11 there is a defect that requires a downloaded update. So now -- I'm waiting for a quite large file to install hoping that this will resolve the problem.
   
   A+ for the content.
   
   F for level of technical support and ease of installation.



3. Rosetta Stone is an excellent language programe. I would suggest that Rosetta Stone make available some written review material with this set. The programe is all audio learning.



4. The product is mediocre and more importantly the voice recognitgion part will drive you crazy. You can have a native speaker (in this case french speaking person) try and it will insist that the prononciation is incorrect. Once software gets in that mode, it'll be impossible for it to accept subsequent correct prononciation. I ask my french native speaking friend to try and the software insisted that his prononciation is incorrect. What I am disappointed with the most is their customer support. A few weeks ago, I lost my hard drive due to a machanical failure. It'd have cost me more than $300 to get it fixd so it's better just to replace a hard drive so I did and reloaded Windows. However, I could no longer activate the software. You can only install it in on one machine. If you want to install it in on another machine, you have to deativate the product from the original installation first. My hard drive quit working so I couldn't deativate it. Also, it took forever for their support to contact me. Then they wanted the serial number so I gave it to them and they disappeared for two weeks. Later they wanted the receipt, so I gave it to them. Now nothing. The moral of the story, save your money and don't buy this product. You'll be better of using a different software or attending classes with a non-profit organization like "Alliance Francaise" near you.

5 comments about Instant Immersion French Deluxe v3.0.

1. The language modules have an easy flow and I feel I am learning French and better able to communicate in French.



2. This package expects you already have some knowledge of french. The Audio CDs are quite useless as all you do is listen and repeat. The Program itself is badly structured and it's very hard to find the lesson you are looking for. In fact even if you start on beginner level and click on any less it automatically give you questions in french, it does not show you french verbs or how to conjugate them, and the voice recognition is terrible. The interactive DVD had some useful features such as phrases and greetings but it wont get you very far. All in all this is a badly structured product, with very little lessons to offer if you want to learn French this is not the way to do it.



3. I bought the software thinking of getting to know the basics of French, but it turn out to be less than expected! It has lots of exercises for different levels of knowledge, that's true, but if you have no knowledge of French is very hard to study. It assumes you already know something, since the first screen that appears gives you some hard choices to make, I mean, the exercises are already to match pictures and words, but if you don't know the language, how can you do that? And it's settings are in the elementary mode!!!! It has no logical structure to make you progress in the language.
   So, if you want a software to help you improve your writing, listening and speaking, it has some good exercises and you can choose your level. if you want to start learning a language with this product, maybe you should reconsider since it's not well structured to begginers.



4. Where does one begin? It seems that the people behind this software had trouble grappling with the same question, because you start up and there's no real method. There's a bunch of stuff, a lot of French, but real teaching interface. It seems like I got all the drills that were meant to go with some main program. I read the user manual and all it says is that beginners should start with the lessons workshop. OK, sounds good. But where are the lessons? So far as I can tell, their teaching method in "the next generation of language instruction" is to have you read a French-English glossary until you feel answering questions in French. There's a $2 French English dictionary you can get on amazon called 1001 Most Useful French Words if you feel that browsing a glossary is the best way to learn a language. Don't get me wrong, a glossary or dictionary can be one of the most important tools to supplement language learning, but it shouldn't be where you learn a language from.
   
   This review might sound ridiculous given what the company claims about their product, but I am not exaggerating. Let me take you through the first steps of using this software if you don't believe me.
   The nice flash animation at start up makes you think that this product has potential, and there is a nice little sign in box. Then the home page loads up, this is where it all goes down hill. You are greeted by a "tips" box that you can choose to have come up on start up with a new tip every time. The thing is, there are only 9 tips, and they tell you what the options button does, what the next activity button does, what the help button does, what the next exercise button does, and how to click and drag words, etc. No substance or guidance at all. Every item on the list is self explanatory.
   
   After exiting the box (and checking the option not to have it pop up at start up), you are on the "Vocabulary Workshop" page. Maybe you click glossary under the resources heading at the top of the page, and you see its exactly what it was described as, a glossary. At this point you think, cool, here's the vocabulary for the first lesson, but where is the actual lesson. The whole joke of the software is that this IS your lesson. A list of words in alphabetical order, not even by topic. OK, so you notice you can break them down into different groups. You click the drop down menu of "lexical group" and down drop 4 French phrases to choose from. "Well heck, I don't know French, this isn't helping. Now you see a flag-like button that will translate any French on the page into English. If you found the list of tips laughable, you now wonder why they couldn't at least tell you about this button under the tips. Now you see "Daily Life", "Intellect and Reason", "Society and Institutions", and "Prfoessional life". When you highlight any of these, another drop down box of 6 to 15 subgroups drop down. Each of these also produce a few subtopics, or you can choose to view all of these subtopics at the same time, in alphabetical order, one letter at a time (you have to click each letter to pull up words that begin with the letter, rather than just putting them all on one page and letting you scroll down the list or click a letter to "jump down" to it. A minor annoyance, but its stupid when there's sometimes only one word per letter.
   
   Now you know how to navigate a really interactive glossary. If you have been waiting to start learning French, you are still frustrated to find that this doesn't really provide any kind of starting point. So now you actually go to find the PDF User Manual. They dedicate 2 out of the 10 pages to how they suggest using the software. They tell you to start with the lesson workshop, and start with the reference works and then progress to the pronunciation guides, then show huge tables of all the activities you can do.
   
   FINALLY, you think, I can start learning with the lessons workshop! Why didn't I notice that. They probably should have started you at that window, but at least I'm out of the woods. You go to lesson workshop and select lesson 1:A B C.
   
   The page finishes loading an a man's voice says (with the French text on the screen):
   "Bonjour, nous parlons de lettres aujourd'hui ! Est-ce que vou connaissez la lettre 'a' ?"
   
   Now you are instructed to speak via a text cue. I felt like a deer in the headlights. Thinking that they were teaching the alphabet (since the lesson was titled "A B C"), I say "a", trying to mimic the pronunciation of the speaker as clearly as possible. The only words I got out of his statement were "bonjour" and "la lettre 'a'". It tells me it can't understand me. I think maybe I just have terrible pronunciation of the "a" sound, but then again why wouldn't it rate my pronunciation and give me some feedback, rather than just saying it doesn't understand.
   I should mention that there are two French sentences written below, but you cannot click on them. They have speaker icons next to them and if you click them, you hear a French speaker speak them. They are:
   "Dans 'avril', il y a lettre 'a'" and "Comme dans le mois de mars ?"
   I can hardly pronounce foyer correctly when I see it written down, and now they want me to accurately reproduce a whole French sentence. I keep listening to them trying to be able to repeat one word more each time until it accepts the answer and goes to the next page. I also remembered the flag button that gives translations. If this seems vague and confusing, its the software, not me. The translation of that dialogue is:
   "Good morning, today we are going to talk about letters! Do you know the letter 'a'?"
   "In 'avril' (April), there is the letter 'a'." and "Like in the month of 'mars' (March)?"
   
   There are 11 questions in this first "lesson", which cover the letters a, b, p, and r, some days of the week, and some seasons. Interesting choice of first phrases, I think to myself. OHHH!!!, I was supposed to go to the reference works first, but the software loaded the pronunciation activities first. Who programmed this? They never take you to the page that they recommend going to. Couldn't they have designed it to START you at the Lessons Workshop, and from there, start you at the reference works? Regardless, I keep my hopes up that this software can teach me French in a state of the art, innovative, way using the latest pedagogical methods. I look under the Reference Tools drop down, and lo and behold, the lesson GLOSSARY! THATS IT!?? Thats the latest pedagogical method!? A glossary again! But wait!!! Under that is the "grammar explanations for this lesson". Here they show you the words for the and introduce you the concept of gender of nouns (which I was used to from my knowledge of Spanish). They also provide a list of the French alphabet, WITH NO AUDIO EXAMPLES. I really am at a loss to figure out who developed this. It seems like a great start to an excellent French reference program (note the word reference program, not language learning program). But somewhere along the line they said, hey, you know there's such a huge demand for language learning that we could just sell this fancy glossary with exercises for those who already know French, and it will be gobbled up by the thousands for $50. Then of course Amazon, who knows how to find the right price point on things, put this on sale for under $10. And that is this things value. No, the $8 tag is not a steal, its a legitimate starting point for this product. Unfortunately I bought it last week when it was still prices at $12.
   
   I'll finish describing lesson one to get the point across, we're almost done. After showing you the letters of the alphabet, they show you the list of sounds in the French language, again with no audio, only IPA notation. Then there is a sentence construction section that tells you that French sentences start with subjects and verbs, and that there are adjectives too, but that this isn't always the case. End of lesson. Go back to those exercises.
   
   I'm not leaving anything out. I checked out the other lessons and they are taught the same way. The only instructional material is less than a page of text with no audio.
   This program seems it would be valuable if you already knew a good amount of French and wanted to review, as it is minimal on instruction and loaded with 300 hours of drills (which they advertise as 300 hours of learning, then have the audacity to say there's a world of difference between their software and Rosetta Stone's, which only has 200 hours of learning.)
   
   Then they use a table to indicate all the things that they have that rosetta stone doesn't, and they also throw berlitz on the table for good measure. Basically Rosetta Stone scores a "no" on every item while instant immersion gets a "yes" on everything and berlitz gets a yes in 2. What a joke. I have used Rosetta Stone software before at a friend's house. It teaches. It guides you. It doesn't use rote memorization of translations from a glossary. It uses state-of-the-art, innovative, pedagogical methods that work. Instant Immersion uses memorization and drills, the least innovative and probably most obsolete method of foreign language learning. Unfortunately, I don't want to spend a few hundred dollars on Rosetta Stone, so I will continue my quest for a way to learn French.
   
   Instant Immersion is a great glossary and reference work, but does not teach. For under $10, you might consider purchasing this to supplement a language learning program or refresh your French if you know it and want practice. Other than that, I question the integrity of the developers of this software and their advertising campaign and will for now on avoid Instant Immersion products.



5. After opening the box, with no instructions, I thought, "Gee, I'm smart, I can figure this out." HA! One of the DVD's didn't play, and I couldn't get the game started. The CD's sound horrible. What little I was patient to play with was BORING.
   
   This program isn't cohesive at all; it seems to be a bunch of programs packaged together without an overall plan. I really don't think anyone could actually learn a language from this.
   
   It starts with vocabulary words -- fair enough, you have to start somewhere. But some of them are really dumb for introductory language learning: How often does hippopotamus come up in conversations? Then phrases are thrown at you with no explanation at all and no build, ie, learning each word so the sentence makes sense. And without learning the pieces, all you're doing is memorizing sounds. And what good is it to learn "Where is the bank?" if you have no chance of understanding the answer?

5 comments about Fluenz Version F2: French 1+2 (Win/Mac) with software DVDs, audio CDs, podcasts, and Navigator. Learn French with latest upgrade..

1. I bought the Fluenz French 1+2 some weeks ago and the program is excellent. The one on one teaching method and follow through does not compare to anything out there. I thought I could never come around to continue studying french language after high school and was hesitant to pay so much money to begin classess at level one in a college language course. I own french levels 1 and 2 software from Rosetta Stone which I bought about a year and a half ago and could never come around to like their teaching system based on memorizing words and short phrases the way little children are taught languqaged and after less than an hour working with Rosetta I would completely loose interest.
   
   This is a different and smart language program that is easy and interesting to follow through. Would recommend Fluenz French to anyone.



2. I sincerely appreciate how quickly Fluenz User Support responded to my concern about the delay in international delivery by sending another package right away via Fedex service. They were prompt, concerned, courteous, and I am looking forward to learning from this language program.
   
   Thank you.



3. My family and I decided to learn a new language together. After much online research of varies programs we decided to try Fluenz. When the product first arrived I was very excited to get started, however, there were some issues getting the program to run on any of our Macs. The customer service department was fantastic. They replied promptly to every email and really tried to help resolve the problems. In the end, I reluctantly exchanged for a Windows version. Several months later they released Fluenz Version F2, I was happy to upgrade in order to run the program on my Mac.
   I found the lay-out of the program to be extremely user friendly. Having English explanations for everything you are learning helped immensely. Focuses on useful vocabulary, regular conversational French. I am very happy with my purchase and would recommend the program to anyone who wants to learn a new language.



4. Fluenz is much better a learning tool than Rosetta Stone. I went through Rosetta Stone French level 1 and half of level 2 before learning words and phrases that could be used when travelling. This was frustrating and time consuming, as I don't want to have to go through 3 full levels just to be able to say a few useful sentences. Fluenz is very different. You can say meaningful sentences from the first couple of lessons. The grammar is fairly well explained, and the exercises do more than just repeat the sentences of the conversation. I really liked how the different words were used in different combinations in the exercises, making you think more about the translations. Typing the words really reinforces what you are learning, at least for me.
   
   At the halfway point on disc one, I am a little concerned that they focus so heavily on using the "est-ce que" form of questions, and not the reverse form of questions (e.g. "est-ce que vous voulez une biere?" vs the shorter "voulez-vous une biere?"), but perhaps they will get to that later in disc 1 or maybe disc 2. I also liked the fact that fluenz skips the present tense ("he runs"), which is mostly useless while travelling.
   
   One of the ways that Rosetta Stone is actually a better teacher is in pronunciation. Fluenz doesn't spend a lot of time on pronunciation, and the exercises where you use a microphone don't offer any feedback on whether you are saying the words correctly or not. Oddly, the more comprehensive pronunciation feedback in Rosetta Stone can also be problematic - if you don't say the word correctly, you get beeped at, again, and again. Very irritating. Rosetta Stone is also better on vocabulary. There are many more words introduced in Rosetta Stone per lesson, however Rosetta Stone does not tell you in most cases whether the word is masculine or feminine. While using Rosetta Stone, I found myself taking many notes on vocab words, so that I could look up their gender later on. I was really happy to see that Fluenz always gives you the gender of nouns when they are introduced. Fluenz also has a vocab reference, and that comes in handy. Rosetta Stone has no such help.
   
   Overall, if you are an adult, and your goal is to learn enough French to be able to travel in a French-speaking country, I think that Fluenz will work better for you than Rosetta Stone. You'll learn more quickly, and focus on the words/phrases that are most useful.



5. I've got to say, I've tried classroom style language learning before (post formal schooling), but the nature of such courses inherently have several drawbacks (in my opinion). For instance, one cannot in general 'rewind' or 'replay' what one's instructor just said and this means that individual students often have a tough time soaking up all the information in a classroom setting.
   
   Fluenz, thus far has been extremely logical in the manner it lays out the information. Modules thus far (and I must say I've only just started, but find my self practicing words and phrases in the most unusual of settings) allow one to hear a conversation in French and allow one to repetitively listen to a conversation three times with a combination of English, French subtitles. Repetition seems to enhance familiarity and importantly, the combination of English & French subtitles allow one to relate English words & phrases with those in French.
   
   Furthermore, the software leverages off of conversations to delve deeper into individual words, context and pronunciation. Followed by exercises which include matching words and phrases with their meaning in English. All leveraging off of the initial conversation, which by now, you get quite familiar with. Often, the software seems to make simple yet pertinent divergences; more than one outcomes (responses) to the same question, and this I feel allows one to encompass a few ways to respond to a statement.
   
   So far it's been a blast and I hope I get to a stage where I can express myself in French (I am an absolute beginner).
   
   What's made it different for me terms of a learning experience in relation to a previous attempt at German in a classroom setting, is the amount of repetition (which you control, you can always rewind and hear the parts which did not quite understand); the structure of this course which leverages off of conversations and drills down to the vocabulary used in the conversations and importantly the course leveraging off of English.
   
   My personal experience with Fluenz so far has been great; I don't feel intimidated by the language or importantly the process of learning a new language the way this course is structured.
   
   I haven't tried Rosetta Stone, so I can't really compare Fluenz to Rosetta Stone.
   

5 comments about Rosetta Stone French Level 1, 2 & 3 Set with Audio Companion.

1. This product is wonderful for learning a language. Very intuitive and I have not seen many things that are comparible.
   
   BUT -be warned. You can only install and activate it on two machines, okay thats fair right? BUT!!! If one of your machines crashes and you dont deactivate your activation on that machine, be prepared for the Spanish Inquisition. If you so much as bought this from someone who already activated it you can forget it. These people are RUDE and insensitive.
   
   The software is not smart like Adobe products or Windows prodcuts. If you re-install and active one of these vendors products on the same machine, they KNOW ITS THE SAME MACHINE! Rosetta Stone, although smart enough to teach you a language, is not smart enough to remember where you are learning it.
   
   I suggest deactivating your copy every time you are finished using it on any machine. Thats the only way you can avoid dealing with these MEAN people.



2. First I'd like to say this is a great product. Many reviewers say it's the best language program currently available - that might be true (I've only tried 3 or 4 programs). I agree with just about every positive thing said about the Rosetta Stone in the customer reviews.
   
   That being said, I would never order it again. First, the price is just too high. My $10 "Instant Immersion" CD box set is definitely not as good as Rosetta Stone... but is it work $400 more?? I definitely don't think so.
   
   The Instant Immersion is good enough, especially when paired with other resources, such as a pocket dictionary, &/or the Pimsleur system (which is also inexpensive, and very efficient). Many people tell me that Fluenz is very good as well. So for me, Rosetta Stone loses one star for price.
   
   Second (the much bigger issue), the licensing issues are a deal breaker for me. I will never again order any Rosetta Stone product.
   
   You can only load the program twice ... the intent (I believe) is to have a copy at home and at work. But if the first install is bad, or if your computer crashes, that's it! You have to buy another copy. I replace my computers (or hard drives) every 2 years on average. This severely limits my use of this product. This is pure greed on the part of Rosetta Stone, and unforgivable in my opinion. If I have a serial number, I should be able to have unrestricted personal use of the product.
   
   Also, you can never, ever transfer ownership or sell it. Again, an unforgivable offense in my opinion. If you fork out $400-500 for this software, and end up not liking the full immersion style, then your stuck with it. (And hey, let's face it - all of our brains aren't wired the same.) This really, REALLY bothers me to think that this company doesn't mind ripping people off just because you learn differently. I love this learning style...but again, some people learn differently.
   
   Finally, you have to have the original CD in place to use it - which means, you CAN'T use it at work & home unless you carry the darn disc around. For travel I use a portable netbook, which doesn't have a CD drive, so I absolutely can't travel with it. So the product loses another star for stupid licensing & other user restrictions.
   
   So simply based on the merits of the product, I give it 5 stars. But based on licensing issues, greed, and limited user rights, I give is 0 stars. So if the price (& risks associated with product) don't bother you, by all means, get it & enjoy it. But if any of the problems I've mentioned give you pause, try one or more of the alternatives I mentioned.
   
   !Bonne chance à vous!



3. I tried this software out in several languages, and found the learning process to be very easy and intuitive. I'd recommend it for learning a language, although it will never compare to living in a foreign country and speaking only that language.
   
   Pros:
   Rosetta stone's process is a lot better than traditional "current language word = foreign language word" learning processes, which rely on memorization and lead to internal translation from the foreign language to one's native language while speaking. Rosetta stone converts foreign words straight to pictures and ideas, eliminating internal translation to one's native language. There is plenty of repetition of previous words, but at no point does the process seem like rote recitation.
   
   The software is divided into "lessons" which introduce new words, and have several exercises including matching, pronouncing each part of the word, verbally filling in blanks with your new words, etc. There is plenty to keep you interested and ensure that you learn new words and phrases.
   
   The voice recognition was decent, a simple training has the program hearing you correctly ~90% of the time, and an adjustable slider can reduce the pickiness the software has if you're having issues, although that also controls how strictly you want to be held to pronunciation.
   
   Cons of Rosetta Stone:
   -It's expensive
   -The approach in rosetta stone does not use conjugations or grammar rules, you just learn words and phrases. Some maybe bothered by this.
   -Many other reviews note technical problems, I had no issues on my PC running windows XP.



4. This was my first venture, working with Rozetta Stone products. The product works from the perspective of exposing the student to the common words every student or child learns with a new language, such as numbers, colours, common verbs and nouns. As you learn, the intermediate level begins to diversify on the quantity of verbs as well as conjugation. Different tenses (past and future) come later. As Rosetta espouses, learning is natural as the student's mind correlates actions with objects, the same way young children learn. Verb tense and adjectives are reinforced through iterative learning.
   
   What purchasers of this product must recognize is that no tool is all inclusive to raise a student to a university level education, vis-a-vis the actual language being learned. The product has its limitations in terms of a vast vocublary. I highly recommend it as a learning supplement which accelerates learning for early stages. Students should set expectations that they will need to read additional material in this language (or any language) to expand their vocublary.



5. I am writing this review on Amazon because Rosetta Stone only publishes a limited number of negative reviews on their own website. Those negative reviews focus mostly on the voice recognition technology. The other reviews are so ridiculously glowing that it is embarrassing. In addition, all of these reviews span every age group. Teenagers, grandmothers and everyone in between apparently don't have enough thumbs to give the program the appropriate amount of thumbs up. One guy actually included the small (tm) when he was referencing the Adaptive Recall part of the program. The picture is too perfect and some of these reviews look like plants.
   
   The most effective aspect of Rosetta Stone is their marketing campaign. I asked for the first three levels of French so that I could learn another language for the PHD program I'm entering next year. After finishing level one I can honestly say that I am no closer to being able to speak French than I was before. I know a ton of vocabulary words but I have no idea about grammar. RS doesn't teach any of the rules. With those rules comes confidence which is critical to speaking any language. They basically want you to learn French through laborious trial and error which is worse than the dreaded memorization that they crow about sparing you. After the level 1, I took their equivalent of the final exam and got a 65% on it. Had their not been a bunch of "bonjour"s and "merci"s on it, that number would have been in the 40s. Before that, I had gotten 90-95% on all of their other exercises.
   
   The voice recognition system needs much work. You can mumble something with a French accent and get full credit or you can say it exactly right and not get any credit at all.
   
   If they are to inspire confidence, they need to include the translation. Of course, this would mean that they can't sell the same program to a guy in America that they can sell to a guy in China. I see therefore why they are so resistant to doing it. I have to type what is on my screen into my computers translator and it is quite time consuming.
   
   This program is for someone who has been given the rules for basic grammar in French or you are heading for a very frustrating experience.

5 comments about Rosetta Stone French Level 1 with Audio Companion.

1. I learned a ton, even in the first 3 hour session i had in my living room. the way you interact in sections with pictures linked to sentences, it teaches you the way you were taught your first language as a child! there is no translation to English and back or anything like that, you use your intuition to discover a new language and it's a very natural flow.
   I will be buying levels 2-3 in French and then learning other languages using only Rosetta Stone!



2. Being 63, I expected to have lots of difficulty learning a new language. Not so with the total immersion method of Rosetta Stone. I'm half way through the first level and have learned much faster than I did as a young student being subjected to the endless vocabulary lists and grammar exercises. This method is truly intuitive and much easier, at least for me. I listen to the Audio Companion just before going to sleep at night. Great reinforcement. Technically, the product is extremely interactive and easy to use, flexible and adaptive to individual needs. I was hesitant to spend so much, but I am thrilled with my decision.



3. We bought this before moving the whole family (3 teenagers and a dog) to Paris. It has been great for each of us to have our own log-in and I can check on the kid's progress since it is mastery-based learning. The kid's teachers here were amazed that they hadn't been studying in school for a year or more - even after only completing Level 1 with Rosetta Stone! The voice recognition really helps develop a good accent. We got the version that didn't have the audio companion, so I can't comment on that. Two thumbs up for Rosetta Stone!



4. It pains me to give Rosetta a 2/5 star rating, but, I think it is justified. They obviously put a huge amount of effort into this product, and it shows. However, I do not agree with their essential assumptions regarding language learning are accurate. Rosetta is all about total immersion, teaching you a language through total immersion in that language, (in their view) simulating how your learned your native tongue as a child. This paradigm manifests itself in a key difference than how other language tools work - Rosetta is 100% in its target language (here French). Rosetta tries to teach you language concepts by giving you a limited number of learning concepts (say, for exe, vocab), and then requiring you to apply it to a given situation. For example, if its teaching you 4 words, you'll be presented with a screen of 4 images, each of which corresponds to one of the words, and you have to match word to image. So for learning vocab, its outstanding. However, the major failure is on grammar and usage. The same principle applies - it will present a grammatical construct, and use image mapping to teach you. The problem really arises on nuanced principles. When the verb is "to be", its easy to learn "he is..." vs "she is..." by looking at an image of a man vs woman doing something. If you take a harder construct, for example, how to form questions, it becomes very difficult for a set of images to accurately convey the real meaning. For example, asking a yes/no question involves "est-ce que...."; asking a "what" question involves "qu'est'ce que..."; I found that the images could not effectively help me understand the difference between these two constructs. The same applies to many other types of usage, such as the when to use il/elle est vs c'est. Bottom line is that you lose a comprehensive understanding of what you're learning.
   
   In contrast, I have a lot of formal language training in Latin and Japanese. In both situations, you learn basics (e.g., verb conjugation), then apply them to situations. I think one of the problems with Rosetta is the paradigm - they assume that you can learn a language as an adult in the same way you learned as a child. I disagree. As a child, you have no learning framework yet, other than osmosis and mimicry. As you go through school, you learn learning structure and learn to hold information in a structured way in your brain. Rosetta doesn't do that.
   
   In contrast, I just found the product Fluenz and absolutely love it. It inverts the paradigm and teaches French by relating it to what we know in English with good, highly detailed explanations of what and why.



5. My research led me to select the Rosetta Stone dynamic immersion language learning process, and purchasing the French, Version 3, Level I software through Amazon was a positive experience. The price was very competitive, and the fulfillment service provided by the vendor was seamless. The software allows me to see, hear and comprehend the fundamentals of the French language, and although I am in the early phase of the learning process, I am already beginning to form the basis for speaking the language.