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JaK Friday 09th of June 2006 12:42:55 AM
Software? - Hey guys, just wondering what the best software, books, tools, etc would be the best for a newbie like me to get started in French. Is the Pinsleur method any good or just a hoax product? Instant Immersion French or 15 Minute French? I want to eventually become fluent, and if I practed for an hour or more a day will I eventually become fluent? My hope is that I will be decently fluent by the time I move to Montreal. The only problem is I know they speak a different dialect in Montreal, just like Americans speak English different from Englishmen.

Chapeaumelon Friday 09th of June 2006 02:55:10 AM
- Next time, I should check at the books! I think that the [i]15-minute French[/i] method is quite bad if you want to become fluent. The book doesn\'t show how to learn French, it only shows the basic vocabulary and some phrases, nothing quite useful.

There\'s the Assimil method book: [i]New French With Ease[/i]. I don\'t know if it\'s good or not. Normally, it\'s a quite good method to learn languages. Maybe the [i]Teach Yourself French[/i] could give something good? The best thing you could do is to go to the bookstore and look at the methods that seem to be interesting :)

I\'m living in Montreal and don\'t worry about that. It\'s not a dialect that we speak, there\'s only a different accent, nothing else :)

Start learning French with a good method, practice it over here and there you are =D

JaK Friday 09th of June 2006 03:48:20 AM
- Thanks for your help. I have until December to learn as much French as possible, before we move to Montreal. I was not interested in the language beforehand, but now that I have to move to Montreal I really would like to learn as much as possible. It is very difficult for me at least to learn new languages. I have been enrolled in Spanish 1 class for an entire school year and have not taken anything useful from it. I can\'t speak it needless to say.

I would love to speak French, and if there are any other useful methods either online or on software to learn, I would appreciate feedback. Especially with online sources.

Danial Friday 09th of June 2006 07:39:49 AM
- Hi!

Have you tried looking at this thread? :)
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/read.php?TID=14587

I\'m just going to share my personal experience on how I learnt french. Personally, I\'ve learnt french with only online help and the occasionally use of books. But overall it took me 95% of online help and 5% books to get to the level I\'m standing here today.

I know there are a lot of choices out there but I\'m just going to [u]highlight[/u] the top 3 links that helped me rise to the level of where I am now. :)

Foundation:
http://www.frenchtutorial.com

This is highly recommended for beginners as it has all the things you should know to start learning french, note that this is also the first website I went to learn french.
There is some audio files for you to listen for pronounciation too. :)

After basics:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/lj

French in 24 steps. It teaches you how the native French at Paris converse (I\'m not sure about the differences of Parisian French and Montréal French) but it gives you a rough idea of how French is spoken. (audio and imagery is highly used here)
Also highly recommended after you have some basics, this the application stage.

Last but not least, the one and only French forum of Phrasebase:):
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/board.php?FID=51

After everything you learned through these online sources, one can only practice through conversation and the games available here. Plus, you can also ask any questions that you have when you were learning on the other two websites given, we will gladly help you. :)

Well, this the best that online sources can help you. I hope they help you as much as they help me. :D

Bonjour!

JaK Friday 09th of June 2006 09:03:22 AM
- Thank you so much for the advice, I appreciate it a lot. :-)

anthonynphilly Friday 09th of June 2006 09:10:25 AM
hi - does anyone know any audi cds that are good or programs for the computer?

JaK Friday 09th of June 2006 09:38:17 AM
- Sapience, at what pace did you practice French? As in how many hours a day, a week, and how many months/years did it finally take to become decent or fluent in French? And was all this by using the websites listed above, along with this one?

Also, did you jot down a lot of notes on notecards to review? Any workbooks or any notes in general off the PC? I am trying to set up my own study plan, perhaps an hour a night and what I can during the day, along with watching movies dubbed in French and listening to French News.

Chapeaumelon Friday 09th of June 2006 10:38:59 AM
- JaK, start by learning a good French! :) Then, when you\'ll come to Montreal, you\'ll see new sayings, new words and a new accent. It\'s totally normal, living in Montreal will give you a nice environment to learn French :)

Danial Friday 09th of June 2006 10:48:34 AM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by JaK[/i]

Sapience, at what pace did you practice French? As in how many hours a day, a week, and how many months/years did it finally take to become decent or fluent in French? And was all this by using the websites listed above, along with this one?

Also, did you jot down a lot of notes on notecards to review? Any workbooks or any notes in general off the PC? I am trying to set up my own study plan, perhaps an hour a night and what I can during the day, along with watching movies dubbed in French and listening to French News. [/quote]

Hi, again!

My pace? Hmm... I try to learn as much French when I have the time and try to practice by playing the games available here. Hmm... I think it\'s about 30 mins a day(not so concentrated) now, and almost everyday but it took me around 6 months now as I started around January.

Hope this helps! :)

Caramelicious Friday 09th of June 2006 05:24:26 PM
- I don\'t really like to use software for computers or anything to learn a language, for me sometimes I feel that they skip things and go off on tangents, etc. I like using books, and there are some good websites.
The best book that I ever used was called,
\"The Ultimate French Review and Practice\", it is very good. There are chapters based upon the grammar that you will learn, it starts off with present tense conjugation, it shows you how to do it with each set of verbs, and it shows you the irregulars and special rules and exceptions, and it will then give you exercises that you can do and even speaking exercises and it has the answers in the back.
It has a lot of cultural notes, and the last exercise is almost always a material taken from the country that has to do with what you just learned, a newspaper clipping, a page from a book, etc.
The grammar is explained very clear so there is no real searching for something that you might have missed.

JaK Friday 09th of June 2006 09:25:07 PM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by Sapience[/i]

[quote][i]Originally posted by JaK[/i]

Sapience, at what pace did you practice French? As in how many hours a day, a week, and how many months/years did it finally take to become decent or fluent in French? And was all this by using the websites listed above, along with this one?

Also, did you jot down a lot of notes on notecards to review? Any workbooks or any notes in general off the PC? I am trying to set up my own study plan, perhaps an hour a night and what I can during the day, along with watching movies dubbed in French and listening to French News. [/quote]

Hi, again!

My pace? Hmm... I try to learn as much French when I have the time and try to practice by playing the games available here. Hmm... I think it\'s about 30 mins a day(not so concentrated) now, and almost everyday but it took me around 6 months now as I started around January.

Hope this helps! :)[/quote]

I will probably practice maybe an hour or so a day, thirty minutes perhaps learning new phrases and words, thirty more to review what I have already learned and maybe I will use that time to study out loud and speak it.

Six months though? Wow, some people at my school take four years of a language course (French, German, or Spanish) and they still aren\'t fluent. Perhaps it takes a lot more studying to get the language down in your head. But I am determined.

JaK Friday 09th of June 2006 09:26:11 PM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by Caramelicious[/i]

I don\'t really like to use software for computers or anything to learn a language, for me sometimes I feel that they skip things and go off on tangents, etc. I like using books, and there are some good websites.
The best book that I ever used was called,
\\\"The Ultimate French Review and Practice\\\", it is very good. There are chapters based upon the grammar that you will learn, it starts off with present tense conjugation, it shows you how to do it with each set of verbs, and it shows you the irregulars and special rules and exceptions, and it will then give you exercises that you can do and even speaking exercises and it has the answers in the back.
It has a lot of cultural notes, and the last exercise is almost always a material taken from the country that has to do with what you just learned, a newspaper clipping, a page from a book, etc.
The grammar is explained very clear so there is no real searching for something that you might have missed. [/quote]

Well I found this book on the internet, and a lot of the reviewers said it was for people who had more than just a basic understanding of French. So I will probably check this book out once I have learned a bit of French and want to learn much more.

Danial Friday 09th of June 2006 10:16:41 PM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by JaK[/i]

I will probably practice maybe an hour or so a day, thirty minutes perhaps learning new phrases and words, thirty more to review what I have already learned and maybe I will use that time to study out loud and speak it.

Six months though? Wow, some people at my school take four years of a language course (French, German, or Spanish) and they still aren\'t fluent. Perhaps it takes a lot more studying to get the language down in your head. But I am determined. [/quote]

Well, firstly, it is good that one study out loud and speak it, like reading a french book or newspaper out loud.

Secondly, for my written part of French I should be doing alright but my listening and speaking is disadvantaged as I have nobody to speak to in French here and I have problems when I watch a French movie without subtitles.(either in French or English) Btw, french videos (and storybooks) are difficult to find here!!! :(

Lol, cause I\'ve somehow set my default response when I don\'t understand someone\'s words in French to \'Comment?\' when I\'m daydreaming. :p That really bugs me!!

Though I have spoken vocally to some people over MSN such as, Bruno(Templar) and maybe Matt(Mattie) soon but it\'s rather difficult to understand each other as we can\'t read each other\'s lips.

But I will be able to speak to my cousin one-on-one who\'s learning French at University once her exams are over though. I hope to straighting my listening and speaking part of the French language.

Phrasebase Archive
	JaK	Friday 09th of June 2006 12:42:55 AM
	Software? - Hey guys, just wondering what the best software, books, tools, etc would be the best for a newbie like me to get started in French. Is the Pinsleur method any good or just a hoax product? Instant Immersion French or 15 Minute French? I want to eventually become fluent, and if I practed for an hour or more a day will I eventually become fluent? My hope is that I will be decently fluent by the time I move to Montreal. The only problem is I know they speak a different dialect in Montreal, just like Americans speak English different from Englishmen.
	Chapeaumelon	Friday 09th of June 2006 02:55:10 AM
	- Next time, I should check at the books! I think that the [i]15-minute French[/i] method is quite bad if you want to become fluent. The book doesn\'t show how to learn French, it only shows the basic vocabulary and some phrases, nothing quite useful. There\'s the Assimil method book: [i]New French With Ease[/i]. I don\'t know if it\'s good or not. Normally, it\'s a quite good method to learn languages. Maybe the [i]Teach Yourself French[/i] could give something good? The best thing you could do is to go to the bookstore and look at the methods that seem to be interesting :) I\'m living in Montreal and don\'t worry about that. It\'s not a dialect that we speak, there\'s only a different accent, nothing else :) Start learning French with a good method, practice it over here and there you are =D
	JaK	Friday 09th of June 2006 03:48:20 AM
	- Thanks for your help. I have until December to learn as much French as possible, before we move to Montreal. I was not interested in the language beforehand, but now that I have to move to Montreal I really would like to learn as much as possible. It is very difficult for me at least to learn new languages. I have been enrolled in Spanish 1 class for an entire school year and have not taken anything useful from it. I can\'t speak it needless to say. I would love to speak French, and if there are any other useful methods either online or on software to learn, I would appreciate feedback. Especially with online sources.
	Danial	Friday 09th of June 2006 07:39:49 AM
	- Hi! Have you tried looking at this thread? :) http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/read.php?TID=14587 I\'m just going to share my personal experience on how I learnt french. Personally, I\'ve learnt french with only online help and the occasionally use of books. But overall it took me 95% of online help and 5% books to get to the level I\'m standing here today. I know there are a lot of choices out there but I\'m just going to [u]highlight[/u] the top 3 links that helped me rise to the level of where I am now. :) Foundation: http://www.frenchtutorial.com This is highly recommended for beginners as it has all the things you should know to start learning french, note that this is also the first website I went to learn french. There is some audio files for you to listen for pronounciation too. :) After basics: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/lj French in 24 steps. It teaches you how the native French at Paris converse (I\'m not sure about the differences of Parisian French and Montréal French) but it gives you a rough idea of how French is spoken. (audio and imagery is highly used here) Also highly recommended after you have some basics, this the application stage. Last but not least, the one and only French forum of Phrasebase:): http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/board.php?FID=51 After everything you learned through these online sources, one can only practice through conversation and the games available here. Plus, you can also ask any questions that you have when you were learning on the other two websites given, we will gladly help you. :) Well, this the best that online sources can help you. I hope they help you as much as they help me. :D Bonjour!
	JaK	Friday 09th of June 2006 09:03:22 AM
	- Thank you so much for the advice, I appreciate it a lot. :-)
	anthonynphilly	Friday 09th of June 2006 09:10:25 AM
	hi - does anyone know any audi cds that are good or programs for the computer?
	JaK	Friday 09th of June 2006 09:38:17 AM
	- Sapience, at what pace did you practice French? As in how many hours a day, a week, and how many months/years did it finally take to become decent or fluent in French? And was all this by using the websites listed above, along with this one? Also, did you jot down a lot of notes on notecards to review? Any workbooks or any notes in general off the PC? I am trying to set up my own study plan, perhaps an hour a night and what I can during the day, along with watching movies dubbed in French and listening to French News.
	Chapeaumelon	Friday 09th of June 2006 10:38:59 AM
	- JaK, start by learning a good French! :) Then, when you\'ll come to Montreal, you\'ll see new sayings, new words and a new accent. It\'s totally normal, living in Montreal will give you a nice environment to learn French :)
	Danial	Friday 09th of June 2006 10:48:34 AM
	- [quote][i]Originally posted by JaK[/i] Sapience, at what pace did you practice French? As in how many hours a day, a week, and how many months/years did it finally take to become decent or fluent in French? And was all this by using the websites listed above, along with this one? Also, did you jot down a lot of notes on notecards to review? Any workbooks or any notes in general off the PC? I am trying to set up my own study plan, perhaps an hour a night and what I can during the day, along with watching movies dubbed in French and listening to French News. [/quote] Hi, again! My pace? Hmm... I try to learn as much French when I have the time and try to practice by playing the games available here. Hmm... I think it\'s about 30 mins a day(not so concentrated) now, and almost everyday but it took me around 6 months now as I started around January. Hope this helps! :)
	Caramelicious	Friday 09th of June 2006 05:24:26 PM
	- I don\'t really like to use software for computers or anything to learn a language, for me sometimes I feel that they skip things and go off on tangents, etc. I like using books, and there are some good websites. The best book that I ever used was called, \"The Ultimate French Review and Practice\", it is very good. There are chapters based upon the grammar that you will learn, it starts off with present tense conjugation, it shows you how to do it with each set of verbs, and it shows you the irregulars and special rules and exceptions, and it will then give you exercises that you can do and even speaking exercises and it has the answers in the back. It has a lot of cultural notes, and the last exercise is almost always a material taken from the country that has to do with what you just learned, a newspaper clipping, a page from a book, etc. The grammar is explained very clear so there is no real searching for something that you might have missed.
	JaK	Friday 09th of June 2006 09:25:07 PM
	- [quote][i]Originally posted by Sapience[/i] [quote][i]Originally posted by JaK[/i] Sapience, at what pace did you practice French? As in how many hours a day, a week, and how many months/years did it finally take to become decent or fluent in French? And was all this by using the websites listed above, along with this one? Also, did you jot down a lot of notes on notecards to review? Any workbooks or any notes in general off the PC? I am trying to set up my own study plan, perhaps an hour a night and what I can during the day, along with watching movies dubbed in French and listening to French News. [/quote] Hi, again! My pace? Hmm... I try to learn as much French when I have the time and try to practice by playing the games available here. Hmm... I think it\'s about 30 mins a day(not so concentrated) now, and almost everyday but it took me around 6 months now as I started around January. Hope this helps! :)[/quote] I will probably practice maybe an hour or so a day, thirty minutes perhaps learning new phrases and words, thirty more to review what I have already learned and maybe I will use that time to study out loud and speak it. Six months though? Wow, some people at my school take four years of a language course (French, German, or Spanish) and they still aren\'t fluent. Perhaps it takes a lot more studying to get the language down in your head. But I am determined.
	JaK	Friday 09th of June 2006 09:26:11 PM
	- [quote][i]Originally posted by Caramelicious[/i] I don\'t really like to use software for computers or anything to learn a language, for me sometimes I feel that they skip things and go off on tangents, etc. I like using books, and there are some good websites. The best book that I ever used was called, \\\"The Ultimate French Review and Practice\\\", it is very good. There are chapters based upon the grammar that you will learn, it starts off with present tense conjugation, it shows you how to do it with each set of verbs, and it shows you the irregulars and special rules and exceptions, and it will then give you exercises that you can do and even speaking exercises and it has the answers in the back. It has a lot of cultural notes, and the last exercise is almost always a material taken from the country that has to do with what you just learned, a newspaper clipping, a page from a book, etc. The grammar is explained very clear so there is no real searching for something that you might have missed. [/quote] Well I found this book on the internet, and a lot of the reviewers said it was for people who had more than just a basic understanding of French. So I will probably check this book out once I have learned a bit of French and want to learn much more.
	Danial	Friday 09th of June 2006 10:16:41 PM
	- [quote][i]Originally posted by JaK[/i] I will probably practice maybe an hour or so a day, thirty minutes perhaps learning new phrases and words, thirty more to review what I have already learned and maybe I will use that time to study out loud and speak it. Six months though? Wow, some people at my school take four years of a language course (French, German, or Spanish) and they still aren\'t fluent. Perhaps it takes a lot more studying to get the language down in your head. But I am determined. [/quote] Well, firstly, it is good that one study out loud and speak it, like reading a french book or newspaper out loud. Secondly, for my written part of French I should be doing alright but my listening and speaking is disadvantaged as I have nobody to speak to in French here and I have problems when I watch a French movie without subtitles.(either in French or English) Btw, french videos (and storybooks) are difficult to find here!!! :( Lol, cause I\'ve somehow set my default response when I don\'t understand someone\'s words in French to \'Comment?\' when I\'m daydreaming. :p That really bugs me!! Though I have spoken vocally to some people over MSN such as, Bruno(Templar) and maybe Matt(Mattie) soon but it\'s rather difficult to understand each other as we can\'t read each other\'s lips. But I will be able to speak to my cousin one-on-one who\'s learning French at University once her exams are over though. I hope to straighting my listening and speaking part of the French language.