Learning French - any recommendations?

based on this thread and others im going to start using Pimsleur, albeit for German, (read enough posts by dmpoole pimping it!) so i'll post back letting you know how i get on.
 
Kappa said:
based on this thread and others im going to start using Pimsleur, albeit for German, (read enough posts by dmpoole pimping it!) so i'll post back letting you know how i get on.
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Don't blame me :)
Like I said earlier, you can put them on your MP3 player or even in the car where Rosetta Stone needs a PC.
 
Lamo said:
Try the Michel Thomas learn French audio courses. they are very reasonably priced and as French speaker I must say they are very competent from what I have heard.
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Michel Thomas is amazing :) I used his Spanish CD and I was able to have a basic conversation after 2 weeks of listening. Much recommended.
 
Michel Thomas is ok for the basics, I used the German course when I first moved to Germany and then moved onto the later Pimsleur courses for more advanced learning.
 
On va apprendre le francais avec votre nouveau prof, Voltar:

(Tu as besoin de fumer)
1. Vous vendez? reponse, oui:
trente euros s'il te plait

on tutoye avec les arabes dans les rues.

UNE pinte et un croque monsieur s'il vous plait.

une dejeunette s'il vous plait

Ou est le papier? Je dois faire un merde.

MDR :D
 
si tu veut se plaindre a cause de la manque du papier:

putain, pourqoui y a t-il pas de papier dans le salle de bains?

- nous sommes en france mon pote.

always take bog roll wherever u go in france as u dont wana use ** socks =P
 
Learn french with Podcast :)
I'm currently learning Italian via a downloaded podcast off iTunes, along with a "Collins Italian Phrasebook"
 
I wouldn't worry too much, but then when you go there try to immerse yourself in the language. My mum spends so much time trying to improve her French but during those 2 week stretches she's over there it comes on leaps and bounds. Of course in the following two or three months before she goes back again, she forgets it all :p
 
Michel Thomas - I was bought the basic type one for christmas, good audio cd thing. No books required etc. I have it in my car so I can listen to it when I'm driving around. Tres bien.. :D
 
Has anyone tried those personal one-to-one courses offered by various companies that basically take you out for the evening and get you to speak entirely in French? I'm tempted to take up French again as I was quite good at one stage (partly through having to use it for work).

"Je suis desolée, mais j'ai oubliée les preservatifs!"
 
I like Michel Thomas. Despite his cantankerous babbling and his false teeth clacking, it's the most fun with languages I've ever had. I can remember everything he's taught in just one/two listens.
 
Another recommendation for the Michel Thomas audio books here :) My missus used these and she thought they were great.

On a light hearted note, I would also recommend the book:
"Merde!: the Real French You Were Never Taught at School"

(just for completeness :D)
 
#Chri5# said:
We're off to France again this summer. Last summer I could manage to order breakfast from the local boulangerie but when the girl replied to me, I just stood there like this > :confused: Thankfully, I think she could tell I was Johnny Foreigner and tried the much simplier tack of "voila?" which got me my goodies and her some cash.

Hence I'd like to learn more "conversational" French - does anyone have any recommendations for books and/or audio CDs? I do quite a bit of driving so something I could listen to in the car would be good.

There's quite a selection of books on the usual websites. I noticed Linguagphone offer what looks to be along the lines of what I'd like to learn for £24. Rosetta Stone is £140 for course 1 – ouch!
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Did you get anywhere with this?

I want to learn French as my GF wants us to move to Paris in the next 18 months, very random I know.

Anyway, I don't know where to start. I listened to the Michael Thomas example but it just sounded like he was babbling, it didn't seem very structured. Is it really any good?

I have a Pimsleur MP3 thing from the library which I have started but got cut short during my first "lesson" as my GF wanted to sleep and I kept repeating things :p

So, just wanted to know what you got and how it went>?
 
Stick with Michel. He does actually do the whole course from what's in his head so there is no formal structure. Hence you are not trying to remember anything but somehow you do. It's the basis for his whole methodology.

I also liked Linguaphone allTalk French. It's a bit like a story soap opera. The characters are amiable, the story has cliffhangers of a sort to keep you going and you do learn vicab and grammar that you'd use in everyday speech.
 
I dont know if anyone else has suggested this, but I know Skype have this thing called "Skype Prime" now - where you can pay per minute for expert services such as languages.

I found I learnt more french on a french exchange for 2 weeks than I did in 2 years. Ended up being my only A at GCSE lol.
 
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