Do You Know the Best Way to Learn Beginner French?

Nov 5
10:02

2009

Christine Chacal

Christine Chacal

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If you want to learn beginner French, you've probably looked into several French products, software programs, and audio CD's to help you get a solid understanding of the language and develop a proper accent. While there are many great program to help you learn French, I'd like to help you pick just the right program for your learning style and ability before you go wasting several hundred dollars on a program that won't work for you.

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Here are my top three favorite French programs to learn beginner French.  Each of these provide a great way to begin learning French without having any real prior knowledge of the language.1. Rosetta Stone French: Rosetta Stone loves to tout how diplomats,Do You Know the Best Way to Learn Beginner French? Articles the Peace Corps, and astronauts all learn a foreignlanguage by using their program.  But can all of us normal people learn French from Rosetta Stone?  The answer is yes.  Rosetta Stone French is one of the most in-depth language learning courses available, as it includes  several multimedia methods to learn the language.The drawback: The price.  Rosetta Stone is probably the number one most expensive language program in the world.  It ranges from a few hundred dollars to begin with to a whopping $1,000 for all-encompassing program.2. Pimsleur French: Pimsleur is another reputable program for learning French.  Though it is mostly marketed to people outside the U.S., Pimsleur can be used anywhere in the world to learn a different language.  Like Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur also has different levels of teaching, starting from a simple one-lesson course, mainly for travel purposes, up to a more in-depth course.  It is much less expensive than Rosetta Stone as well.The drawback: There are only audio CD's and booklets for this program; it's not a software that you can interact with.  However, this makes it a better option to listen to in the car.3. Rocket French: Rocket French is perhaps my favorite French course to learn from.  The dialogue is easy to pick up, and they give plenty of real-life examples to use when learning.  Like Pimsleur, it is mostly audio-based, but that's okay, because you will still learn this way regardless of no interactive software.  The price is somewhere in between Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone, while being much, much less money than Rosetta Stone, even for the full audio CD set.