Learn to Speak French 8.1

List Price: $14.99 Discount Price: $4.00

Customer Reviews:

DO NOT BUY FOR Windows XP [Posted on 2002-07-23]
I bought this product for my Windows XP computer. It doesn't work. Even their own web site says:

Product: Learn to Speak™ French 8.1
Issue: No Valid Data Base, Error Code 58
Description: When attempting to launch Learn to Speak(tm) French 8.1, a message similar to "No valid data base. Error code: 58" appears.

Solution: This is a Private Issue. DO NOT Email. This issue is currently being researched. As of now it seems this is only occurring on Windows(r) XP. Gather system information, the exact error message and any details and forward the information to your supervisor.

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I don't see why a bug that makes a product useless is a "PRIVATE ISSUE". Especially for a product labelled "Designed for XP" in big letters on the box. I will report back IF this bug is fixed.

Excellent Learning Solution for Everyone [Posted on 2002-12-04]
LearnToSpeak 8.0 is the best language learning tool I've used. I've spent hundreds in books, tapes, and audio CDs to no avail. This ridiculously inexpensive software is unmatched in both quality and value. Anyone with a negative review is purely blaming this awesome product for their difficulty learning the language. ... you can't possibly go wrong with it.

My fianceé began a reputable French Course 5 hours a week with French Teachers at the same time I bought the software. I've spent 1 hour a day on it for the past month, and I'm way ahead of her in pronunciantion, comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and conversational skills. And she is a Native Spanish/Greek speaker who also masters English. Believe me, she has no learning problems... her course just does not catch up with this software YET. Let me remind you that I have wasted hundreds of dollars on other books, tapes, and CDs without learning how to even greet someone.

Of course you can't expect to be fluent in a few weeks with a handfull of CDs... I am a native Spanish speaker as well and to learn a language, you need to immerse yourself in it. That includes TV, Radio, Friends, Internet, EVERYTHING. Else, and only if you really work hard, you'll be fluent enough to be able to travel to France and communicate freely with natives as a TOURIST. You will definitely not be able to discuss Medicine or Engineering, but you'll have the skills to communicate effectively as you travel.

This set features real time dialogs WITH video characters, an extensive grammar library, speech recognition, informational videos in French, talking dictionary, and easy to follow lessons categorized by topics... not to mention a very funny and friendly animated cartoon character that teaches you the grammar used on every chapter you finish. And to respond to the review of the 14-year-old, the program DOES include games and it is VERY FUN to learn, but to get to the games, you need to complete the first 5 basic lessons. However, this is a learning tool, not a game...

I recommend everybody to please finish the basic lessons and browse all CDs before wasting your time complaining about this awesome [and inexpensive] learning solution.

We'll always have Paris... [Posted on 2003-01-27]
First one negative: The Learning Company does have to get better at listing what platforms their software really works on. Version 8 does not run on Windows 2000, Windows 8.1 has problems with XP, but works fine on Windows 2000. If you're planning on buying this software, be careful about which version you buy.

That said, this software is a good learning tool for picking up French. It will not be enough on it's own (what one tool ever is for learning fluency in a language?), but it's an incredible supplement. You see and hear French being spoken in a number of situations and by a number of different people, all with different accents, ages, and occupations. A book will not give you this (though a book will be better for learning the rules of grammar such as verb conjugation). Pronounciation is particularly hard for english speakers learning French (I speak from experience). Having the word spoken repeatedly while printed on the screen is a boon for figuring out how French is supposed to sound (again, a book will not do this as well).

The program relies on rote memorization for success, which is unfortunately one of the menial and grudging realities of learning any language. Each vocabulary word is tied to a picture (e.g., 'ici' has an "X" with an arrow pointing to it), and the drills rely on your ability to interpret these pictures. Most are not difficult at all to figure out, but some can be ambiguous. Each lesson moves from a list of vocabulary words into these drills, and then into a conversation usually between 2-4 French speakers. Once you have these phrases and sentences down, there are more drills. Lastly, each lesson includes games: "Go Fish" (against a strange horse/dog creature with a southern drawl) and a crossword puzzle. You can play the games at any time (though it's harder to know this in version 8.1 than it was in version 8.0). Finally, you have a conversation with a French speaker via your PCs microphone. It's as close as you will get to having a native speaker on hand for practice, though it has the limitations of any computer program (this part of the program has crashed on me, but not frequently enough for me to give up on the software).

Lastly, when you speak into the microphone the computer will judge your progress on a continuum from 'tourist' to 'native'. This is a little tenuous, and I would encourage people to pay more attention to the playback of their voices rather than worry if they're attaining 'native' status (I have also heard that sometimes these programs don't work well with native speakers - a French-Canadian relative of a friend of mine once used this program, and was consistently told he was a 'tourist').

Overall, it's a very good tool to help you along with learning French. It will not learn the language for you, but it will be a valuable help.

A Big Waste of Money [Posted on 2003-02-10]
This would have been a wonderful product if it could be installed on my computer. I have tried to install it using Windows 2000 and Windows 98. Neither system would accept it. When I called the company, they said that they knew about the problem and were working on it...to check back at their web site periodically for an update. That was over a year ago. There have been no updates and I basically wasted my money.

Learn to Spreak French 8.1 [Posted on 2008-05-12]
Good to have this product. I have different resources for learning French. It's good for me to use it with other resources. I wish I would have a workbook with it, which is essential for learners. Regardless, I like it.

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