Language Tapes/Cds?

[oversteer]

The Michel Thomas CDs are worth a try

[RowleyBirkinQC]

Thanks; that smiley will come in handy for next week's rugby threads.

Official RBS 6 Nations Rugby : Match Centre

It also comes in handy for any thread with MF in.

[Wilmslow]

My mum has just bought an apartment in St Cyprien, so I have just ordered this from Amazon to give me a head start conversing with the locals. For just over a fiver, this sounds like a good use of my commuting time. Besides, Radio 2 has gone to the dogs now that Sarah Kennedy is no longer on the early shift!

Collins Easy Learning Audio Course - French: Stage 1: Amazon.co.uk: Rosi McNab: Books

[Sysman]

LOL. They were the gf's tapes. But they had a lot more melody than some of the mournful sh!te that comes out of the UK.

A Swiss girl (from the German speaking bit) did once say to me "I don't like French. French is a gay language."

[Twilkes]

If you're wanting to learn French, there's a huge free resource from FSI (Foreign Service Institute) which used to train American ambassadors for service abroad:

FreeLanguageCourses.com » Blog Archive » French Language Courses

Each unit is a dialogue at the beginning, some grammar points as you go through, and then lots and lots (and lots) of drills. You have to think about some of them though not just blindly repeat, e.g. question and response, or they only give you the first part of the sentence and you have to complete it. If you complete half of the 24 units you'll already be above GCSE French level, maybe lacking a little vocabulary though.

The FSI courses (there's a lot of languages out there, many of them free to download) are heavy on the grammar, which is great if that's the way you learn, but some people get bored with it. Michel Thomas is more phrase-repetition and conversational, but you might find it more difficult to build your own sentences without the grammar base. And I can't stand Michel Thomas's voice.

I spend 2 1/2 hours on a bus each day and the FSI method works well for me, although I'm not sure I'd use it driving as it does need some concentration. It's also about 40 years old and aimed at middle aged male diplomats, so some of the phrases are like 'The chambermaid is very pretty' and 'Where is the letter that the stenographer typed for me? Did she forget it?'

It's worth trying the free stuff before paying out money for a course that may not suit you.

I would stay away from Rosetta Stone though; there's something called Plimseur if you're starting from scratch that seems to get more recommendations than a lot of others.

[MarillionFan]

If you're wanting to learn French, there's a huge free resource from FSI (Foreign Service Institute) which used to train American ambassadors for service abroad:

FreeLanguageCourses.com » Blog Archive » French Language Courses

Each unit is a dialogue at the beginning, some grammar points as you go through, and then lots and lots (and lots) of drills. You have to think about some of them though not just blindly repeat, e.g. question and response, or they only give you the first part of the sentence and you have to complete it. If you complete half of the 24 units you'll already be above GCSE French level, maybe lacking a little vocabulary though.

The FSI courses (there's a lot of languages out there, many of them free to download) are heavy on the grammar, which is great if that's the way you learn, but some people get bored with it. Michel Thomas is more phrase-repetition and conversational, but you might find it more difficult to build your own sentences without the grammar base. And I can't stand Michel Thomas's voice.

I spend 2 1/2 hours on a bus each day and the FSI method works well for me, although I'm not sure I'd use it driving as it does need some concentration. It's also about 40 years old and aimed at middle aged male diplomats, so some of the phrases are like 'The chambermaid is very pretty' and 'Where is the letter that the stenographer typed for me? Did she forget it?'

It's worth trying the free stuff before paying out money for a course that may not suit you.

I would stay away from Rosetta Stone though; there's something called Plimseur if you're starting from scratch that seems to get more recommendations than a lot of others.

Good one

[Paddy]

Hi Paddy,

Try this

HTH

I have a sticky “ “ key. The one between e and t

Besides English is not my native language

BTW why not FUKC off and wet the bed.

[BlasterBates]

I learnt some Dutch from tapes.

Definitely the way to learn, because you want to speak and understand.

Somebody pointed out you can get by on a few words, exactly, because once you know all those basic words you can often work out what people are talking about when you know what the subject is, plenty of Latin words used in all European languages.

I reckon if you focused on it you can learn a language to a very useful level in a few weeks.

The adverts "learn French in a fortnight" aren´t far off the truth.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Seemed to me that commuting(though its not long at the moment). Instead of listening to Chris Moyles I should listen to anything else, anything at all.

FTFY


Also, WMichS: Italian CDs in the car gave me a basic tourist Italian, which gave me a basis for learning more when I visited Italy. So definitely not time wasted (which a driving commute is otherwise).

[suityou01]

I have a sticky “ “ key. The one between e and t

Besides English is not my native language

BTW why not FUKC off and wet the bed.

Why not FOAD?