SmartFrench: Learn French from Real French People

I had French in high school and wanted to brush up for a trip to France. The conversations are good for trying to bring you up to speed on listening comprehension, but they are probably only useful for someone who has had some French before. I was hoping for authentic speed and pronunciation and this is definitely it. Most people will also need an additional grammar book or introductory text.

The hardest--and certainly most crucial--part of learning any language is how to properly speak and to understand when others are speaking to you. You can certainly learn every last word and grammar rule in the French language, to the point that you can read the complete works of Victor Hugo in the original French, but if you can't understand when a Parisian asks you what time it is, you might as well not speak any French! With each lesson, you are slowly taken through an excerpt of an interview with an authentic French person, some of whom are highly prominent individuals in government, fashion, etc. while others are "regular people." This diversity of interviewees is one of the highlights of this program, as the Achilles heel of many audio programs is that there may be just one or two speakers, usually one male and one female. In this program, however, you're provided over ten male and over five female speakers, giving you a much wider range of voices and speaking styles. Furthermore, the interviews are all very informal, so instead of the nameless male voice of another program speaking sentences in a typically over-enunciated and "proper" (ie. unrealistic) manner, you're seeing and hearing French people speaking like they do when they're just lounging around the house. The layout of the program is very basic, but effective nonetheless. (I'm always willing to trade flashy animations for effective instruction!) There are a few hiccups in the program, though they are quite minor. A couple of times when Mr. Aubert is going over the text, especially when it's the section of the lesson where he's pausing about twice a sentence, he sometimes skips a sentence. This led to a little bit of confusion, as I was of course expecting a completely different sentence, but it only happens a few times, and he goes over every interview several times, so even if he accidentally skips over a sentence in one section of a lesson, he's undoubtedly already said it for you in an earlier section or will not miss it in the next section (as I wrote above, it almost universally happens only during the stop-and-start sections--he quite obviously just lost his place a few times). Another small issue is that the English translations could use quite a bit of polishing. For some of the lessons, I found it actually more confusing to read the English translation than to just try to figure out the French! But since this is a program to help you with your French and not to teach you English, it's of negligible concern to me. In all, I wholeheartedly recommend this program. It's deceptively simple and effective in improving your listening comprehension. There are a few issues that exhibit an unfortunate lack of polish, but they are small defects in a very effective program.

If you want to learn French, save your money this is not the way. I studied French 6 years in school and lived in France. I have always had a problem in understanding spoken French. This program is no help. If you have no background in the language, this will be pure gibberish. Forgetting grammar for the moment, unless you have a good vocabulary you will have no idea what is going on. The conversations are just that, random conversations which will do you no good without some knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Hearing how to cook beans with garlic and anchovies is really going to help you in a French conversation. The only value in this course is that if you already speak some French and want to improve your accent. Don't believe all the glowing reviews. They were written apparently by people who have the wool easily pulled over their eyes. However, if you want to hear spoken French, listen to French TV. Go to [...] and select French TV and you will have a choice of French speaking programs from France, Canada, and the Congo.

I liked this course. I did better with it than others I've tried ... French and Spanish. The price is right too!

Having recently decided to make a return trip to Paris next year, and remembering the difficulties I had getting along with my "text book French", I began to scour the internet searching for a new and different type of French course I could take that would enlighten me as to the REAL French spoken there and around the world. This would be the conversational French that you hear on the streets, on the radio, in the hotel, in the clubs, on the streets, in the cafe's and whereever else you venture to go. SMARTFRENCH IS THE ANSWER. You are provided with a CD of French conversations ranging from Beginner to Intermediate and Advanced lectures. Each section contains several conversations that you can listen to , watch on video if you prefer, read the transcripts or not, and listen in to the helpful hints on how to pronounce correctly what you hear or how to use the French elisions and knowing when and how to pronounce "silently" certain lettres and vowels of the spoken language and tricks and trades to making even YOUR spoken French sound as smooth and musical as the French do! (There is also included a booklet with the conversations available if you choose to follow along that way instead of on the computer screen) Lets face it, the French you learned in High School or College is not going to go far when you find yourself in a French speaking country or city like Paris and everyone seems to be talking at twice the speed you were accustomed to hearing in school or reading in books! THIS COURSE WILL HELP YOU TREMENDOUSLY. Satisfaction is GUARANTEED!

You won't find a better way to learn French and learn it quickly than SmartFrench. I took 2 years of French in high school and two in college but couldn't speak it or understand the spoken language. After a week or so of Smartfrench, I had learned more than I had during years of formal training. I can't evaluate the system for someone with no knowledge of the language going in, but for those with some rudimentary understanding of grammar and verb conjugation, you will pick this up with lightning speed. The ability to listen to a variety of native French speakers (and to have the French text and translation when you want them), to hear them use typical French expressions that you will quickly find yourself using, to hear how they form sentences in everyday conversation, is simply invaluable. As you listen and repeat (and you should listen over and over), you'll begin to notice that, just like with English speakers, some Frenchmen speak better French than others; the young student, for example, speaks more casually and with more slang than, say, the diplomat or the art dealer. With this ingenious system, you'll be exposed to all manner of speaking habits, all of which you can copy, or not, and will find yourself automatically absorbing all the nuances of the language you cannot learn in any other way. Other than living in France, of course. I gave the system four stars because there is room for some improvement with the product. Not with the concept, just the execution. There is some needless repetition of basic ideas, although some may like this. Personally, I would prefer more discussion on advanced topics (I purchased beginning through advanced), like the subjunctive mode (of verbs) and some of the odd phrases you'll encounter that don't seem to make any sense. But, other than some fine tuning, this is a fantastic product and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I received my order of both Smart French CD Rom and the Smart French Intermediate & Advanced Level. I purchased both based on all of the positive reviews. Well, having worked with the first set of lessons on the CD Rom and after visiting the Smart French website for practice dictation, I must say that all the reviews were right! This program is amazing and I have had the most enjoyable learning experience! I am a college student of French and knew intuitively that there must be a different way to learn French besides the conventional 'method memorizing'. What's more, my grades in French have suffered because I have had to work against this intuition and against my particular learning style. Not everyone learns by memorizing, certainly not me. I learn through application, repetition, and association; as such, this program entirely corresponds to my learning style. I love and am committed to learning French. I think that finding Smart French is something of a miracle for me. This program has already begun to build the kind of confidence I need to successfully comprehend French. Now I can major in French and not settle for a substitute major. Put another way, now I know that I do not have to give up my first love. I cannot wait for Smart French's additional projects to hit the market. For now, I am entirely satisfied with this product. Indeed, I am thoroughly overjoyed!

I bought this because the reviews were so good. I had been studying French for about 3 months, on my own and previously at a well known French school in NYC for 2 months. So It wasn't like I knew nothing. My advice is, if you want to learn how the language works, understanding the grammar is crucial. If you don't learn the grammar and how the language is constructed, you can't speak and say what you want to say. It makes no sense to learn this way from the beginning because all you do is listen to conversations, repeat slowly, then repeat quicker. You will still not even be able to come up with simple things that you want to say because all you are doing is repeating those specific conversations. Having now been studying for over 6 months in a class and on my own, I think this method could work if you have been studying for several months, the basics, the grammer, the present tense and the past etc. But to begin this way.........don't waste your money. I have noticed now they now have a new beginners one. Perhaps this is better? My advice is, don't buy this one if you want to learn French, understand it and speak it.

Love this C.D and the book for proper French prouniations. She reccommends it.

Excellent teaching tool to enhance your french studies.