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Title: Mastering French: Level One (The Foreign Service Institute Language Series) by Mastering ISBN: 0-8120-7321-5 Publisher: Barrons Educational Audio Pub. Date: November, 1985 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 12 List Price(USD): $79.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3.55 (22 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Arguably the best French self-study course
Comment: Yes, yes, this old course belongs to the trite "listen andrepeat" category of self-study language courses. But it's reallythe only way to learn and absorb and "live" a foreign language. Some other courses claim to make you learn a language in record time by simply listening on your Walkman-style tape player while you're exercising or cleaning house. Listen up, fellow Francophiles: It can't be done. A fair amount of actually studying the course material is still required. In other words, technology hasn't yet replaced (eliminated) old-fashioned studying.

I really like this venerable old course, the very same one used to train government agents in the Foreign Service. What sets it apart from more modern, streamlined courses is its emphasis on spoken French. If you're not fortunate enough to live in France or any other French-speaking country, the next best thing is to listen, and listen, and listen some more. There's just no substitute for training your ears in listening comprehension, and these cassettes serve that purpose more than adequately.

This course originally came out in 1960! Not surprisingly, some of the French used is a bit dated and overly formal for today's quick-fix crowd. But if you make a conscientious effort with this course, it still delivers results. And if you're especially ambitious in your studies, you'll acquire the coveted spot-on French accent without even realizing it. How many courses can deliver this kind of aesthetic result?

But the main reason why I'd strongly advise purchasing this course is that Barron's offers it at a truly bargain price.( ). Need I say more?

A time-tested, dependable, flexible course that delivers results--and at an affordable price, too. Sounds like a good deal to me. Purchase this course, apply yourself, and you'll be amazed with the results.

Rating: 3
Summary: Old-School Audio-Lingual Approach
Comment: If old-school style rote drills and model sentence imitation works for you this course will be a great value. It's a bit dated (the course was developed in the early 1960's) but it works well. Unlike Barron's "Mastering German" tapes they there aren't as many translations of the drills and they don't slow down their dialogs for the student to grasp pronunciation; you'll be hearing them at normal conversation speeds right from the beginning. Six types of drills are presented along with some grammar notes and written exercises. There is also a Level II course with 12 ninety-minute tapes. The dialog portions are repeated with the student playing different roles in the dialog so the tapes do repeat themselves but are nonetheless a good value for learning French on your own. If you intend to use this course as your primary means of learning French on your own purchase a French grammar book to go along with it. A cheap option is Schaum's Outline Series "French Grammar" by Mary Crocker but there are many others.

Rating: 5
Summary: Great Learning Tool
Comment: Of course, everyone learns a bit differently, but I, for one, like the fact that all the dialogue is spoken quickly from the get go. Having lived abroad (Japan and Russia) I can attest that hearing the language spoken slowly during your studies only handicaps you severely later on. Much better to dive in and get used to it. The object is to communicate with French, regardless of their accents, speed of talking or diction.
Also, there is plenty of English during the oral translation drills. It is just that the tape does not waste your time doing a spoken English translation of the initial dialgue. Again, it is better to just listen in French and not let English become a crutch.
However, this program is so good, that I still feel it warrants five stars. Alright, maybe four and one half.

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