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French in Action - My Review | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| xtremelingo Trilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6285 days ago 398 posts - 515 votes  Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Punjabi* Studies: German, French, Arabic (Written) | Message 1 of 72 24 November 2007 at 9:21am | IP Logged | ||
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This is one of the BEST language-learning tools for French. It is a shame that more languages are not taught using the same method - "The Capretz Method", because Pierre Capretz definitely hit the nail on the head back in the 80's when he made this. Pierre Capretz is a genius. French in Action. What is it? What are it's Goals? 1. The main goal of French in Action is to give you a carefully guided immersion experience. The philosophy of FIA is simple, they believe that Immersion and learning without translation is key, FIA is similar to Rosetta Stone in style. It hopes to connect language to visual stimuli, such that you learn without the need to refer back to your L1. However, the difference between FIA and RS is that FIA does aim at teaching you how to speak and not just comprehension alone. FIA definitely helps you THINK in the target language. According to Pierre Capretz. They believe that immersion is the best way to learn, however living and learning a language in the target country through immersion, can take longer than necessary, because it is unguided. In other words, you slowly learn the target language through alot of time and observation, things that you can learn in a much shorter period of time, if it directs you logicallly. The time you spend is wasted through alot of filtration and input that is incomprehensible <- which is useless at initial/beginning stages. I have read alot on this forum, many people that use FIA for means of measuring their comprehension, but don't use it to learn how to speak. This is sad, because FIA does a very good job at teaching how to speak -- if you have access to their texts and audio. If all you have is the videos, then you are actually missing a major chunk of the course, because the books and audio that come with it, are really good. To clear up any misconceptions about FIA. 1. The audio is NOT the same as the video's audio track, it is not simply a 'audio rip' of the video. For each Video/Episode, there is on average 6-10 audio components. So about 6-10 mp3 files per Episode. They have very particular exercises and functions. The first one is usually the dialogue in the video, but the rest are generally aural and speaking exercises. I know many people do not know this, because I have seen links that have cited the 'complete FIA audio' on this website, but the audio is in fact INCOMPLETE, although it looks complete because you can see the last MP3 file ending at 52. There are way more files than just 52 mp3's. The complete audio for FIA is actually close 900 MB of mp3's. FIA is a HUGE and very carefully designed program. Just looking at the complete set, you can tell that the guys at Yale University spent alot of research, hard-work on this. I am sure back in the 80's, doing such a project was a little more complex/expensive than it would be now given all the latest digital technology. (I hope this advancement in technology motivates other language publishers to take a similar approach) How you use it. Using it is pretty simple, and it is actually kind of fun! Dr. Capretz does a very good job keeping things engaging and fun. The entire learning is within a framework of an on-going relationship/story of two people. It keeps you motivated and interested, because you do eventually become curious to know what happens in the next episode, and it is tempting to watch several in a row. 1. You watch the video. The goal isn't to understand everything, the goal is to get the general understanding 'gist' of what is going on. 2. After the video, you complete a TEXT assimilation. What this is, you play the one particular audio file of the lesson, it will repeat the dialogue of the video, the goal of text assimilation is to take everything you heard on the video and internalize it. First you just listen, then after you actually read the text for the lesson and see it on paper. It's goal is for you to hear the audio out of the video context so you can just pay attention to sound now. The goal is to remind you of the scenes in the video but now focusing particularly on listening. This is important as you complete the other audio exercises that follow. 3. You continue with the audio, then there is a question/answer section that is done in French audio, it's goal is to get you thinking in the language. Almost all of the audio components are connected to the workbook. Almost all of the workbook exercises have an audio component too it. So don't think it's some boring 'paper/homework' you have to do. There are alot of audio exercises and are diverse. It is recommended that you do the audio exercises immediately AFTER watching the video. The workbook IS USEFUL AND NECESSARY if you want to use FIA properly. This is where you are going to learn how to read, write and with the audio part - speak/listen. The video is mostly to develop an ear for listening and learning how to think in the target. There are TWO workbooks. Part I (2-26) and Part II (26-52). You will NOT realize the full potential of FIA if you don't use the workbooks. You can still get something out of FIA by just watching videos, but the effectiveness will skyrocket if you have the texts. The Study guide is extremely useful, because it was designed for self-study instead of a formal class environment. The good part of the study guide is, that is goes over each episode seperately, and teaches you enrichment/extra pertaining to that lesson, this is usually grammar and other factors. This is extremely good for those that hate language programs that try to avoid or do not provide reference to grammar. There are two study guides Part I and Part II. Each section of of the study guide is also pretty concise and to the point. It doesn't give you textbook explanations, but it does provide you very good advice, strategies and teaches you what you really need to know for that episode -- not French in general. The instructor manual is USEFUL FOR SOME, and extremely useful if you are a French Teacher/instructor. It gives alot of real practical ideas of how teachers should use the program. This can be useful for self-study because there are plenty of ideas that can work even if you are not the instructor, and even if you are not in the classroom environment. Although, I would rate this as the least important 'book' of all the books. This is only one book. The Textbook (covers all 52 episodes) is a MUST, but it actually isn't as useful as the studyguide or workbook. The textbook is mostly dialogues of the video, basically a carefully designed transcript with pictures. The pictures help remind you of scenes and are very helpful. The textbook is helpful because you can see the dialogue in it's written form and can easily look up words that you don't know in the transcript by using the glossary at the back (although FIA recommends against this), but it can speed up the process if you are good at 'not translating' in your head. The benefit of this is that FIA textbook can effectively work as a 'graded reader' (and is probably meant to be used this way), since the lessons increase in complexity systematically. As I use FIA, you can say the book that is open the 'most often' is the workbook and the study-guide. How many words do you learn in FIA? Well, looking at the textbook glossary of vocabulary, which it claims it contains all the words for all the lessons in the entire program. Doing a bit of math and averaging, there is about 3,000+ words on average in FIA. I heard reports of FIA having 10,000 words, I think this is grossly overestimated. However, from a quick glance of the words, I can also these are high-frequency vocabulary, and they are not mere inflections of other words. According to FIA, in terms of comparison to University/college French courses. It is said to be worth about 2 years worth of University/College full-time, and it expects to take you from Zero to Intermediate->Int High. In self-study mode, I can see someone completing the entire "2-year course" in about 3 months of intensive study, or 4-6 months relaxed. Which is a good bargain! How I use FIA ------------- First, I don't use it on the computer. I want to enjoy it like a TV show. So what I have done is, I have converted all 52 episodes from WMV (Windows Media) to MPEGI (to ensure compatibility with my DVD player). I burnt all the episodes (3 DVDs) on the DVD disc as a DATA-disc, and have also copied over ALL the MP3 audio to the DVDS as well. Each episode is organized in it's own folder with it's corresponding video and audio files. So what I do is, pop in the DVD disc, goto the lesson folder, and watch the show on my wide-screen. After I am done watching, then I will go into the same folder and start playing the audio files. BTW, look up Net Transport, it will be helpful if you're want to save the videos. ;) -- which you are actually allowed too, because in their text they encourage public copying of the videos off TV/air. However, I do not know if this is relevant to streaming media over the net, but they DO encourage copying of it. It's nice to get away from the computer every now and then when you study your language. As I watch the program, on my coffee table I have all the books laid out and ready to go after I watch the episode. Then with the same DVD, I turn toward the audio files in the same folder and start doing the lessons. I love working this way with FIA, because it puts French in a medium that I am already used to watching in -- TV. It's also nice to have the boost of surround sound-speakers helping with audio, and the size of a large TV helping with entertainment, looking at subtledies and other visual clues. I'll usually do about TWO episodes per day MAX. I usually save FIA for 1. Starting my French Day 2. Ending my French Day. FIA can be a great motivator to get you learning French on those days where you are just bored and don't feel like touching it. Just watching an episode (even if you do not do the other portions) is great exposure, versus nothing. It is also a great way to end the day by watching a lesson, and it's a great feeling to end the day knowing you are understanding these lessons. Personally, I use FIA to start my French day and 'get me in the mood.' It's also great just for casual watching and language-maintenance. It's also really entertaining, and once you start getting deep into the story, you will find watching FIA no different than watching any other conventional soap opera/drama, you might find yourself so interested in the show itself, that you might start neglecting your audio lessons to move ahead with the video. ;) I have been guilty of this a few times. Another good thing with FIA that you should do is also watch episodes over again, the trick with FIA is, you will actually get better and your comprehension will go up the more you return back to old episodes and watch them again. Sometimes you may watch for the first time and THINK you understood everything, watch a few episodes after, return to the first one and realize how much real detail you actually missed the first time around. Anyhow long post, but I haven't really seen any threads that discuss the details/structures of FIA itself and the usage of it's texts. Hope this can help, I absolutely LOVE this program, it is by far my MOST favourite program out there. I just hope some language publishers will wake up and get the clue that the Capretz method is one of the most effective methods out there. Good luck. 28 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Instruct1 Groupie United States Joined 6435 days ago 84 posts - 85 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, French | Message 2 of 72 24 November 2007 at 1:31pm | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for your review. For me the information is very useful.
How is the resolution quality of the episodes on your television? The reason I ask is, even when playing the original WMV files in Windows Media Player on my computer at full screen, fuzziness in the video starts to appear. Almost to the point of making the videos unenjoyable to watch at full screen. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6536 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 3 of 72 24 November 2007 at 1:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm actually willing to shell out the $500 if the video is well-made. I'm sort of hesitant from it being made in the 80s. Is it really cheesy?
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| erinserb Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 7194 days ago 135 posts - 144 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 72 24 November 2007 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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FIA is truly the best representation of a quality self-study program. Monsieur Capretz is a true genius, and considering this was done back in the 80's, the program is of such quality that it transcends time. When a language course does that, you know that it is worth doing. I try to watch an episode everyday, even though I am enrolled in a self-study French course through university.
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| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6355 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 72 24 November 2007 at 2:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the detailed descrip, Xtremelingo.
Could you tell us how much French you knew before you started using FIA? And how much French would you recommend that someone know before starting? If there is no English translation of the transcript ala Assimil (which is the whole idea of its total immersion concept, I'd guess), I cannot imagine that a complete beginner could get anything out of it. One sure couldn't answer questions if he didn't know what the questions were, etc. Edited by TerryW on 24 November 2007 at 2:25pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6548 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 6 of 72 24 November 2007 at 9:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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Excellent summary, xtremelingo. Thanks!
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| xtremelingo Trilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6285 days ago 398 posts - 515 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Punjabi* Studies: German, French, Arabic (Written) | Message 7 of 72 25 November 2007 at 5:55am | IP Logged | ||
Instruct1,
Unfortunately, the resolution isn't the greatest but it is tolerable. I find the resolution very similar to what I see on my computer, not much of a difference. So if you're okay with it on the computer, then you should be ok with it on the TV. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| xtremelingo Trilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6285 days ago 398 posts - 515 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Punjabi* Studies: German, French, Arabic (Written) | Message 8 of 72 25 November 2007 at 6:04am | IP Logged | ||
The videos are not worth $500. It is a good program, but $500 for something you consciously know you can get for free may make you feel ripped off later. You can easily download the WMV files using NetTransport. From there, how you decide to watch it (computer or TV) is up to you. But I wouldn't spend $500 on it. As for the 'cheesiness' factor, the musical interludes are very 80's, the quality of picture does look older and the video editing does look more primitive compared to what you would see now, but at the time it was made, it was quite innovative. People are also dressed very 80's as well, these are the few differences I guess you will have to get used too, particularly those from younger generations may have a harder time coping with the 'old feel' of FIA. I hope they can make more FIA style language programs for other languages as well. Given all the advancement in digital video technology, internet/computers, building something like FIA again from scratch should be significantly easier. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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