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French in Action - My Review | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| zxxxz Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6477 days ago 25 posts - 27 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Italian | Message 25 of 72 03 December 2007 at 5:11am | IP Logged | ||
Complete French transcript & English translation for the entire video for lessons 2 - 13 are available at: http://www.mchenry.edu/faculty_pgs/ecorneli/digitalwarpaint/ html/fre151/fre151assign.html 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tpark Tetraglot Pro Member Canada Joined 7048 days ago 118 posts - 127 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Dutch, French Personal Language Map | Message 26 of 72 06 December 2007 at 4:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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My wife and I had watched up to lesson 30 or so, and it's possible to get quite a bit out of FIA video without the book. I purchased the book and it clarified the things that were unclear without the book. It may be worthwhile to purchase the audio discs for the course, but I think I'll exhaust the other learning materials I have first.
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| Mike82 Newbie United States Joined 6738 days ago 14 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English* | Message 27 of 72 07 December 2007 at 2:21am | IP Logged | ||
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I don't know if this was posted before, but you can watch all the episodes at
http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html ... you have to sign up though, but it's free. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| johnL Newbie United States Joined 6685 days ago 29 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 28 of 72 14 December 2007 at 1:26am | IP Logged | ||
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An excellent review/ad/endorsement of an excellent program!
I really have to agree, get ALL the materials; you won't regret it. (Although I really have to say, the Study Guide is really optional. It contains a few tidbits of useful info, but mostly it just says "Do this exercise. Now do this exercise. Now do the next exercise." After all, the exercises ARE numbered! If you can't figure out to do them in order, you won't get very far whether you have the Study Guide or not!) The books and audio materials can be had for much less than retail by buying from a variety of sources online. The videos are available in many locales on PBS and in libraries, and a resourceful person who looks really hard online can find them for rent to students. I don't really understand the post about different versions of the audio materials; as far as I know they only made one. But you definitely want the 2nd edition of the print materials. And to the question about how can a beginner understand the French-only lessons, I have to say, it's amazing how easy it is to understand and learn what they're doing! That was what attracted me to FIA in the first place: It's like a puzzle, or a game. (And if you like that aspect of it, you might not want the Study Guide; it tells you in English what's going on in the story!) It's fascinating how you can watch these people speaking a foreign language and understand what they're saying!!! (An interesting note: In the workbook, the first few lessons have the instructions in English. But starting with lesson 6, even the instructions are in French!!! But, of course, it's pretty easy to figure out what to do. It's a great course!) Edited by johnL on 14 December 2007 at 11:48am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| magictom123 Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5595 days ago 272 posts - 365 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 29 of 72 13 February 2010 at 10:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have just discovered this course and although I am learning Italian I am interested in
the immersion approach to language learning. I have watched the first two episodes but dont have the books and audio tapes. Since this thread is a few years old, have any of you guys and gals finished the course now and to what level of french did this course take you. I have a lot of free time and so picking up this course is something I could probably fly through in a few months if I felt like, and since assimil has a greater selection of courses in french, it would be nice to learn it (aside of course from the fact french sounds great and I have been there quite a few times and love the country) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4911 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 30 of 72 03 August 2011 at 3:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have just purchased the FIA DVD's, and then found this thread. I have watched 3 episodes with my son who is 13 and struggling with French in school. I myself have only just started learning French.
One aspect which hasn't been mentioned is that there are a few key words which are strongly emphasized in each lesson, and repeated in a number of contexts. As the intro episode states, a word can be used in a large number of contexts, so the approach of the programme is to help you to recognize the word in action. So, in the first episode one word is pressé; the word is said as the girl is hurrying, while another person is rushing along, etc. This is why you don't actually need a translation. Unfortunately, you can't watch the videos online from outside north america. The DVD's are available from amazon.com for a pretty low price compared to the official website, but as far as I can tell the discs are legit. The audio CD's are incredibly expensive, however, and I can't afford them. My verdict so far is that the course is really helpful. Although it is somewhat dated, you get over that quickly, and the quality is very good. My son enjoys watching the videos, and it has motivated both of us to keep learning. I'm not sure, however, how good the videos alone will be once we get past the beginner episodes. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5567 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 31 of 72 03 August 2011 at 4:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well - I have been learning French for a while but I recently started FIA in its full mode (videos, textbook, audio, workbooks, etc) and it is really an excellent course for the self learner.
After episode 6 the grammar exercises in the workbooks are entirely in French. I personally am of the school of thought that grammar points are best explained in the learner's native language and not in the target language, but that aside the grammar explanations and exercises in the workbook are thorough without being academic and the exercises (which are a more modern version of the FSI style pattern drills) really get the language working. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| johnL Newbie United States Joined 6685 days ago 29 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 32 of 72 03 August 2011 at 7:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Like many people, I initially thought the Study Guide was irrelevant, but it does explain many of the grammar points (and other things) in English. I was kind of disappointed to find that it's in English (What happened to the idea of "immersion, no English"?) but sometimes it helps.
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