Rating: 
Summary: Version 8.1 Great Product--but software flaws with Win XP
Review: My daughter (age 12, and fixated on all things French) has been trying to learn French through a variety of media--workbooks and audiotapes, Muzzy videos, textbooks, none very stimulating--so I bought this CD for her to try.
First, let me start with the software itself: it was real discouraging when I first installed the French 8.1 Deluxe edition--kept getting error messages about MicServer Pass (error 26). Had to shut down probably 30 times the first few hours of use. Finally determined that there seemed to be some kind of conflict with other programs/graphics on my system--primarily a Japanese Hello Kitty screen saver installed. ALSO, I learned that you just can't click that mouse as fast as you'd like in the Play/Record mode, because if you click faster than, say, a 5 sec increment, the system freezes. I assume it's because the program just isn't developed enough to handle incoming audio recognition and cursor commands while simulataneously processing video/graphics/data transmission. Well, what do you expect, it didn't cost that much to begin with. So I have learned to slow my mouse clicking down a bit. In addition, I highly recommend you run AdAware, Spybot, and some kind of Utilities Clean-up/Fix program before installing this--and do what the installation instructions suggest, END all other programs running in the background. Finally, I would say that the less processes you have running while you are using this feature, the better! About the program itself: I learned French in middle school, as well as 1 semester in college. (I also have a total of 3 years high school/college Spanish experience). So, based upon my knowledge of foreign languages, and the varieties of media I have used--the classroom, workbooks, textbooks, videos--I would say this software is the most entertaining method of learning a language. My daughter, who has NO foreign language experience, says this system of language learning works best for her, thus far. This program--although not labeled so, take my word for it--is designed for conversational French. The strengths in this program are the French speakers and their pronounciation. Their phrases are short and to the point. In the beginning, the phrases are everyday phrases and the key to learning them is saying them over and over again; basically, MIMICRY [the accompanying 184-page reference book is just a written form of all the narrative you hear on the software, it is NOT a workbook or dictionary]. I told my daughter DO NOT RUSH through this, stick with the same lesson for at least a week. There are optional grammar notes for those interested or for those (like me) who never paid much attention to grammar exercises in school, but they are not the key to learning. After all, you don't see young children reading grammar books and they can speak quite well. The voice recognition feature is not entirely accurate (I said ba-ba-ba-ba into the mic once and it gave me an excellent rating!) but it provides enough feedback so my daughter feels like she is making progress, mainly by copying the French speakers. It trains the ear to recognize French sounds. As you go on in this program, you can pace yourself when things get a bit more challenging. Some of the phrases don't have much to do with everyday life, but they tend to teach the repetition/variation of common phrases over and over again, so it builds on the foundation. Using the program myself, I can determine where I am rusty. Also, I see my daughter decide (by herself and by the automatic scoring) where she needs to go back and review. The interactive functions--visual, written and verbal--really help reinforce what you've learned. I would think that if one continued with the entire program and put as much effort into it as in a class--say, at least 1/2 hour a day up to 1 hour a day on weekends--then, by the end of the CD course one would be quite confident and fairly proficient at speaking and understanding spoken French, or the written level used by a daily newspaper in France.
Rating:
Summary: bonjour!
Review: okay okay- i don't totally know french yet, i am just fronting- but really this program had helped me ALOT, i love it- the conversations for me are not slow, maybe it depends on your computer. i love how it rates your accent, had movies about the different regions, had awesome special interest internet courses that you can download...it really is a great resource to start to learn french, for me well worth the money...i practise on it all the time...i am still going to take a course, even as good as this program is, i don't think you can totally learn french using just this, or just anything else, to learn a language takes a whole lot... funny thing though, i wanted to kill that dog also! yeah but in summation, i think this is the best language learning product around, go for it...
Rating: 
Summary: Don't even think about buying this!
Review: Okay, so I read all the reviews, but I thought I could make it work. (I use Windows 98, and most of the problems were with 2000.) I couldn't, and I couldn't uninstall it except by brute force. It installed (I even tried the clean install, putting QuickTime into safe mode, and their other suggestions), but when I tried to open the program, it shut down and gave me an error message ("LTS caused a divide error"). After waiting 10 minutes for telephone tech support (my nickel) and explaining, the guy says, "Yeah, it doesn't work. Give us your disk number and we'll contact you when it is fixed." The most recent file in the program is dated 3/2/2000--if they haven't fixed it by now, I don't have much hope. Anyone should be ashamed to sell such a product.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't work with Windows NT or 2000!
Review: purchased this to spruce up my pronunciation but found that this version doesn't work with Windows 2000; however, I've now ordered version 8.1 which, supposedly, does work on my platform and will write another review after I've received and tried it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: This company claims to be able to teach 2 years of French by buying their CD. It sounds like a lot of fun having access to Internet lessons, study plan, pronunciation gauge. I have owned this CD for two years. This company keeps changing its website address thus rendering the software obsolete since the day I bought it. The pronunciation gauge works only sometimes and I have yet to be able to join in on any of the promised activities. I have contacted them and I am told to "be patient". Do not buy this!
Rating: 
Summary: The best course yet!
Review: This course was very helpfull in helping me to learn French. I have purchased many French learning software and this is the best one yet. I really like the conversation CD where you are able to conversate with people at a party and they answer according to what you say out of the given list of options. This course started out very basic and is helping me to work my way up. The dictionary is helpfull also.
Rating:
Summary: We can learn to speak French with Windows 2000 NOW
Review: This is a great product! It NOT ONLY works with Win 95 and 98, BUT ALSO with Windows 2000 NOW. Login www.elanguage.com to download the patch for Windows 2000.
Rating: 
Summary: Learn to Speak French 7.0 and 8.0
Review: This is a great product, but watch out! It only works with Win 95 and 98, not with Win 2000. I called Mattel's helpline twice and both times they said that they don't offer a patch anytime soon. If you have Win2000, it cannot be installed at all!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Value
Review: This program is excellent value for the money. It provides a huge amount of material which will bring you up to the equivalent of a first year college French course at least on a conversational level. Previously, it did not work with Windows 2000, but there is now an easy to install patch. If you are thinking of travelling to France and have about 2 - 3 months to get through the course, this will provide you a basic level of French for getting around. I know, because that is what I did.
Rating:
Summary: Fair course
Review: This softer in his 8.01 version havent worked in my windows 98 system and neither in the Windows Me version. Of course the problem probably was with Microsoft not with The Learning Company. After a fast answer from the excellent support team, the program is running well. Sometimes it is boring but I have not seen any regular class or book or softer that have excited me in learning a new language. It is good for begginers and usefull for intermediate students. The only relly boring part of the program is the stupid bird that I cannot delete. It is really fair for the price. The rest is with you, like learning anything in this world. Sit and study. Not only with this course but with with anything you can grab.
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