French II

Rating:
Summary: A complete review of its predecessor
Review: After completing the first level of Pimsleur French I had high hopes for this series; that was until I began using the level ii and realized that it's nothing but a revamped version of their first level. It teaches very little new phrases and vocabulary (as other reviewers have already mentioned) and progressed at an unbearingly slow pace.

The organization of this level is nearly non-existent. You'll go from talking to a friend about vacation plans to complaining about how your car isn't working. Another annoyance is that it is not consistent with the use of the "tu" and "vous" forms. Most of the lessons are conducted in the "vous" form and then near the tenth lesson they throw in "tu" forms of verbs. This is great, as the "tu" form is being used more and more often in France, espeacially among the younger crowd such as myself. Unfortunately the "tu" form is not used until about five lessons later.

The repetition method also is neglected in this level. What new phrases are taught to you are taught in one lesson and never to be seen again for another five lessons or so. The lesson will jump back and forth between new phrases and phrases mastered in previous units, indeed previous levels. Perhaps this is good for some who didn't quite master the first level of the series or those who don't bother to repeat the units (which later on I found became necessary).

Overall I would suggest that you don't buy this kit new but find it used elseware (either from Amazon or another retailer). It has its good points as an enhancement or add-on to the first unit but offers nothing in additional vocabular and phrases for those people who have a good grasp on their French.

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful and enjoyable
Review: Having had high school and college French 40 years ago, I realy had no working knowledge remaining. I first tried the Michel Thomas course which was of help, but did not go far enough. I am now halfway through Pimsleur French II and will continue with III. Like another reviewer, I recommend using the pause button when you can't immediately come up with the proper response. I also find it helpful to often repeat a lesson.

Having said that, I feel that I will be able to converse in a rudimentary fashion when we travel to France this summer. Not only that but the courses are fun. My neighbors probably think I have lost my mind as I jabber in French while walking my dog, but it is working!

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful and enjoyable
Review: Having had high school and college French 40 years ago, I realy had no working knowledge remaining. I first tried the Michel Thomas course which was of help, but did not go far enough. I am now halfway through Pimsleur French II and will continue with III. Like another reviewer, I recommend using the pause button when you can't immediately come up with the proper response. I also find it helpful to often repeat a lesson.

Having said that, I feel that I will be able to converse in a rudimentary fashion when we travel to France this summer. Not only that but the courses are fun. My neighbors probably think I have lost my mind as I jabber in French while walking my dog, but it is working!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for speaking and listening skills
Review: I am living and working in France (company business is conducted in English though) and have listened to these recordings while riding the metro to work and occasionally at home. I don't speak out loud with the recordings as Pimsleur suggests when I'm in a public place but instead try to use an inner voice. As a result, I probably don't speak as well as I should given the time investment, but I have been surprised by how much I understand when listening to others. I can't always respond properly when spoken to, but I often understand what others are saying and can usually make some kind of basic but appropriate response if the other person has a little bit of patience (unfortunately for anyone trying to practice their French, many French people know English and will switch if you seem to be struggling).

Pimsleur French I focuses on the formal form of address, but French II devotes a fair amount of time to the familiar form. Tourists and others who are in France for short stays probably don't need to know the familiar form (it doesn't hurt though), but it IS important for anyone who plans to be here for more than a short stay. When I began putting sentences together and speaking with my French co-workers, they oftentimes would suggest that I should use the familiar form with them. Since I was still studying Pimsleur French I at the time, I had a difficult time complying with their requests, but after asking them about the differences between the forms, I understood why it is important. Using the formal form with a co-worker or friend is like referring to them as Mr./Mrs. or sir/madam in English -- okay on a first meeting, but not if you see this person on a daily basis.

Although the Pimsleur series is excellent, I don't think I would have completely understood what I was listening to without supplementing the audio lessons with books that explain grammar rules, spelling, pronunciation, and expand your vocabulary. Listening and speaking (when appropriate) with the Pimsleur series gave me a chance to improve my speaking skills whereas the books are most helpful with writing and reading skills. The audio and book learning would come together at some point though. While listening and responding to the audio recordings, I would often find myself doing more than just mimicking the model speaker because I actually understood the grammatical rules and spellings of the spoken words and sentences.

Rating:
Summary: A good start
Review: I have been a continuous language failure for years, never taking language lessons at school, attending various private lessons and struggling with tapes and CD's. I have lived in French speaking countries (Belgium and France) for 3 years and have learned very little in that time. I even live with a French woman, who I am marrying, so what's my excuse?

Nothing has worked for me.......until now! I do NOT really enjoy working in my spare time, which was part of the problem. Since purchasing the Pimsleur I have actually begun to speak French, since this course does not feel much like work, I have no problem following it.

I do half an hour each day, no paper, no pens and no reading, I just listen. Unlike the previous reviewer who hates the use of "tu", I have found it essential. I have mixed "tu" and "vous" on several occasions and found that no one is ever offended, as they are just so happy for an anglophile to be trying to speak their language. If someone asks you to "tu-te" them and you continue with "vous", this will be taken the same way as persisting in calling someone Mr or Mrs after they have asked you to call them by their first name (as a snub), so I think its considerable presence is valid.

Pimsleur has offered me a life line here. As long as you follow the course exactly, you will learn rapidly, but don't expect too much, as many people do. This will not make you fluent overnight, or even over several months (although you will have survival French within hours), as only being around French speaking people and practising on a prolonged regular basis can achieve that, but it is an excellent start and worth every last cent.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but don't expect miracles
Review: I have been using the series starting from French I about 4 months ago, and I'm at the beginning of French III. I originally bought the course because I was about to move to Geneva, Switzerland, and was in a hurry to learn French, having absolutely no knowledge of French previously. This series is a very good purchase, albeit expensive. At this point I can go to a resaurant and speak to the waiters comfortably, introduce myself, make plans with friends, among other things. I still can't converse comfortably in everyday situations, or understand what's going on on TV, but I find that I can pick up phrases or words here and there. I've taken 3 years of Spanish in high school, and 3 years of German in college, and I'm at about the same level in French already (having forgotten a lot of German and Spanish)

Now, this course does not contain any explanations of grammar, culture, or much in the way of reading. However, if you have ever learned a romance language before, or know English grammar, you would be able to figure out the verb tenses and the correct way to use them (or even conjugate them) pretty easily. In terms of reading, I find it useful to have a dictionary with you while you are doing the lessons. When the course introduces a new word, look it up in the dictionary and see what the word looks like. It also helps with memorizing the word. Regarding one of the previous reviews, about the use of the familiar form, I disagree. I use the familiar form all the time. In fact, before I learned it, my Swiss friend (I met here) was telling me that I was being too formal with him. Plus, toward the end of French II, the lessons begin to focus on the polite form again.

The course is excellent, but one should still proceed slowly. I do each lession at least 2 to 3 times before moving on, twice in the evenings, and once in the shower in the mornings as review. I don't stop the lesson during the pauses to think of the answer because I figure if I truly know it, I would be able to answer within the pause. By the third listen, I can usually answer within the pause.

Don't expect miracles and be realistic. You still need to take time to listen and absorb the materials. However, the course is designed in a way that encourages you to use it. After I listen to the lesson, I usually want to go out and use it immediately, and I characterize myself normally as a shy person. Definitely buy it if you are going to invest the time and need to start using French immediately.

Rating:
Summary: good, but vocabulary is scant and emphasis is misplaced
Review: I have used both the French (through Level II) and Italian (through Level III) versions of the Pimsleur language tapes. Both French and Italian use virtually the same script, and both have virtually the same strengths and shortcomings. Since all the other reviews seem for focus on the strengths, I will add a counter-perspective and discuss the shortcomings. I can live with the very limited vocabulary because a good electronic translator can give you all the vocabulary you need when you get in-country. I recommend the Franklin Bookman "French Professor" translator, which Amazon sells. The Ectaco is good for Italian, also sold by Amazon.

Both series really annoyed me by placing an unwarranted emphasis on the "familiar" forms of speech ("tu" instead of "vous," etc.)which would be appropriate only for talking with very small children, and very close friends. Nobody who buys this series is likely to have very close friends in France, nor of speaking to large numbers of very small French children. My university French course does not teach the familiar forms (the equivalent of "thee" and "thou" in old English) at all because it is unimportant, except to native speakers, and using them offers an unnecessary opportunity to offend someone if used improperly. A tourist or business person would not use "familiar" forms at all. French I (one) doesn't contain familiar forms at all. They creep into the series at about Lesson 8 in French II and persist throughout the remainder of the French II tapes, in a percentage totally out of proportion to their importance to the purchaser.

When I made this same criticism of the Italian II tapes two years ago, a company PR guy (kindly) sent me an email that said something like, "we know you're never going to use familiar forms, but we want you to be 'exposed' to it, just in case you run across them." In years of traveling in France and Italy, I never heard a familiar form used, except in some print and television advertising, where the advertiser is apparently trying to act like family to the customer. Bottom line: the emphasis on familiar forms in the Level II series is disproportionate to actual importance, and is a real waste of time and money, especially in a very expensive series that is scant on vocabulary to begin with. Pimsleur had better things to do with tape space and they wasted it teaching familiar forms instead of vocabulary.

Otherwise, I agree with the comments of the other reviewers that the series is, on the overall, the best that is available, especially if you regularly spend lots of time in your car and can listen every day. If Pimsleur redesigns the series, they need to delete or diminish the emphasis on familiar forms of speech and use that tape space instead for traveler/business relevant vocabulary. I define "relevant vocabulary" as involving trains, planes, automobile rentals, booking hotel rooms, ordering meals in restaurants, finding directions to museums and such, NOT playing tennis . . .

Rating:
Summary: good, but vocabulary is scant and emphasis is misplaced
Review: I have used both the French (through Level II) and Italian (through Level III) versions of the Pimsleur language tapes. Both French and Italian use virtually the same script, and both have virtually the same strengths and shortcomings. Since all the other reviews seem for focus on the strengths, I will add a counter-perspective and discuss the shortcomings. I can live with the very limited vocabulary because a good electronic translator can give you all the vocabulary you need when you get in-country. I recommend the Franklin Bookman "French Professor" translator, which Amazon sells. The Ectaco is good for Italian, also sold by Amazon.

Both series really annoyed me by placing an unwarranted emphasis on the "familiar" forms of speech ("tu" instead of "vous," etc.)which would be appropriate only for talking with very small children, and very close friends. Nobody who buys this series is likely to have very close friends in France, nor of speaking to large numbers of very small French children. My university French course does not teach the familiar forms (the equivalent of "thee" and "thou" in old English) at all because it is unimportant, except to native speakers, and using them offers an unnecessary opportunity to offend someone if used improperly. A tourist or business person would not use "familiar" forms at all. French I (one) doesn't contain familiar forms at all. They creep into the series at about Lesson 8 in French II and persist throughout the remainder of the French II tapes, in a percentage totally out of proportion to their importance to the purchaser.

When I made this same criticism of the Italian II tapes two years ago, a company PR guy (kindly) sent me an email that said something like, "we know you're never going to use familiar forms, but we want you to be 'exposed' to it, just in case you run across them." In years of traveling in France and Italy, I never heard a familiar form used, except in some print and television advertising, where the advertiser is apparently trying to act like family to the customer. Bottom line: the emphasis on familiar forms in the Level II series is disproportionate to actual importance, and is a real waste of time and money, especially in a very expensive series that is scant on vocabulary to begin with. Pimsleur had better things to do with tape space and they wasted it teaching familiar forms instead of vocabulary.

Otherwise, I agree with the comments of the other reviewers that the series is, on the overall, the best that is available, especially if you regularly spend lots of time in your car and can listen every day. If Pimsleur redesigns the series, they need to delete or diminish the emphasis on familiar forms of speech and use that tape space instead for traveler/business relevant vocabulary. I define "relevant vocabulary" as involving trains, planes, automobile rentals, booking hotel rooms, ordering meals in restaurants, finding directions to museums and such, NOT playing tennis . . .

Rating:
Summary: The best way to learn a language
Review: I've used all three Pimsleur French courses. They are by far the best language tapes I've ever used. While I didn't learn enough to understand French radio or TV, it gave me a good basis for the language. I was able to go on and add to my vocabulary by reading French books and magazines and it gave me the confidence to speak to people in French. Learning a new language isn't an overnight project, but I am convinced this is the best way to learn. I'm the kind of person who never went beyond the third lesson in any other tape of cd language course, and these lessons kept me interested (and entertained) enough to go through three levels of 30 lessons each. I wouldn't waste my money on any other course. This is the best

Rating:
Summary: It's topps for understanding and speaking
Review: The Pimsleur Intermediate French has been great for beefing up my listening and speaking ability. I've had 3 semesters of college French and knew everything on the tapes -on paper-. However, I could not have understood and said the things that I can now. It seems that understanding a new language has a lot to do with following the intonation and rhythm of native speakers. Now I can listen to a conversation and actually pick out which words I don't know rather than just understanding the first and last words in each sentence. Worth every penny!