Berlitz Rush Hour French

Rating:
Summary: Horrible music!
Review: The music and songs on this are corny and insipd.

Rating:
Summary: Berlitz Rush Hour French
Review: The songs may be corny but they stick in your head and don't leave!! Whenever I couldn't remember something, the song would pop into my head and remind me so I guess this way of learning French really works. I've tried some other tapes with just a person talking and I felt these didn't work that well. I'm using Rush Hour French to learn some French before my trip to France and the first 5 lessons are very helpful. The lessons are a storyline following Jon and Jacqueline as she helps him learn French. The first five lessons deal with numbers, greetings, telling time, colors, articles of clothing and personal care items, food, weather, methods of transportation, train schedules, days of the week, months, seasons, ordering at a restaurant, all of which were very helpful. The sixth lesson deals with talking on the telephone and the French alphabet which I don't think will be helpful for a trip but certainly helpful if you are learning French just to learn it. The seventh lesson is entitled Around the Neighborhood and this is also very useful for my trip. It deals with the post office, bank, library, bakery, directions and how much something would cost. After that I thought that the lessons deteriorated. The songs were sappy and while some of the information was useful--rooms in a house, furniture, relatives, and information about choosing a place to visit--it could have been done in a better way. The last lesson revolved around two people deciding where to go on a date and the song was unbelievable. Dance with me, move with me, feel the heat, kiss me now (glad my daughter wasn't with me when I first heard it!!). I probably won't need that information in France! I know they were trying to keep the continuity in the storyline but it was very corny. I gave this 4 stars because up until the last lesson I felt it was an excellent way to learn French and, since the songs are so catchy, something that will stay with you unlike the normal boring tapes or CDs with a person speaking French and you just repeating it.

Rating:
Summary: Ables one to learn quickly
Review: This was a great program to begin with. After the first "show" I wanted to hurt myself and get my money back. I was irritated by the songs and how quickly the program passed over words and left me feeling stupid for not catching everything. I repeated the lessons and the songs gradually got stuck in my mind and I found myself actually getting basic words and phrases. The french on the tape seem alot friendlier than ones Ive met, so hopefully the Jacquelines of France are that nice and patient for when I arrive...

Rating:
Summary: Ables one to learn quickly
Review: This was a great program to begin with. After the first "show" I wanted to hurt myself and get my money back. I was irritated by the songs and how quickly the program passed over words and left me feeling stupid for not catching everything. I repeated the lessons and the songs gradually got stuck in my mind and I found myself actually getting basic words and phrases. The french on the tape seem alot friendlier than ones Ive met, so hopefully the Jacquelines of France are that nice and patient for when I arrive...