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Rating: 
Summary: Has Its Uses
Review: The bad news (which really should be obvious anyway) is that there is no conceivable way that this CD could teach you enough French to sound like anything other than an idiot in the time it takes to fly from New York to Paris... or even (to paraphrase another reviewer) from New York to Mars. The good news, though, is that this little CD is not without some usefulness if you forget that "in-flight" stuff. I have been using it to back up a solid text on elementary French as a way to check up on my pronunciation and accent, help with training my ear for listening to French, and as general support during car rides, etc. The lessons are quick and painless, easy to navigate through, thus excellent for reviewing while stuck in traffic. Utterly insufficient for service as the backbone of any independent study of conversational French, this could still prove useful as a supplement and an initial filler for the gaps inherent to text books.
Rating: 
Summary: Crash Landing
Review: The blurb on the back of the package claims that if you work on this programme during your flight, you will learn enough of the language to get by. Unless your flight will be equal in length to a flight to Mars, you will certainly not be able to absorb enough of this 60-minute course to even nearly get by. This is a CD "update" to Fast & Easy French (also by Living Language). In-Flight French boasts over 400 essential words & phrases (a 100 word increase from Fast & Easy). Less is sometimes better. Each phrase on In-Flight is only spoken once (rather than twice as on the Fast & Easy series), not enough if you want to gauge your progress. The native speakers are for the most part speaking clearly, but WAY too fast. It comes with a "boarding pass"(booklet with the entire script). If you are already familiar with the language, the In-Flight series might actually get you up to speed in between the in-flight movie & the meal (soda pop & peanuts). If you are trying to learn French, try Pimsleur's French I thru III (expensive but effective). Pimsleur French has 30 lessons in each unit, and will get you SPEAKING (the course is audio only) straight away. Pimsleur is by far the best course available. If you are short on time and need a "survival" course, get Language/30 French (by Educational Services Corp). Language/30 comes with 2 tapes and a booklet. If Fast & Easy French is still available, it is better than In-Flight French. The truly serious language learner will be wise to go through all 3 Pimsleur courses and finish up with Living Language Ultimate French Level I & II.
Rating:
Summary: Has Its Uses
Review: While this CD and booklet are not going to have you speaking fluent French to Pierre as soon as you land in Paris, it will help you to master some of the basic survival phrases and prounounciations. I also had purchased a phrase book and carried that around on our trip to Paris, which everyone probably needs to do, but being able to hear the words on this CD, "In-Flight French", was very helpful to us.
The title-"In Flight French"-is kind of deceiving though--I would not recommend waiting until you get on the plane to listen to it! There are 18 short (2-5 minute) lessons and I found it helpful to listen and repeat the phrases for just one lesson at a time while in the car, driving to work or whatever. If you run through the CD 3 or 4 times before your trip and really concentrate on the prounounciations and the basic phrases, and take a good phrase book to carry around with you in France, you can have a very enjoyable time on your trip to France and should be able to get around easily.
Rating: 
Summary: Great overview of French basics
Review: While this CD and booklet are not going to have you speaking fluent French to Pierre as soon as you land in Paris, it will help you to master some of the basic survival phrases and prounounciations. I also had purchased a phrase book and carried that around on our trip to Paris, which everyone probably needs to do, but being able to hear the words on this CD, "In-Flight French", was very helpful to us.
The title-"In Flight French"-is kind of deceiving though--I would not recommend waiting until you get on the plane to listen to it! There are 18 short (2-5 minute) lessons and I found it helpful to listen and repeat the phrases for just one lesson at a time while in the car, driving to work or whatever. If you run through the CD 3 or 4 times before your trip and really concentrate on the prounounciations and the basic phrases, and take a good phrase book to carry around with you in France, you can have a very enjoyable time on your trip to France and should be able to get around easily.
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