Berlitz French

Rating:
Summary: Not good if you really want to speak the language
Review: Berlitz is world known for their teaching of foreign languages and their products. Usually anything with Berltiz on it I would recommend. This however is the exception, in all honesty I can't not recommend this to some one who has no experience with French.

I had four years of French in high school, so in preparation of traveling to a French-speaking country, I bought this product. I understand most things in French, however I bought this to improve on my pronunciation. Unfortunately, all this product did was collect dust.

The quality of the tape is poor, I recommend that you find the Berltiz French Course with the CDs or buying a CD-ROM. Especially if you have little or no experience with French and are using it to prepare for a trip to France. Another recommendation might be to sign up for a french course at your local community college for non-credit. Not only will you learn a new language, you will also be more likely to stick to it and meet other people who are interested in the language. This is something that you can't get from a tape recording or a CD-ROM.
I digress.

For people who have never studied the language this is a poor product because it does not repeat pronunciations. Being able to listen, many times if necessary, is key to picking up how to pronounce french properly. After all you may know what you are saying, but the person you are asking directions from in Paris may not.

Rating:
Summary: Berlitz French Cassette Pack
Review: Having used Berlitz book and cassette packs in German, Norwegian, Italian, Spanish and Portugese, I looked forward to studying French in preparation for a trip. However, Berlitz has updated their language presentations with a fucia and purple case instead of the farmiliar yellow box, which no longer includes the handy, quick-referencing,tiny, carry-me-along paper booklet,but only their larger phrase book and dictionary. This was a disappointment. I put in the tape only to find the tape quality had declined and my tape was loosening and binding within the first month of use. I also found lacking the second pronunciation for each phrase on the French tape. This re-enforcement I need to develop my ear and my pronunciation skills in a language. Bring back the old yellow-style boxes, Berlize! You are ruining a good thing!

Rating:
Summary: OK. This is good for a laugh
Review: This set is great if you come from a certain part of the world. If you have red hair, you may be able to even speak German after this CD. Buy it if you birthday is after the 15th of the month.