Pimsleur French Conversational Course - Level 1 Lessons 1-16 CD: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs

This course has been great so far. I am on lesson 12 of 16 right now. The lessons are only 30 minutes long, and very easy to follow. I was quite suprised at the amount of language retention I have with this course. They don't just have you repeat a bunch of random vocabulary words either. It is structured sentences, which builds on the previous lessons. Just when you think you will forget something from a previous lesson, they ask you to repeat it again so you will remember it. Some of the lessons I have had to listen to several times before I can remember most of what they cover, but that helps me to remember it even better when I try to use it later. I am very impressed with the qaulity and content of this program. The price was great too. You can learn at your own pace, and don't have to worry about being lost if you miss something, because you can always replay the CD to review the information as many times as needed before moving on to the next one. I will definatly look to Pimsleur again when I finish this series to expand my French vocabulary and speaking skills even more.

I have been trying for years to get better in French, but have little time to study other than my commute drive-time, so I have bought and tried virtually every audio CD for French (Berlitz, Instant Immersion, Smart French, Behind the Wheel, and the audio CDs from Rosetta Stone). They all had good and bad points, but I would finish the set (usually going through it at least 2-3 times) with a slightly larger vocabulary, but not feeling like I really made much progress in being able to converse with someone in French. If you have the time and can study French at a computer, Rosetta Stone is probably the best overall. If, like me, you want something you can work on while driving, the Pimsleur course is the best I have found. At first, I wasn't sure about the repetition. It seemed like too much, but now I appreciate that the focused frequent repetition is much more effective than it seemed at first. Instead of trying to expand your vocabulary quickly or trying to get you to conjugate every verb perfectly (like some of the others), Pimsleur is aimed at getting you conversational in French with a usable set of basic syntaxes. Update October 2013. There is one fatal flaw with this product - there is no volume 2 (or any additional volumes). The Pimsleur system is excellent, but this particular product is a teaser. Once you finish this, you want more, but there are no more sets of this. Instead, you need to go with the Pimsleur Comprehensive French package, which is five volumes with many more discs per volume. AND each volume is around $200, so the complete course is around $1000. If you want an excellent introduction to learning French, this is an inexpensive starter kit. HOWEVER, if you think you are ready to make the commitment to learn, skip this and go right to the Pimsleur Comprehensive set, volume 1, which has everything in this product and a lot more.

I really like the conversational French course. I learned French when I was a teen so this is a good refresher. I am a visual person, so I would have liked the conversations written down, but that's not the Pimsleur method. I read the reviews before I purchased the CDs, and one person commented that the booklets mentioned in the CD's are non-existent. I found them on the Pimsleur website, under languages. The CD directs you to Pimsleur.com/booklets, which is incorrect. You can find them though, and download them. I would not try this course if I did not know French already.

I'm at lesson 12 of level 1 now. We'll see how effective this is when I go to Paris in September. I seem to be learning a great deal. Three people are heard on the CDs, a man speaking English who tells the learner what is going on (gives instructions, translates the words presented, gives tips, etc.), and two French speakers, a man and a woman who repeat words, and even syllables, for the learner, have conversations, and who, at lesson 11, start to give instructions in French. There is a great deal of repetition, both of grammar and of pronunciation, and of bringing back material learned earlier to make sure we haven't forgotten. It starts at a very easy level, and gradually we learn how to build sentences of increasing complexity. There seems to be a rhythm that is helpful: a fair amount of new material, followed, just when I am feeling overloaded, with some review of older material that is by now easy and makes me realize I really have learned something. As the sentences are getting longer, I am finding it helpful to use the pause button on the CD player so I have time to think without feeling rushed before the French speaker gives the right answer. As is recommended, working on it every day seems to help my overall learning, even if I have to repeat a lesson. I am so pleased I have ordered the next two levels.

They always say, if you are going to visit Paris, you should try to learn a little French. Even a little, and the dreaded haughty Parisians are much more tolerant and may even trot out their textbook English to help you along. I took a few years of French a looong time ago, and for me this is the perfect program. It helped me to be able to visualize the words I was speaking but have the major focus on the pronunciation. I could remember back into the distant past and envision the spelling as I spoke. Without that distraction, I am able to focus on my pronunciation, which is the most intimidating part of speaking French for me. (All those guttural Rs, and they do not all sound the same....) After going through the 16 lessons on this set, I am really delighted with what I have learned and retained. So much so that I want to learn more...but more on that later. Pimsleur seems to be pushing their software programs more these days. I really wanted audio CDs. The 1/2-hour lesson format is perfect for my work commute. There are no written materials, it's all about how the words sound, and that worked really well for me. I feel like I have enough French to get along for a relatively brief visit, and to impress my traveling companions who, I am confident, will not have nearly as much French in their brains as I will. The downside for me has absolutely nothing to do with this particular product but rather with how Pimsleur markets their programs. This set of 16 lessons is very reasonably priced. When I got to the end I felt like I could use a little more. There is no way to buy lessons 17-32 by themselves, and the cost of 1-32 is several times the cost of 1-16. If you are determined, as I was, to continue with the Pimsleur course, it's worth it to shop around - prices vary widely. However, it's hard not to feel a little used and abused by Pimsleur's marketing strategy. Anyway, I enthusiastically recommend this set for the traveler who wants to pick up some essential French. The program is very thoughtfully designed for that purpose.

Supplement with a French class but not on your own independent study.

I bought this course for my wife to help her review her French. She seems very happy with it. I used the Spanish counterpart of this product from Pimsleur, and it was very quick and easy. I found that I could speak Spanish without even thinking about what I was saying in English. This is definitely the best language instruction method I have ever tried -- and I have tried a few, including a year of Spanish in college. On caveat, the Pimsleur conversational course is designed to teach you how to speak and understand the spoken language. It is not particularly helpful for teaching you how to read and write the language. But if you want to learn to speak the language, this is your ticket. The vendor that I used, Language Secrets, has great prices and they ship quickly. I highly recommend them!

These Pimsleur CDs are a good place to START learning. But with only 16 thirty-minute lessons, you won’t learn enough to survive in a French speaking country. Positives: You get to hear the spoken language and practice saying the words and phrases after the speakers. There is a good level of repetition and phrases from earlier lessons are used in later lessons. I listened to each lesson twice before going to the next lesson. My problems: I am a visual learner. I learn and retain things I see better than things I just hear. The booklet you are supposed to download does not exist. And I only started two months before my trip. That’s more than enough time to finish the CDs. But it is not nearly enough time to learn the basics of speaking a new language. These CDs teach very limited vocabulary. You need additional resources. (A lot of time is spent on asking someone if they want to have lunch, dinner or drinks.)