I don’t often promote products and services on this blog – firstly because people don’t come here to read adverts, and will rush off elsewhere – and second, because there aren’t so many great products that are appropriate to our ‘typical readers’. But today I’m going to break with tradition.
You don’t need to switch off quite yet, because the product I’m going to show you is a ‘learn French online’ program, and it’s free to try – I’m pretty sure a lot of you will think it’s as impressive as I do. You might just thank me!
The biggest problem for both people living in France and those who like to holiday in France is surely the language. Learning French is difficult, and improving your French is always an ongoing challenge. This applies to almost every expat and tourist I can think of (certainly myself included). But there might just be a way to make learning French a bit easier!
Over the years I’ve tried everything – books, tapes, games, online courses, classroom type training, all with different degrees of success. The big problem with most of them is that they aren’t engaging enough, and after a week or a month it is difficult to remain motivated.
A couple of weeks ago I was asked to take a look at a new online course, that uses videos for the language training. Not just boring videos though, they take real footage – news, music videos, interviews etc – in French, of course, and below the video they have the words written in both French and English, so you can listen, and read what you are hearing, at the same time.
Too fast? Slow it down. Missed a word? Rewind the video, over and over if necessary. Need more practice? Play one of the inbuilt games. Great stuff, I promise. And the videos are all rated 1-5 on a scale of difficulty, so you can dive right in at the appropriate level for you.
One thing that perhaps isn’t obvious from looking at the site – there are currently just over 100 videos in the ‘subscibers’ version, so plenty to be going along with, and I understand that more are being added all the time.
Give it a go now at Yabla. Think I’m wrong to recommend it? Think it’s a great product? Whichever, leave your comments below, I’d be interested to see what anyone else thinks about it.
Great find. These are very well done. I try my best to listen to the french news online, listen to french music with lyrics in hand etc… but it is very time consuming to translate them. This takes care of the work for me, but still they are very beneficial. Thanks alot for the link, very helpful.
I saw these awhile ago and wondered if they were any good. I tend to prefer listening to something rather than watching (so you can stick it on your ipod and listen anytime). Have you looked at any French podcasts – there seems to be a few new ones around (some have really annoying music though).
Hi tara,
No I’ve not listened to any french podcasts (or English ones either come to mention it, since I have no presonal stereo or ipod…) but it sounds like a good idea. I prefer a mix of the two eg French TV because the visual clues are useful when I might otherwise lose track (in a fast paced film for example), but I do also find French radio (the information type stations eg Culture rather than music channels) to be quite useful.
This is a great find! Interactive, many accents, love the words in English and French. Thanks for recommending.
I hope this message finds you well! As a follower of your blog, I thought that you and your readers might like to get the first word about a newly launched app, Daphnee. Its an iPhone app that offers interactive French lessons, which unlike those in textbooks, is the kind of French that anyone *remotely hip* would like to speak.
And even if French isn’t really your thing, Daphnee is definitely worth checking out for its visually-stunning footage, which features Anne-Sophie Franck from Inglourious Basterds, and its satirical portrayal of day-to-day scenarios… and who doesn’t want to watch a super cute girl speaking in French?
Feel free to meet Daphnee at http://www.daphnee.tv, or at http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/daphnee-paris/id407762752?mt=8
Afterwards, don’t hesitate to let me know what your thoughts are, I’d love to hear about your experience!
No, I don´t think it is a good method. I don´t see how some body could benefit from this fast talking presenter, if anyone understand what she is saying then he/she doesn´t need buy it, he/she already speaks French fluently..
My two cents.
@Jose, Ok thats your opinion, but can you appreciate that soneone may only be able to undertsand, say, 70% of what she is saying and learn from the other 30% which they don’t. This is how learning progresses. Personally, I think its very well put together, and am considering giving it a try.
Jose, don’t assume that all that is on Yabla is spoken at the speed of Verane Pick’s introduction. There are videos at all conversation speeds and difficulties from one blob (tomato, TV set) to five, and you can slow the speed down. The script is written below the screen in French and in English and you can stop it at any time. At the start of 2012 I think I paid $100 (dollars US) for the year and I doubt if you will find better value.
Incidentally for free stuff look at the blog ‘frenchhelpfinder’. There are lots of free french help-sites available