Don't have unrealistic expectations, April 5, 2002

After reading some of these reviews you may be expecting some kind of miracle. You will be disappointed. I give this course five stars, however, because it provides a great deal of information painlessly, in a short period of time.

After eight hours with Michel Thomas you will have a fairly solid command of the present tense and personal pronouns. Possesive pronouns are briefly touched upon, with others receiving even less attention or none at all. You will be able to speak in the future tense using aller: to go. "I am GOING TO buy it tomorrow." He briefly touches upon the real future tense - "I WILL buy it tomorrow" - though the coverage is lacking. His coverage of the past tense is bad, at best. He very briefly discusees the imperfect, but not the passe compose. Without getting into grammar, lets just say you'll need the latter in every day speach, i.e., "I SAW him yesterday."

Michel Thomas likes to say "Don't say it, think it" which happens to be the exact opposite philosophy of the Pimsleur program. With Pimsleur you learn how to speak without having to think out sentence structure, which is exactly how we speak our native tounges. This course is perfect for what it is, however. No other program, Pimsleur included, will have a total beginer speaking so much in so little time. If you are starting with Pimsleur or another program this course is definitely worth buying. After all, we all want to be able to speak the language we're trying to learn, and this will get you off the ground in a short period of time.

I must complain that little emphasis is placed on pronounciation. In fact, no one on the CD is a native speaker. I also have to add that anyone with any experience with the Romance languages - a few years of Spanish, a semester or two of Latin - could probably learn all the grammar taught in this course in about an hour. Don't expect all the complexities of the French language to be made clear after 8 hours. This course is a GREAT introduction, but an introduction is all it is.

Finally - A French Language Course That Works!, November 9, 2000

After attempting to learn French with numerous books and recordings Michel Thomas came to the rescue. This is the most relaxed, enjoyable and effective language method ever created. Michel teaches two students (on the recording) along with you and the results are amazing. You learn to think before you speak and it all makes sense in an amazingly short time. I listen to the CDs every night before I go to sleep. I hope he follows up these excellent CDs with a book to continue the learning experience.

Different and marvellous, December 18, 2004

Prior to using this course, I'd always considered myself somewhat handicapped when it comes to learning foreign languages. What I now realise is that it isn't me, it's the teaching methods I've experienced in the past.

I read another review criticizing this course as "for dummies" and not teaching 100% correct sentence structure. Both may be true, but after having used both the Italian and French courses, I can now make myself understood in both languages. My vocabulary isn't great, but the course cleverly teaches the right words to be able to construct a wide variety of sentences which can be readily understood. I learnt more French with Michel Thomas than I did in three years of study at school.

If you like to learn "parrot fashion", memorizing verb conjugation and vocab, then this course probably isn't for you. If you want to learn in a very easy way without any extra work, to the point where you can get by in the language when on holiday, then I can't recommend this course highly enough.

How to learn French very quickly, December 11, 2004

I have learned French incredibly fast using Michel Thomas' materials.

Having read the reviews of others on this site, I agree that the course doesn't cover more than the basics of the language. However, the reason for this is that this is only first day of Michel's three day course see www.michelthomas.com.

The crux of Mr Thomas' method is on teaching the grammar of the language in a painless way so that at the end of his course you have the entire structure of the language upon which you can add vocabulary.This said Michel does cover the high frequency vocabulary (apparently we have an active vocabulary of only 600 words for day to day use) and he also shows how to convert our English vocabulary into French. In fact, you are encouraged to guess from your knowlege of English which words convert to French. Although he does have a strict rule against guessing for the grammar rules he tests.

In this first 8 hour course you get the present tense, expressing the future using 'going to', a small introduction into the past tense (imperfect). Using the auxillary verbs 'could' and 'want' so that you don't have to conjugate the verb that follows etc.

Previous reviewers have complained that they wanted more. I agree with them. This course on it's own isn't enough for you to learn French it only gives you a grounding, but a very strong one. It is outstanding when you compare it to anything else available on the market. It packs a big punch for your buck!

The follow-up course is now available, but only in the UK for some reason. You can easily get hold of it on www.amazon.co.uk it is called 'Michel Thomas Advanced French'. This five hour course finishes off what the 8 hour course started. By the end you have covered the verb conjunctions in the present tense including the major irregulars, the compound past tense (also when to use avoir and when to use etre for the compound tense), the imperfect tense, future tense, conditional and the subjunctive. In otherwords, you will have the entire structure of the French language. You will be able to come up with sentences like 'If you had called me this morning and if you had told me that you were going to arrive today I would have waited for you and we would have dined'. I was amazed that I had got to this level so quickly.

When you have finished the advanced course I would recommend that you get hold of a copy of the next two hour course 'Michel Thomas French language builder'. I don't think this is available on the US site but again you can easily acquire it on the UK Site. This will develop your vocabulary and use of French expressions.

As you now have the structure of the French language under your belt you need to add words, words and more words. Get hold of the Vocabulearn CDs. They are cheap and will give you a huge vocabulary if you stick at them.

Finally if you want to perfect your French get hold of an out-of-print copy of Madrigals Magic Key to French. I learned Spanish using her Spanish version. The French one is excellent too. Pay whatever you have to in order to get hold of a copy, it is worth its weight in gold as it will give you the French language. In fact, if you buy all of these materials you will have learned French for only a few hundred dollars, when you compare this with years in night school and not to mention all of your wasted time, these materials are cheap.

It then only remains for you to go to a French-speaking country to practise.

I hope these tips will help you with your introduction to the very beautiful French language.

Bon chance!

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, October 29, 2004

I purchased the 8cd set late last year and have been listening to it off & on ever since on my long commutes to & from work. I continue to be amazed at how much I've picked up from this course. mercis infiniment Michel! ma m?e ?Nantes est tr? heureuse!! :)

French That You Remember, October 20, 2004

By the end of this 8 CD course, you will recall phrase and sentence building tools that will provide a basis for getting by, as well as the confidence to progress to more intermediate and advanced skills.

Michel Thomas has definitely hit upon a clever technique for making language learning accessible, memorable and less painful.

The CDs help a novice or rusty speaker lay solid foundation for speaking straightaway to the level of confident beginner, as well as preparing for higher level facility in the language.

You must follow the tips suggested for using the material, especially: play them when you're very relaxed; stop and start just as you prefer; and most of all - pause the CD and try to say every phrase he has asked his students to attempt. Your brain will hurt if you're a beginner - but you'll progress rapidly.

As for the two students you learn with in real time: the guy on the CDs is fairly sharp and you feel he could be a strong French speaker in time. The woman is a disaster - as dumb as a doorknob that was dropped on its head as a child. Her meaningless participation impairs the course.

Repeat the whole course or individual CDs to consolidate the skills you picked up on the first run through.

DO NOT buy the 2 CD Introductory `Speak French' Short Course. Such courses are so superficial they are nothing to do with language learning. Buy this 8 CD one (the first 2 CDs of which are the Intro. Short course anyway).

It is then worth moving onto the next two in the series, where Michel Thomas builds on what he has covered with you before:

French Language/Vocabulary Builder by Michel Thomas (2 CD)

Advanced French by Michel Thomas (a 5 hour course)