ImmersionPlus

French

By: Penton Overseas Inc.

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The ImmersionPlus series of original vignettes has been created especially for the intermediate to advanced foreign language students who want to improve their foreign language comprehension.

Each ImmersionPlus program consists of a variety of entertaining dialogues introduced briefly in English, and then spoken entirely in the target foreign language. The vignette is first heard at a normal conversational rate, then at a slower rate to aid comprehension. The same dialogue is then repeated at the normal conversational rate used by native speakers.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2002 Penton Overseas, Inc. (P)2002 Penton Overseas, Inc.

not perfect for download only

I have mixed feelings about this. The idea of having conversations at normal speed interspersed with conversations spoken more slowly is great. And a quick 5-10 minutes listening to all three is a great little fillip for someone working on French.

But the thing seems to have started life as a CD plus booklet (it's available for only slightly more money at Amazon). And the booklet apparently contains a translation, and perhaps a text of the French as well. Given that this product is clearly for self-study, both the lack of both those features is a serious disadvantage.

That said, I think the product is useful, and good value. Except in a car I have no interest in those programs that require you to say "bonjour" after they say "bonjour".

Yes, this really is useful

You learned French in school and it's been XX years since you had to crank it up... this will remind you and renew your investment in the language. You'll hear conversations about all kinds of everyday stuff, with no English help except for a few words to introduce the general subject. That's good! Set your chosen digital device to wake you up puzzling this stuff out every day. If you need to brush up on more than one language, check out the other "Immersions" and experience the same conversation in many languages!!!

An excellent refresher

I was able to remember all the verbs and familiar phrases by listening to this audibook. I was able to pick up a few more phrases and immediately get comfortable with the speed of the conversation the second time. This audiobook is definitely NOT for beginner!

Advanced

Not for beginners or the weak hearted. A very useful tool for those wishing to advance their listening and comprehension skills.

Whoa

So if you'd like to re-create the conversation that you might overhear on a Parisian street, then this might be a great listen for you. But, if you're like me, its a bit of blur even though I've had many years of instruction (many years ago). There's no hard copy to accompany the audio (to make sense of things), as I'm sure that I know many of the words but am having trouble (probably) with the pronunciation. If you're looking for a brush up, then this might work. Otherwise, I'm not so sure that this book is the best option and I?d recommend a hard copy accompaniment.

Dull conversations

If you can't understand this, thank your lucky stars. The speakers are stilted and the topics are so boring that I kept finding myself spacing out. Marge and Jim go to a bad pizzeria! Bill and Steve go fishing! Joe and Dwayne play golf! The women cook for their men, go to the mall, and gossip. The men talk about drinking beer and watching the game. Get the picture? There was nothing identifiably French about these people - instead it was sexist good ole boy stuff from the fifties. In concept, it's a great idea, and the French was clearly spoken, but the material was just plain annoying.