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| From: Auralog
List Price: $295.00
Buy New: $209.99
You Save: $85.01 (29%)
New (4) from $209.99
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 3721
Format: Cd-rom
Platform: Windows
Media: CD-ROM
Operating System: Windows
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 9.5 x 1.8
MPN: 7-002-1234
Model: 7-002-1234
ISBN: 2749011000
UPC: 893416001729
EAN: 9782749012148
ASIN: 2749011000
Release Date: June 2, 2006
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Promotion: Save $10.00 when you spend $50.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout. Terms and Conditions
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-6 of 6
 Excellent product when you get it figured out.... July 25, 2008
G. McNeil (Spokane, WA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I almost did not get this product after reading some of the reviews, but Rosetta Stone was boring and did nothing for me. So, I gave this a try. I agree with the reviewers who say the documentation is weak. It does jump right in and can be discouraging at first. But, once I figured out how to use it, it is great. I love the way it leads you to the grammer, pronouncation and translations. I am going to have fits with verbs, but that's me.
I have finished about half of "Complete Beginner" and actually feel I have it down. The various learning modules really help in and out of context. Hearing a word or phrase and having to type it out is the toughest, and most helpful, drill I have come across. The ablility to practice pronouncing words and phrases with feedback have me speaking well enough to be understood by a lovely french lady I happen to know.
I recommend this product, as it is working for me. Just take your time when starting out, press "translation" to see the english portion, and click on "words" to get any word to practice it alone. It slowly builds understanding and usage at a comfortable pace. One more note. Do not get overwhelmed when looking at grammer/verbs. It gives a complete explanation and can be too much at once. Just get the part you need and move on. I promise you, you will be visiting this section a lot, over and over (at least I do). I still hate irregular verbs in any language.
UPDATE Sept. 27, 2008. I have now finished "Complete Beginner" and "Beginner". I am 3/4 the way through "Intermediate". I still recommend this product. In fact, I have contacted the manufacturer to upgrade to the 10 CD version (no update available, but they gave me a discount to purchase it outright).
My french is progressing at a nice pace. I have enough of it in my head to feel comfortable in getting by in France. Talking with people is so much easier then talking to the computer. I thought it would be the other way around, as the computer will use the same words over and over, but the face-to-face allows gestures, pointing, slowing down, etc. So much easier to be understood.
One of the things I suggested for future releases is the ablility to slow down the computer to really hear the words. Auralog did respond to my suggestions. They commented that the reason they did not include this feature is to allow the student to hear french at a normal speaking pace. Slowing it down would be counter-productive. Well, OK. I did not think of that. It is true that I am becoming comfortable "at speed" and sometimes slow talkers (happens when they figure out you are new at it) are actually harder to understand.
I am happy with my progress so far. The program does work. I have been told I have a "slight American accent" and the effort I have put into the language is noticable. I do not know if people are being nice to a beginner, but I am happy, and can be understood.
 Not worth the investment September 2, 2008
BluesWest
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've been struggling with this software off and on for the last couple of years and finally realized it's not worth either the time or money I've spent on it. It has a variety of flaws, but here are the major ones:
1) The User Interface is Terrible: The software is Flash-based and the user inteface is totally non-intuitive, violating all of the basic user interface standards used by most Windows-based programs. Double-clicking on commands is not supported, and neither is the Enter key. Every selection requires at least two mouse clicks, making navigating the program a frustrating process.
2) Speech Recogition is Unrecognizable: This feature, which is one of the major selling points of the program, is a complete joke. The software simply cannot reliably distinguish between a correctly-spoken word or phrase and a mangled one. It routinely assigns a low score to samples of my recorded speech - but will then assign a high score to the next sample even though the two samples are sonically identical (both to my ear and according to the displayed waveform). To prove how inaccurate the speech recognition feature is, I deliberately mispoke a variety of words or phrases (by subtituting incorrect consonants, for example) while maintaining the general rhythm of the phrase. The sofware almost always assigned a high score to the mispoken sample.
3) Customer Service is Non-Existent: Since purchasing the software, I have emailed Auralog several times with questions. I received an answer only once - two months after sending the email!
My recommendation is that, if you want to learn some French, don't waste your money on this gimmicky product. Instead, invest in a few good French language books (grammar, vocabulary, and the Barron's verb book), learn the basics, and then find a French language class at your local college or university where you will have the opportunity to practice pronouncation and oral comprehension.
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