Posts Tagged ‘modern teaching methods’

It used to be that you had two choices for learning French – go to a night course or buy very expensive (and quite boring) sets of tapes to Learn French at home. Times change though, and now with the advent of the internet and the home PC you have a huge number of choices for French home study courses.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’ve got nothing against French text books. There are some very good ones about that use modern teaching methods and patterns of learning that your brain naturally adopts. They’re much better than when I was a kid and I’ve bought quite a few.

But they can’t compete with modern CDs and the interactive programs that are available. A book can’t really talk to you. You can’t hear a French accent from a book. A French book can pose some questions, but it can’t actually react to your answers, correct you and then give you the opportunity to revise your newly learned French phrase or move on to a new one.

The interactive French teaching software available today can do exactly that. In fact it can do more. Some of them supply French MP3 files that can not only be played on your PC but can also be transferred to your MP3 player or a CD so you have portable French language lessons as well. Obviously you don’t get the full benefit of interactivity your computer will give you, but you can listen in the car, on the train, jogging, whatever takes your fancy – and you didn’t pay any extra for it, it’s all part of the system.

I am generalizing to an extent, of course. Not all interactive French courses are the same, just like not all French CDs or French books are the same. In general, however, they offer a level of ‘playability’ which is more involving and more entertaining and thus educates more quickly and with more retention than a book ever could. I love to sit down and read a good story with a book in my hands, but if I need to learn something like the French language, give me my PC and a software program any day.

If there’s a downside at all, it’s price. Now it’s not possible for me to check every program to learn French at home but the ones I’ve found that do what I want them to – which is teaching French to a reasonable degree of competence and confidence – are considerably more expensive than a $20 book. Having said that, they’re not what I’d call expensive either, considering what you can get from them.

Rocket French for example has MP3 files and interactive lessons for grammar, words, French verbs (quite a complicated area if you’re an English speaker by birth). It also has hundreds, if not thousands, of text files for further reference and the whole lot comes in at around $100. If I was looking to learn French at home, that’s exactly the sort of thing I’d be investing in.

Author: Dennis Cordy
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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There’s no need for learning French to be difficult. OK, it’s not a five minute job, but modern teaching methods have vastly improved the speed you can learn at and one of the great ways to do it is via the French language game.

Even the word sounds more fun doesn’t it! You have French language lessons or courses or you can have a French language game – which would you choose?

They’re not just for kids either – although teaching through play is one of the very best ways for youngsters to learn. Turning learning French into a game can be done by anyone, on their own or as a family, and the results are faster recall and therefore faster understanding.

There are lots of ways to do it too. The best software for learning French will often have games elements to help you learn but we’ll come back to that in a minute. Although it’s obviously a help, you don’t need French language software to start with, you can actually get going for next to nothing.

How about a game for learning French numbers? You can find the French for the different numbers in lots of places online but how do you make the learning fun? Well if you’re doing it as a family how about you associate the numbers with animals; one duck, two pigs, three cats, etc. It wouldn’t be too difficult to print out a few cards with a picture of the animal and the French word by it – oh, and you’re learning the names of the animals at the same time! If you’re on your own, challenge yourself. I used to do it with license plates – just translate whatever number you see to the French equivalent.

You can do the same with basic phrases. There are lots of places online to find free basic French lessons. All you have to do is add a bit of imagination to turn what you find from basic information into a French language game.

It’s much easier in the family situation of course. If all of you are learning together you can do a bit of role playing or find the French words and phrases for things you like to do with your leisure time. On your own it’s not quite so easy but this is where software comes into its own.

We’re lucky now that rather than the dry old textbooks of years ago we now have the home pc and interactive French software. For around $100 dollars you can buy a program that can have you competent in the French language in just a couple of months and whilst it’s not all play, games are an important part. For your money you’ll get all kinds of grammar, spelling and verb components that are interactive and involving. You also get the added advantage of sound files that you can copy to an MP3 player or CDs so you can learn some parts of the French language while you’re on the move.

You can find software for less than a hundred dollars, of course, and you might be tempted to try some of the cheaper packages. The trouble is you soon out-learn what they have to offer and find yourself needing more to make any progress. If you consider what lessons would cost, a hundred dollars isn’t a lot of money for something that can give you so much.

But as I said, you don’t have to start there. Anyone with the imagination to learn a foreign language can turn the same skills to creating a French language game. You’ll have more fun and you’ll learn faster as a result.

Author: Dennis Cordy
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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