| Fluenz is a software company founded by a group of passionate language learners who felt there had to be a better way. We believe in the power of one-on-one tutoring, so our technology is geared towards bringing real life instruction to the computer. In our French application, language tutor Sonia Gil guides you throughout the program, blending full motion video explanations in English with a series of highly engaging workouts, helping you to understand and speak relevant French. The Fluenz system follows three clear principles: 1) We learn best when we have a teacher. It's often difficult to motivate yourself to learn on your own. By bringing a tutor to the computer, we explain all concepts in a sensible way and you don't have to tackle French all by yourself. 2) It's easier to learn French by starting out in English. French is a tough langauge to learn and we are able to progress much faster by using our knowledge of English as leverage for helping us learn French. In fact, modern linguistics tells us that as adults, we need to use the tools of the language we already know and apply them to learning a new language. With Fluenz, you learn first in English and relate basic French grammar and syntax to that of English, rather than trying to understand French grammar with French logic. 3) It's best to learn the most relevant words in French right away. You need to start learning the words and structures that will allow you to communicate the most in the least amount of time, taking into consideration which words are easier to remember for English speakers, which expressions make the most logical sense to us, and which are most useful--"cell phone" instead of "red apple." Being able to communicate right away in simple ways requires relevant learning. And, with 13 types of workouts covering verbal expression and comprehension, as well as reading and writing, you practice and internalize what you learn in the video lessons. |
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 Wonderful Fluenz |
| Review Date: April 5, 2008 |
| Reviewer: M. Caban, Saratoga , NY |
I am not good at learning language for two reasons. One, I get bored easily and two, my mind just doesn't concentrate well. Fluenz French has a personal touch, with a likable teacher. She keeps things moving just enough to keep me from getting bored, and teaches in a way that makes sense.
I've tried different programs. Alot of them are memorization. I found that to be discouraging because much of the french language has different sounds and different grammar rules. Too much for my brain to deal with.
Fluenz french teaches these rules and helps learning the pronounciation easier and fun, while learning how to communicate at the same time.
In doing Fluenz French, I had alot of, " Oh, I get it !", moments. The sounds of the language started to make sense, This really encouraged me alot, and made learning much, much easier and enjoyable.. |
Good for brand new students of French
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| Review Date: October 4, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Hayyamini, USA |
I have done all 30 lessons in Fluenz French 1. On the whole, it was a positive experience. Their approach is somewhat different from the traditional approach in that they focus on grammatical patterns and vocabulary most useful for the adult who is planning to travel to France. It is not, however, phrase book French. It is much more grammatical in orientation than that, as they try to help you grasp the essential structure of the language. Because of its focus on language structure, it is also very different from Rosetta Stone, with its picture-based teaching. A few salient other points about the program are:
* It keeps the vocabulary quite small, and limits grammatical structures to present tense statements and questions. Thus, one is not overwhelmed with new material. On the other hand, you won't get near as much exposure to elements of the French language as you would in a traditional semester of freshman French. What you learn, you should learn well, but it will be very limited in scope.
* It has many exercises and drills that involve translating, listening, and speaking. You will repeat certain patterns many times in different exercises. You will type the French words and phrases many times. This makes for solid learning, but you might get bored if you already know some French, repeating many things you already know many times. It may seem that the pace is too slow. On the whole, however, I think that you would come out of this with a much better mastery of the material than you would get by doing Pimsleur, where there is no typing at all.
* They do need to re-do parts and issue a new version. In some places, corrections are obviously dubbed in, and it badly mars what otherwise comes across as a quality production.
I think this program would be a good introduction to French for someone who knows none at all. For example, it would be great for someone to do in the summer before taking a college course in French, where the pace of learning would be faster and quantity of material would be much larger. |
Good, But Price Tag is PAINFUL!
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| Review Date: May 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Always Samsung, New York, NY |
I really enjoyed the demo that was provided on the Fluenz website for French. I was pretty much sold and decided to purchase this very expensive program in hopes that I would fully learn the language & be immersed in everything French. For the hefty price tag, I expected a bit more.
Let me start off by saying, I love the French language. I think it's a beautiful language and in my opinion - the only romance language. I don't count Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese. I also think French people are very classy & sophisticated etc. Not animalistic barbarians like people in the US.
I'm a college student taking intro to French and needed way more help learning the language, aside from the time spent in class. Since my professor doesn't offer tutoring sessions, I needed to find alternatives. It was either this or Rosetta Stone & RS doesn't offer a free demo on their site that satisfied my hunger for knowledge on a product before purchase. Plus, the price tag on RS French one thru three was way over my budget. Another thing I disliked about Rosetta Stone is the fact you can not use it on multiple PC and laptops. I have one of each in separate rooms, so I need the flexibility. Fluenz seemed like the way to go. I was very much lost in class and couldn't remember definite, indefinite, conjugation of verbs etc. There are so many rules to the French Language. So, I needed a learning tool that was actually going to work.
I couldn't wait to get into the first lesson because I loved lesson three (That was being offered as a free demo). To my surprise Sonia Gill (Interactive Tutor) did not start off the lesson one with the alphabet. I am passed the alphabet at this stage, but a refresher lesson wouldn't hurt and I could only wonder why the first lesson wasn't the alphabet. What would beginners do? Each video lesson can range from six minutes to ten minutes. I wouldn't mind if the lesson went on for an hour, as long as I'm learning. I have only gotten through lesson 6 and don't want to give a biased review for something I have not fully completed. So far, I am pleased. Hopefully, when I progress further, she will get more in-depth with the verbs, conjugations, inversion, passé compose etc, because that is crucial in French grammar. The Fluenz navigator seemed like a waste. And the iPod Audio seemed like a rip off to me. There was only two audio CDs as promised, but each track ranges from six to ten minutes, with each CD carrying eight to ten tracks. So, I'm not exactly thrilled about that. I felt really ripped off. I thought the audio CDs were the actual lessons transitioned over to a CD for the iPod.
It seems like Fluenz is trying their best to recreate the actual experience of being in a class room, but they haven't fully seen it through the eyes of the student yet. I do think recreating that experience is an excellent approach. Overall, I am pleased so far. But for the price I expected a bit more. I would sacrifice the pretty packaging, so the actual DVD-Rom program had more content. I would have loved my purchase even more if the price tag was split in half. |
Poor editing
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| Review Date: May 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: CR, Silver Spring, MD |
| Good introduction to the French language but very poor editing. Occasionally uses words in the practice sessions that weren't introduced earlier. Often the sentence in the dialogue is different than the sentence used in the explanation. Also found that the grammar seemed to change from workout to workout without explanation. I also found the "cute" stuff annoying. The good stuff was the repetition and slow building on previous sessions. I also didn't like the audio CD. It didn't have a long enough pause after each word or sentence, so I was never able to come up with the meaning on my own. But that might be because of how slow I am. I am not sure I would buy another one. |
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