We're going to need to work on French over the summer. I already have Rosetta Stone, but what I need is a more structured, grammar oriented curriculum. Written French, basically. And preferably not too expensive. My son is 13, and has a hard time with languages. He's the one I want to focus on, because if he can't learn this stuff he's never going to get through his required 1 year of French in high school. I'll also have my 15yo also work with us, but that's just so that she keeps her French fresh during the break (she's better than I am at the language).
I haven't used it yet, but I plan on it after hearing many great reviews. Galore Park's French program is supposed to be very good. You have to purchase it from Europe though.
French gave me all kinds of grief. I started with Power Glide, didn't like it, went with Rosetta Stone and didn't like that! I tried some old textbooks I got at a library sale. Last year, we used SOS. Rachael didn't care for it particularly, but she learned. Next year, we'll be doing French 2 on-line.
French has been a tough one in our home. We too tried Power Glide and SOS and even went to France for a month. None of these took. So this last year I used Breaking the French Barrier, which seems to be the most grammar based of the programs, and one that is helping DD become proficient enough to be able to take French at CC as a dual enrollment course by 11th grade.
Nallenart is pretty good. I did some of that program this year. It just didn't fit us too well so I shelved it. Plus I had ordered the downloadable version and several of the pictures didn't print. I emailed Nallenart regarding the issue and never received a response.
Thank you for all your suggestions! After much consideration, I've decided to basically create my own. I'm ordering The Ultimate French Review and Practice, which is basically just a grammar book. And I've picked up a reader for some vocab practice. One of the big problems I was having with a lot of the "learn to speak French" courses was that they all seem to be focussed on *speaking* French. My kids don't need to speak it, they need to be able to write it. They'll get a lot further knowing their verbs and conjugations than they will memorizing common phrases or the days of the week. So I intend to use the grammar book as a backbone and borrow a bunch of French picture books from the library to supplement. I'm also going to get them to read French translations of English novels that they're familiar with - my daughter's already working through Harry Potter. It helps that my kids aren't complete beginners (though my son's pretty hopeless with the whole foreign language thing).
I really like the idea of using French picture books! I remember in High School when I accidently found French picture books at the library. It was GREAT for me!
------- Why didn't you like Rosetta Stone French? I have the Spanish and like it a lot. Somehow I managed to get a printout of the sentences in English... I don't remember how I got that, but it helped a lot. This is supposed to be how kids learn to talk, and I guess that's true, but as an adult, I would like to know exactly what I'm saying in a foreign language. For instance, a child might say "Doggy wet!" yet the correct English could be "the dog is wet," or "that dog is wet." With Rosetta Stone you are never completely sure if you are saying "the" or "that" or something else. I suppose you can sort that all out after finishing the program and going on to learn grammar.
I'm not sure. I wish I COULD tell you what I didn't like abou it, but I can't. Maybe because I felt it needed the grammar along WITH it...? You may be right. You're learning phrases, but not how those phrases are put together.
I think that's why I stay away from it. I don't think it's bad, but when my kids study languages I hope for something more then a conversational understanding. I suppose it's what you're looking for/ If it's mastery, ability to write well and a deeper understanding of th language then most of the language software ut there is not going to be a good fit. It's a conversational understanding then they're fine. My daughter is using Nallenart for French and going through it fairly quickly.
