My post didn't come through. To recap I had 6 years of French in high school and college, unfortunately this was 25 years ago. What tapes or other ways of improving conversational skills can you suggest?

Try www.bonjourparis.com They have a great chat program for all levels.

"Learn to Speak French" on CD Rom by the Learning Company is excellent. Usually, you can find the "previous" version (the latest always has "features" you can do without) on the $10 sale rack. Even the latest version generally costs about $20 after the rebate. Now that Mattel has decided to sell The Learning Company, there may even be a fire sale.

I think the correct address is www.bparis.com

And I forgot to mention www.travlang.com. <BR>What is nice is that you can actually hear the sound of the words in French.

The Pimsleur series of language tapes are excellent, though apparently quite expensive.

In the affordable category - I've used "Just Listen 'n Learn French" from Passport - I bought it 8 years ago - back then the book and tape were under $30. As someone who was once fluent in French I found the approach very good. It gives you the basics of grammar and vocabulary with plenty of dialogues and listening exercises.

I also found the "Learn to Speak French" CD-ROM useful. It allows you to record your speech and play it back, and rates your pronunciation. There are a lot of interactive exercises, too. Also, at least with the latest version, once you finish the courses, you can download more from the internet. It doesn't come with a dictionary, though. I've found Langenscheidt's tiny pocket dictionary to be quite good and complete--and small enough to literally put in your pocket.

How about trying different courses from the library? Then you can determine which works best for you, and purchase if you want. <BR>Pimsleur has been excellent for me.

Thank you for all your suggestions. Very thoughtful and helpful. Merci!

You might also want to check to see if one of your local public television stations carries French in Action, a series of 52 half hour programs designed to teach French. Although the full course (which includes books) was designed as a beginning course, I found the tv program a good way to brush up on my once decent but now rusty French (I had 8 years 20 years ago, so I know where you're coming from). You can also buy the videotapes (see http://www.learner.org/collections/m...ages/fiseries/), but they're really expensive.

Something that I experienced in grad school was courses on reading foreign languages. My own French was pretty rusty before going to grad school in European history, so I took a couple of short courses on reading French in the summer. It worked wonders. I read 6 years of a French newspaper for my thesis. Reading the language does not work on the conversational skills per se, but it is wonderful as an accompaniment, since it builds a lot of vocabulary (as well as grammar skills). So you may want to pick up a book on reading French. These books tend to cover the basics in a more focused way than a general grammar book. Also, making cue cards from your reading, with English on one side and French on the other, works great. Then you can peruse French magazines, newspapers, and Web sites to improve your skills.