French language correspondence courses
 

Can anyone recommend a source for French langauge classes? Night school is not an option so internet, maybe through a college, would be an option. Surely there is something that allows some interactive learning. Anyone?

Do all three levels of Pimsleur courses and then next time you visit France go to a bookstore and buy the great French course "Assimil, New French With Ease". Don't attempt this course until you have completed all 4 Pimsleur as it will be over your head. If you want to learn to speak French well be prepared to spend years studying. It is one thing to know some words, some phrases and some casual dialogue but quite another to read, write and speak French. It is however worth the effort.

Good luck,
Larry J

That's 3 not 4 levels of Pimsleur. The courses are available in tape or cds. It's expensive but that's because it's good.

Larry J

Thanks for the reply Larry. Being Canadian, I was exposed to seven years of French in school. I did the three Pimsleur levels to brush up what I had forgotten (or never absorbed). Being retired I would now like to get into something more involved but am need some suggestions.

ttt in the desperate hope that someone will have some useful advice

Well motivated students can learn a language even out of a simple textbook, if it's a good textbook. I recall that the very first textbook I bought for French was <i>French Made Simple</i>, a book that is still in print, although I haven't looked at the latest revision and I don't know how much it has been changed.

CDs and DVDs and interactive gadgets can help with the spoken language, but they should not be overestimated. It's better to find a good course with old-style cassettes (or even just a book) than to struggle with a new course that has high-definition DVDs but is pedagogically unsound. I find that the courses with the greatest academic merit often have the least amount of audiovisual bells and whistles, or at least are quite modest in the latter.

Interactive learning with real human beings of native fluency is extremely valuable for speaking and listening skills, provided that the teachers are reasonably competent. Unfortunately, spoken fluency and the lack of an accent do not equate to competency in grammar and other aspects of the formal language, so sometimes human beings are useful only for speaking practice and the rest of the language must still be learned from a book.

Besides Pimsleur tapes...I went to a small French cafe here in San Diego and made sure I chatted with the many French people who frequent it...I think that's what helped me a lot. But of course you need a French cafe!! Incidentally, while there I met a French teacher..who obliged with a few private lessons...I love France.