Thursday, March 29, 2007

This is a web site with a little bit of information on Michel Thomas' audio french course and the spot to buy it.

http://www.champs-elysees.com/products/french/michel-thomas.aspx
This is the online version of the text book Bienvenue by Conrad J Shmitt. I used this text book in my highschool and its what started my whole learning experience.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/worldlanguages/french/bienvenue/index.html

Monday, March 5, 2007

This is an example of how dictionaries on line may not be that usefull. The best use out of the translator is one word at a time. Translating a sentance has never worked for me.

http://dictionary.reference.com/
This website claims to teach french, but it is very choppy. An example of how unhelpfull some websites are.

http://www.speakfrench.co.uk/
This is a free website for learning unless you want sound, then it will cost you.

http://www.frenchassistant.com/default.asp
This website is another whose claim is french in 60 days. It has an online version and a printable version for purchase.

http://www.frenchtutorial.com/
This is the link to the Rosetta Stone software, for further research and info.

http://www.rosettastone.com/en/individuals/languages/french
This is the link to the Unforgettable Language Program to buy and research.

http://www.unforgettablelanguages.com/frames_a4.html?gclid=COuPy-r53YoCFQVHUAodSkla0g

Thesis

I want to focus on the materials on the internet and some technology materials for purchase that claim to teach languages, specifically French. There is a lot out there in terms of online dictionaries, translators, theasaurus, etc. However, not all programs are good, most are only litteral translations and unless there is someone who knows the difference, these programs are highly inaccurate. They make a great supplement to learning but in the end nothing can replace a human teacher and interaction. There are other programs and cds that claim they can teach French, or a language, in ten minutes a day. These CD programs are good only in that they allow the students to hear the language. For the most part they do not allow, understanding, most are simply repetitive exercises. Crash course programs are only good for tourists who want to visit another country on vacation and need to know enough of the language to get by, not to be considered fluent. Fluency and true language knowledge takes a lot more effort and time.