Have you ever wanted to learn a second (or third) language? Recently, I had a chance to review Getting Started with French from Armfield Academic Press.
What I Received
Getting Started with French is a beginning language
textbook. The subtitle on the book reads “Beginning French for Homeschoolers
and Self-Taught Students of Any Age.” It contains 172 lessons. Located in the
back of the book is an answer key, a pronunciation guide, an index and a
glossary. You will also need to download pronunciation files from the website.
In addition, you will have access to a series of files featuring commentary
from the authors.
Getting Started with French is intended to be flexible. It
uses shorter lessons (about 30 minutes a day). This is their simple philosophy:
“Teach one concept at a time and let the student master that concept before
introducing the next one.”
Sounds good to me!
What I Thought
When this product came up for review, I asked to review it
for myself. I took 2 years of Spanish in High School, but despite my French
heritage, I had never been that interested in learning the language. As I’ve
gotten older I have had more of desire to branch out and have new experiences.
I don’t have a whole lot of time to “experience” these new
experiences so Getting Started with French sounded like a good way to jump in
by learning another language.
I began my studies by downloading the pronunciation and
author commentary from the website. Both are extremely important to have. For
one, the author commentary is just like having a little chat with the writers
of the curriculum. They also feature a native French speaker who gives his take
on the
lesson.
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| This is the view of my commentary screen on my computer. Yours might look different. |
For example, in Lesson Six we are introduced to the “r”
sound. The author commentary was so helpful! They made a point to talk about
the differences in the pronunciation of “r” between the French, Spanish and
English language. Because I learned Spanish first, I tend to roll my “r’s” with
a brilliant trill. That is a no-no in the French Language. The authors
explained that, instead, it is almost like a gurgling sound….which is exactly
what I had being doing…but it felt wrong. I was assured that the gurgling is
the way to go!
The lessons are super short and simple. They are not intended to overwhelm. I could master that lesson before moving on. It’s tempting to
rush through and just get it done, but I love this easy pace. Each lesson
builds on another so it's important not to skip around.
I found Getting Started with French to be user-friendly. It was actually fun to use! This is really a great product. I recommend it for any
curious learner.
Armfield Academic Press has a few other language programs. Getting
Started with Spanish and Getting Started with Latin are also available. I believe that Getting Started with Russian is
in the works, as well.
Check them out!
You can connect with Armfield Academic Press via the
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read more reviews.
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