Learn French: Fluenz French 3+4+5 For Mac
Is Fluenz French the best language software out there? With a price tag of several hundred dollars, people in this economy are often hesitant about purchasing a language program which may not provide them with quality instruction.
Fluenz users working at Harvard, Google, the UN, and Apple know the value of our. Fluenz French is the only major program with hundreds of. Real Results. For over ten years Fluenz has been the leading provider of serious. Level 1; Level 2; Level 3; Level 4; Level 5.
- FLUENT IN 2018 Amazing Digital Programs and Face-to-Face Immersions. Sonia Gil, Founder.
- Apr 3, 2018 - The French lessons in Fluenz progress smoothly through each step of the. Three times – one with French subtitles, one with French and English. The entire five-lesson bundle is around $350 at the time of our. Rocket Languages; 4. Best Learn French Software Best Learn Spanish Software Best Mac.
Throughout this review, I will discuss Fluenz French (Lessons 1-5), explain the advantages and disadvantages of the program, then give my own two cents. I recommend reading this article, then checking out. Overview The Fluenz software greatly helps with speaking, listening, reading, AND writing. Fluenz French currently offers 5 levels of French instruction (every disc also includes an audio CD, useful for listening to French in you vehicle). Each level features 30 individual French lessons. The lessons begin with Sonia Gill (or Carolyn Janin ), our teacher, introducing the topic.
We then listen to a dialogue between real French speakers, and are followed up with an in-depth explanation of everything that just happened. Sonia explains the word constructions, introduces the vocabulary, and conjugates the verbs thoroughly (sometimes, her explanations run ten minutes or more!). We then are introduced to a series of “exercises” which test what you just learned.
For example, there is a matching section, a “repeat the words” section, a “type the word in” section, a “pick the correct picture” section (which is probably my favorite), and the list goes on! Once all the exercises are completed, Sonia will debrief you and usually share some sort of cultural tip. The first two levels (discs one and two) cover: introductions, dates/time, numbers, travel situations, emergency situations, sports/hobbies, manners, shopping, weather, leisure/entertainment, and much more This program is a piece of art. Effective Learning Fast What I like about this software is that Fluenz allows you to go at your own pace.
The average lesson in Fluenz took me anywhere from one to two hours, thus completing a lesson a day would allow you to keep the material fresh and truly immerse yourself into a language (keep in mind that my formal classes only last 45 minutes to an hour in school). Fluenz uses an extremely beautiful interface, and tons of wonderful photos of France. I actually looked forward to completing the next Fluenz lesson. Teaching that Makes Sense Another thing I like about Fluenz is their approach. They teach you as an adult. Which means, unlike, they know that adults already have a language, and the best way to teach a new language is by relating it to the one we already know English! Fluenz also seems to review previously learned information subtly within the “exercises” and throughout the lessons. Sure, you may have just learned “Salut” to introduce yourselves, but Fluenz will also make sure you know “Bonjour” as well.
One of Fluenz’s “type what you heard” exercises My last point to make is that the Fluenz language team is extremely helpful (and encouraging!) “Like” them on Facebook to receive the latest updates and installments, tell them about your progress they want to hear it! If you left a comment about Fluenz, you’d be surprised to find that employees are actually reading your suggestions.
Potential Problems? One issue with this product, as great as it is, is that there seems to be a slight bias towards travel situations within discs 1 and 2.
Once I recognized the trend, Fluenz “turned me off” a little. Not everybody is learning French for that purpose, so by forcing that frame onto all customers makes a great product less useful.
For example, Fluenz never teaches you the French alphabet that could be very useful if you needed to spell your name or write a name down. Luckily, the software does deviate from “travel mode” within the later discs. Some also say that the pacing is too slow, or sometimes the learner is disengaged from activities for 10 – 15 minutes at a time because they have to watch explanation videos. However, these people can often be seen as the “impatient” learning type, so I’ve disregarded their statements ( Yeah, let’s all speak a new language perfectly in 60 days! The video comment does hold some weight to it, but, I would recommend that you actually pronounce the words as your teacher does using that method would ensure more engagement during the videos.
Learn at your own pace, do the lessons when most convenient to yourself. Beautiful interface and awe-inspiring pictures make you wish you were in France, now. The discs come packaged in a neat, little red box. Presentation is very professional. Thoroughness of lessons, tons of exercises. You truly learn with this program. A “challenge mode” can be enabled.
Forcing the need to type accents within responses. Five complete discs which increase with difficulty.
Beginners can start from square one while more advanced learners can start from disc 2, 3, or 4. Excellent teachers. Fluenz’s Company and customer support is top notch.
A 12-month warranty. Cons:. The software is only as effective as you make it. If you skip a lot of days, or do not feel like doing all of the exercises, then you’re only cheating yourself!. The software cannot evaluate your speech, only provide you with native speech recordings. You have the ability to plug in a microphone and speak but nobody will be speaking back!.
Some dislike the fact that Sonia Gil is not a Native French Speaker. Her French is still good though. Carolyn Janin replaces Sonia in Fluenz 4 and 5 – she is a native Parisian. Some say that Fluenz is a little too “Tourist” focused (I.e, Fluenz vocabulary is based off of things like giving directions, ordering food, buying a train/airplane ticket, greetings, etc). Sonia Gil showing us how to formulate simple questions I would highly recommend Fluenz as a learning tool for any leveled French learner. Fluenz puts great care into their product to make sure you come out speaking French like a champion! Now most people usually use Fluenz, and only Fluenz, to learn French.
Although you’ll learn French by using Fluenz, I think that using other modes of learning will benefit you the most. If Fluenz is your supplemental approach to learning French, then expect your language skills to grow. Think about this, do you think you could become “fluent” from 1,2, or even 10 discs of software?
Other Opinions? ” I just recently contacted Fluenz about a replacement DVD and the Staff was very courteous and helpful. The mailed out a free replacement the very next day. I have been very pleased with their service.” “I purchased and have used Fluenz French levels 1 through 5 for just over a year and a half. The software is excellent and I have found the company’s customer service to be outstanding. For instance, Mac OS X “Lion” was released yesterday, and Fluenz was ready with an update that allows me to used my older version of Fluenz with the new release of OS X on the day it became available. Such service is outstanding! Fluenz was under no obligation to even provide their customers with such an update, given the changes that Apple made in Lion; not only did they do so, but the update was free of charge and available immediately. Fantastic!” If you are interested in trying Fluenz French for yourself, they provide us with a.
You can also look up other reviews on Amazon or the. To return to our French Language Learning Section, click. I agree with Kelly S.
I’ve done all three (Rosetta, Pimsleur and Fluenz). If you concerned most about learning to SPEAK French, get Pimsleur. If you want to speak AND write/read, then Fluenz is probably better. It’ll take you longer to speak well. Pimsleur is focused on getting the speaking and words into your head and forcing you to repeat them by thinking like you would in real life. Fluenz has a bit more focus of getting you to remember things by remembering and TYPING them into the computer. You understand things better but it takes longer to be able to speak because of it.
Over the years, there have been basically to traditional methods for learning French as a second language – either people would spend years in high school and college learning the language, or they would immerse themselves in the language by going to friends. In either case, learning French is always been difficult and time-consuming, and many individuals who have spent years learning in a traditional classroom have found themselves unable to converse with a real French speaker. Pimsleur French has been proven to be far more effective than classroom methods.
This article relies too much on to. Please improve this by adding. (February 2014) Fluenz Fluenz Inc. Windows, Macintosh, Android, iOS, Audio CD Proprietary Website Fluenz is a digital language learning platform developed by Fluenz Inc., a entrepreneurial company. The interactive content can be downloadable or accessed online on computers and mobile devices. The product range consists of programs to learn Spanish as spoken in Latin America, Spanish as spoken in Spain, French, Italian, Mandarin, German, and Portuguese.
Each Fluenz program is available to users for installation on computers via DVDs as well as full access to an online platform in addition to supplementary tools such as practice CDs, downloadable podcasts, and digital Flashcards optimized for iPads and other tablets. Contents. History Fluenz Inc.
Was founded by graduate and a group of recent college graduates from,. Fluenz was founded in the idea that the digital teaching of languages could be significantly improved by adding tutor led explanations, by teaching relevant content that would lead to immediate communication, and by trying to use technology to create a more immersive learning process. The company released Fluenz Mandarin for desk and laptops on the 31st of January 2007. In July of that same year the company launched Fluenz Mandarin Mobile, which contained the entire Mandarin program for Windows Mobile telephones. This was one of the first comprehensive mobile learning programs anywhere. Programs for learning Spanish followed in September 2007, for learning French in May 2008, for learning Italian in June 2008, for learning Spanish from Spain in April 2012, for learning German in April 2012, and for learning Portuguese in October 2013. The Fluenz Commons24, a community of Fluenz users, was launched in 2011, and an online platform of digital Flashcards optimized for iPads, Fluenz Flashcards, came out in beta in March 2011 and in 1.0 version in December 2013.
Learning system Learning is structured through an immersive user interface that blends a 'one on one tutor' on video (over 150 tutorial videos per level of Fluenz) with extensive workouts and a recording tool that allows the user to hear their own pronunciation and compare to that of a native learner’s. Fluenz’ system also focuses first on useful vocabulary, claiming 'you’ll be able to order coffee on day one'. For example, words like phone and bathroom are prioritized over words like elephant.
One of the key aspects of Fluenz is the notion that it is easier to learn a second or third language by leveraging what the learner already knows. This approach is in contrast to the best-known commercial theory of language learning, ', championed by companies such as. Language learning by immersion is based on teaching exclusively in the language being learned. Fluenz refers to their approach as 'leverage', as opposed to 'immersion'.
In practical terms, this means learning a language by understanding its connections with English and emphasizing logic, long-term memory and internalization in the learning process. For example, an English speaker trying to learn Spanish with Fluenz would initially learn in English, and relate basic Spanish grammar and syntax to that of English, rather than trying to understand Spanish grammar with Spanish logic.
Academic Reviews The Fluenz software has been reviewed in the journal of the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium. According to the reviewer, the Fluenz Mandarin 1+2 software is visually attractive and makes good use of technological features, as well as being pedagogically sound. The review states, 'Therefore, Fluenz’s leverage learning approach, in which the structure of the target language (Mandarin, in this case) is directly contrasted to that of the English language makes pedagogical and theoretical sense'.
The review concludes that 'The Fluenz program includes what some researchers believe to be the three elements important for balanced goal development in L2 tasks: fluency, accuracy and complexity'. Fluenz.org In 2008, Fluenz launched the campaign 'Language is a human right', linked to their non-profit organization Fluenz.org, developing and releasing what they called El Book. El Book is a free primer mainly aimed to Spanish-speaking immigrants with absolutely no prior knowledge of the language on the bare rudiments of English, and without the economic means to take a proper course. Their press release states: El Book is a free downloadable program containing a booklet and a companion MP3 file designed to help disadvantaged immigrants and refugees of Hispanic origin learn very basic English. The objective is to mobilize concerned people, organizations, and institutions to download it and pass it on to those in need.
Made up of a few simple black and white pages, El Book can be printed at home and stapled. It can work on its own or accompanied by an MP3 file that may be downloaded and burned on to a CD.
The audio track features Latin American soap star Daniela Alvarado and Fluenz co-founder Sonia Gil, who tutors the program. Fluenz Mobile Fluenz has released multiple mobile platforms including Fluenz Flashcards in 2011 and Fluenz Online as part of their cross-platform learning suite coined Fluenz Anywhere. Fluenz Flashcards and Fluenz Online are both browser-based digital learning tools that complement the Fluenz learning method and allow on-the-go learning.
The latest addition to Fluenz Anywhere will be released in 2014 in the form of Fluenz iPhone accompanied by a fully revamped release of Fluenz Online and the Flashcards. Fluenz iPhone is described as: 'The entire Fluenz program on your iPhone. Ideal to continue your sessions while on the go' and features the entire collection of videos, workouts and dialogues. Fluenz iPhone contains a 'Learn Offline' feature which allows users to download up to 3 levels at once onto their device to allow use during long airplane flights and other scenarios where internet connectivity is not possible. Language Version Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Audio CDs Spanish (Latin America) f 2.10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes French f 2.10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Italian f 2.10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Mandarin f 2.10 Yes Yes Yes No No Yes German f 2.10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Portuguese f 2.10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Spanish (Spain) f 2.10 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Since 2007, Fluenz made available their mobile companion to the PC software for their Mandarin course, called Fluenz mobile.
In the beginning, it was only available for and above, which was not deemed a very popular call. This version was later discontinued as Windows Mobile became a less popular platform, but Fluenz is said to be working on the release of new mobile apps. References. Markelz, Michelle. Profile Magazine. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
Oakley, Josiah. Retrieved 14 February 2014. Goode, Lauren. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
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The Washington Times. Retrieved 24 October 2013. Carrasco, Ed (July 31, 2012). Retrieved 24 October 2013. The Associated Press. Bloomsberg Businessweek. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
Dias de Oliveira, Victor (2013). 'Software Review: FluenzTM Mandarin, Levels 1&2 with Supplemental Audio CDs and Podcasts'. CALICO Journal. 30 (1): 135. Acevedo, Inti (November 26, 2008).
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Learn French Fluenz French 3+4+5 For Mac Free Download
Retrieved 24 October 2013. Biewener, Eric. Retrieved 24 October 2013. Biewener, Eric (April 11, 2011). Retrieved 24 October 2013.
Learn French Fluenz French 3+4+5 For Mac
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