À Moi Paris Method – Intermediate

For too long, I’ve put off tooting a horn about this amazing French language program. Why? I just didn’t know where to start. Its “superlatives” are mind-boggling-and I say this as a retired high school English teacher-new French language learner, who has tried the entire Pimsleur and other French programs on the web, as well as studied French at the Alliance Francaise for weeks at a time in Paris. But toot, I will, beginning with the outstanding and comprehensive components of French Today’s main program, Levels 1-8:

First, the story. Here, you discover interesting characters, male and female, who meet in college, but later lead separate lives, dealing with careers, children and families, in real-world situations, such as traveling, shopping, eating at restaurants. Sounds similar to other programs? Yes, but French Today(FT) stories go deeper. For example, when you travel with FT, you don’t just arrive at a new place, meet a few people, and go home. FT takes you to the airport, gets you on and off the plane, makes you deal with losing your luggage and getting the wrong room at the hotel. Be assured you discover new sites and have adventures, but you also deal with tickets, transportation, and cultural do’s and don’ts along the way, just as you would in real life. Seasoned travelers, Camille and Olivier have thoughtfully included the situations they know we will face and the language they know we will need!

The engaging content, which teaches us how to communicate at parties, restaurants, markets, stores, hotels, parks, beaches, on buses, taxis, and trains– also includes children, parents, and grandparents-even babies. Thus, we are exposed to various registers of language– the formal, informal, slang, and many idiomatic aspects of language rarely covered in standard French language courses.

Learners can also listen to the story entirely recorded at two speeds: one slower and carefully enunciated; the other, spoken at street-speed, full of elisions. In addition to the adjustable speed for the audio, a student can read the text of the story, observing the spelling and/or catching words that he might have failed to hear. Beyond that, there is even an English translation just below the French text, which can be grayed out, depending on one’s preference.

But there’s even more! Following the stories, up to 25 stories per level (8 Levels total), “Study Guides” provide clear and succinct grammatical explanations for newly introduced grammar in the stories. The levels begin teaching the basics of the language and increasingly advance throughout, with “even” levels reinforcing the lessons taught in the “uneven” levels. Using the grammatical structures and vocabulary introduced in the story, question and answer components provide time for students to answer and answers provide reassurance. Then, as you advance up the levels, so does your French. Those of you who are struggling to memorize grammar as you work your way through a text, there’s an easier, more memorable way-French Today.

Beyond the content of French Today, the technical design of the program also includes many superior components: The text can be enlarged, helpful while running on a treadmill. You can show or hide the translation, pause at the chapter end, skip around the chapters, while aligning the text with a tap on an icon. Navigation keys allow you to go forward or backward 15 minutes or fast forward or backward. Clear text tells you the name of the chapter you are listening to and even how many minutes of the total number of minutes you are “Now Playing.” I can’t think of any other feature I would want in this easy-to-navigate, oh, so thoughtful program that’s downloadable on your mobile device, so you don’t even need Wi-Fi to access it.

There’s still much more to say about the other components of French Today-Verb drills, Classic French Tales, Essential French Dialogs, French Greetings + Politeness, French Verbs Fundamentals, Mastering French Adjectives, Secrets of French Conversation, Secrets of French Pronunciation, and more. Then there are the regular mini-lessons that Camille provides in her frequent emailed announcements that I haven’t even begun to tackle. Just like the French language, French Today is limitless and extraordinarily full of exciting lessons. Don’t wait any longer to try it!