French language

Why not see what your local library has?

My husband used the Pimsleur CDs. He liked them a lot. They were cheaper than the Rosetta Stone CDs, although - I honestly don't remember what they cost! Nancy makes a good point - your local library may have something for free!

You could also try podcasts from I-Tunes. There is often a free trial.

Have a look at what the BBC has to offer. Google BBC language lessons.

There is a cheap series called "Conversational (language) in Seven Days" that includes basic vocabulary, useful dialogues, and a CD for pronunciation help. I used the "Conversational Italian in Seven Days" and was really impressed how much useful vocabulary I picked up just from this tiny (100pg) book. I had actual conversations in Italian! The book was used as a textbook by a native Italian speaker who taught a week-long Italian for Tourists course here. I've since started playing with the conversational German, too. I speak a fair amount of French so it's hard to judge intro books, but the others in the series I can recommend and,as best I can tell, the French is just as good. And you can get the book for less than $10-15!

The I-Tunes pod casts are nice because you can take them along with your I-Pod while you travel. That way you are refreshing your skills as you go. I've used the Greek version and it was very good for basic communication (and Greek is not easy...).

Trying your library is a great suggestion! Ours has a good ion of language books on CD as well as downloadable audiobooks and ebooks. Their website also has two interactive programs you can access (by sighing in with your library card number) from the library website.
Bon chance!

That was supposed to say "Ours has a good selection... "

Try Learner.org. They have episodes of the college course "French in Action" available on the website for free.

Teresa - I took a non-credit class at the community college and they used a workbook called "French in 10 Minutes a Day". I found the book and accompanying CD very helpful. It's available on Amazon.com.

My wife had both of us using " Coffee Break French" which she found on the net. It's free and very effective in daily 15-20 minute lessons that build on the previous lessons. We down loaded them and listened while working and driving.

I highly reccomend Pimsleur, I found french basic cd's at my local library. Rosetta stone is over 300 dollars and I rate Pimsleur pretty close to Rostta Stone. Just go to your local library and ask for Pimsleur.

i learned my basic conversational french through pimsleur also. now purchased "tell me more v10" and learning the more advanced french. you can find older pimsleur cd's at your local library for free. the only difference between the old and the new is instead of learning to say 1 euro, you will learn to say 1 franc.

I've tried several languages lessons including Rosetta Stone, Tell me More, Pimsleur and others. I've had the best luck with Pimsleur, and RS is not very effective, in my opinion. With Pimsleur, you can listen in your car, upload into your ipod, and it's available at most local libraries. Tell me more is also very good, but I am a captive audience in my car, while my daughter takes over all of my time while I'm at home, so I use it less.

Thanks, everyone, for the great suggestions. I'll start with checking the local library and go from there.

I used the Pimsleur series and loved it-because you learn what phrases mean and then are asked to repeat a number of times. I found I retained more of what I learned. Check it out from local library. I strongly recommend against Rosetta Stone, not only because it's expensive, but also because you don't learn how to construct your own phrases and I didn't retain as much of what I learned.

Check local used book stores in your area. I found a 4 CD set called "Quick and Simple French" by Pimsleur for $8.00 in a local book store. Good luck.
Debbie

I used busuu.com. The first month is free and it was hugely helpful.

Okay, I'll agree that Rosetta Stone is expensive, but with the new feature of online live discussions with an instructor and other students, one certainly gets to compose his own sentences, contrary to another poster's comment. I've not tried Pimleur, but I'm halfway through the entire sequence of French and absolutely love Rosetta.

Theresa, I've tried several sets and prefer the Berlitz Rush Hour French CD. Pimsleur was too in-depth for my tourist-visit preference but would have been good for a longer visit. The Rush Hour one-hour CD has 5 vignettes of conversations that may happen (getting ready, travelling, eating out, at work, etc.). The thing I really liked was some of the responses were sung in short rhymes, which seemed to make the phrases "stick" better in my head than just having them verbalized. Bon Chance!