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Je parle français!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 70 / 71
Date: December 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I moved to a French speaking part of Europe a few months ago and have been determined to learn French ever since. I enrolled in a university level course, hired a tutor, and try to practice at my local pub as much as possible.

I was doing "OK" but then I heard about this title. I ordered it from Amazon and I have to say I am IMPRESSED! This is exactly the type of study program I needed. Unlike listening to straight audio (Berlitz Rush Hour French) the DS makes the process interactive. You get ranked (from enfant on up) based on your completion of the levels. The title has an excellent recording feature to let you record a word or phrase and then either listen to it alone, or play it back in unison with the French audio.

The many games you must play to master words to unlock the levels are challenging, somewhat addictive, but fun. I try and play all of them on the DIFFICULT level as they make me work harder.

But, it's not perfect:

One glaring thing missing is they do not list the masculine or feminine identifiers for the verbs. That would have made this a perfect tool because the M Vs. F tense is still a killer for me as I try to weave sentences together.

Also, they make a very strange error in that "Tu" or informal version of "You" is listed as "Formal" and the formal version "Vous" is listed as "Informal." That's a very blatant error.

The dictionary is very limtied. For example, while it has the word for "puppy" there is no word for "dog." It also does not provide definitions, so you'll need a dictionary to ascertain the exact meaning of a word because as in English, a single word can have many different meanings.

The audio and visual "phrase book" for social situations and traveling is probably worth the price of the game alone. It came in very hand on a recent trip outside Paris.

I play this every morning for about between 10 - 15 minutes. It also helps pass time when I have to wait someplace, e.g., barber shop, car dealership, etc. My vocabulary is now over 500 words and even my French tutor (a very picky and precise Parisian) started recommending it to her other students.

No matter what your level, from don't-have-a-clue-about-French to advanced level people who want to brush up on vocabulary, this title will be a useful training tool and a quality way to practice and brush up on existing French skills.

I have to give UBI Soft and Nintendo credit for scoring another way to attract adults to the DS. Unlike a bulky laptop I can play this thing anywhere and that's what makes it so appealing. It really is a quality and inexpensive learning tool, but could be even better with a little tweaking in (hopefully) newer releases.

My rating for this should be four and not five stars.

Excellent aide in learning a language!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 31
Date: December 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ubisoft did a wonderful job with this game; it's a very well done learning tool. I do notice, however, that the instructor (a rather comely woman!!) does speak exceptionally fast and this may not be the case for all dialects of french. Additionally, there are other dialects of french (case in point, my in-laws are french and sometimes use different words or phrases than are taught here).

Nevertheless, activities that assit with spelling, sentence building and conjugations are an invaluable addition. Having a conjugation chart is helpful and players can find themselves using the charts initially and then replaying the game without the chart. This is where real learning takes place. TRES BIEN!!

The game is also entertaining. What is nice is that being "conversational", this reivewer did not start with lesson one. Upon commencing, the game gives a "pretest"; based on those results, the player will start at a level that is right for them. For example, I started around lesson 18. It's worth mentioning, however, that one can go back to the initial lessons and it is good to do so for review.

For the price, it's a very good way to either learn a language at least conversationally and/or even sharpen language skills for those who are conversational or for those who took the language in school in years past. The reference section is very helpful for looking up both words and phrases.

EXCELLENT tool for the cost!!

Wonderfully educational & entertaining at the same time!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 34
Date: November 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is an absolutely wonderful title in the DS line up. I have been wanting to learn French for years, & finally I have a way to do it easily. I've used this multiple times now & it is very addicting & leaves me with a feeling that I've really learned something. I would DEFINITELY recommend this title.

very limited, mostly focused on vocabulary

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: February 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

this is a decent game/edutainment title in terms of production and content, but it's severely limited. there are relatively few mini-games, and the focus is almost solely on vocabulary and short phrases. several verbs are introduced, but there's very little reinforcement and conjugation is never fully explained. after you get to lesson 35 or so the rest of the "1000" lessons consist of completely unrelated groupings of often useless vocabulary (e.g. "quarry"). there are tons of cognates (e.g. "cookie", which is the same in french) which could've been spaced out a little more, and there are numerous notable mistakes (e.g. one lesson skips over presenting half of the word list and still tests you on them, and there are places where a word is presented as the translation, but then a different word is used when quizzing). all in all this is a good, but def. not great, package. clearly a quick money-maker that with a bit more time and effort could've been truly indispensable.

Grammar Errors and More! Beginners need only to apply.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 16 / 23
Date: January 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I had this game for 2 days and played it for a few hours...only to realize that it's a horribly made game.

The grammar is never really touched upon, and the use of articles (critical in French) is overlooked almost completely. You are taught words like pastéque (watermelon) but are never taught that it's really "un pastéque", a masculine word.

If you ever have a vocab word longer than 14 letters, then it won't show up in most minigames and you'll have to play other games to pick it up, and you have to if you want to go to the next lesson. I reached lesson 24 before I gave up on this silly game.

8th Grader in ONE Day

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit that I'm addicted. I spent 6 hours Christmas Day playing this game. I was just going to take the pretest to see what I remembered from college, but after scoring into level 10 I was hooked. While the kids played with their new toys, I pecked away at this one. It took about 5-10 minutes per lesson and by bedtime, I'd completed level 80. It was a great review. My son who I originally bought it for will be lucky to do one lesson a day, but by the time we go to Quebec he should be able to understand a little. This game really is great for all ages and ability levels. Thanks for the review UbiSoft!

Stimulating

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is an incredible learning tool. If you are looking for Nintendo DS "games" as learning tools or to get the brain stimulated this is for you. If you are a life long learner age 16 or 60 it's a great find.

Clever and fun.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I love to learn new things. I also love video games. This game was a pleasant surprise. At first I wondered, can I really learn a language like this? But the games are addictive and the record and compare feature is fantastic. I learned German in High School and both Latin and Spanish in college and this game is helping me learn French faster and better than any of those classes. The real test will be my next trip to Belgium, but the translation dictionary feature is worth the price alone, even if I can't remember a thing I practiced!

I only hope that more languages are added to this series. I would love to learn Chinese or Japanese next. Or brush up on one of the languages I already "learned".

You formal, You informal

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game teaches Tu is the formal form of You. I'm rusty on my French but not the basics. Tu is the informal form of You, and Vous is the formal form of You. I'm sure others fluent in French verify that. I can't see how they messed up on that, as it is very basic.

Simply google: french you tu vous. You will see other sources state that Tu is informal. The game teaches Tu as (fml.) when it should be (infml.)

Probably not ideal to be learning to use the incorrect form of You when you visit France and talk to strangers but oh well. Vous will apply to most everyone: strangers, older people, waiters, store clerk, doctor, and anyone you don't wish to offend.

Overall, I'd say it's ok as a supplemental activity to learning, but not as a main source. Best to look out for errors as you go along with the game, and check against another source. Otherwise it's fun as an activity involving French language.

Mic Feature is Rare Tool

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I wish the pre-test would have allowed me to skip a little further, as I have still not got past units I would consider review for myself. However, it IS excellent review, and true to its claims, it seems to have something to offer a range of learners--more advanced students may just have to go through some easy review before they get to more challenging material. The ability to use the microphone to test your pronunciation is a rare tool. It makes me want to get the Spanish version too, and start another language from scratch. Dare I hope that Italian, German, Japanese, might follow?

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