Parlez Vous Français?

In high school, I took two years of french, so naturally I know next to nothing about the language. What I've managed to retain is a jumbled mash of unconjugated verbs, phrases I learned from TV and the French songs that my mother would sing when we were little kids. The actual language I feel I can understand well enough; It shares similar roots to Spanish, my first language, and most words translate over just fine, but speaking the language is a whole different kettle of fish (maybe halibut, but I don't know how to say that in french either).

So once I decided that, yes I was going to spend a month in Paris, and that I didn't want to be a) a mute, or b) entirely clueless (mostly clueless is fine), I set about to try and get my french back up to some sort of conversational standard. Looking around, I found a variety of tools that might help me on my way, and here is a list of them.

Babbel


The Babbel webapp is something that I had been using on and off since my high school attempt at the language. Back when I signed up, the program was like a group run watered down Rosetta Stone, where images would represent words and phrases and it would supply and teach you words related to certain themes like food or clothes or body parts. It also had a community, which I have toa dmit I didn't take advantage of.

Several years have passed and Babbel now has a LOT more features. It has grammar practice and the technology for the vocabulary is streamlined and precise.  Of course with all this refinement has come a price tag. The previously free application now works on monthly subscriptions.

In preparation of my trip, I decided to head back and found that I was sort of grandfathered in: allowed to review the words I "learned" when it was still free but unable to unlock any new content. Overall, a nifty program, but I had to admit I liked it much better when it was free.

Link: http://www.babbel.com
Conclusion: Useful for vocabulary, but I can't speak for the grammar instruction.
Price: 12.95 a month. Less if you buy in bulk.

Ma France

Track of Ma France lessons

I only just discovered this webapp about a week ago. Hosted by the BBC, Ma France is a collection of 24 video lessons, ranging in topic from Food, to Directions to Dating. The videos come with both english or french subtitles, so you can follow along. After the viedo is done, the program includes a few short games to check vocabulary and grammar from the lesson.

The only apparent downside to the program is the fact that it's catered to people who already have a basic understanding of the language. My French II training is just enough to scrape me by and help expand my vocabulary, but it isn't quite at the level they assume you are.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/mafrance/flash/#

Conclusion: Informative videos and a lot of conversation, but only for people who already have a solid base in the language.

Price: Free

StudyBlue

While not a language learning tool on it's own, StudyBlue has become one of my new best friends when it comes to iPhone apps. Free to students, StudyBlue is a combination webapp/iPhone app that allows for the creation and sharing of flash cards. The system is great to use, with the program letting you mark the cards that you had wrong or right, use the cards others have created and sync with one of my all tie favorite applications, Evernote.

For the french study, I've been using it mostly for vocabulary and to refresh my verbs, but I can see myself using it for more than that later on.

Link: http://www.studyblue.com/

Conclusion: Well organized and easy to use notecard application. 

Price: Free  with an .edu email

Fluenz

Finally, there is Fluenz, which is the program I've been using the most to help me with my French study. I've been fortunate enough that my family also expressed an interest in learning the language so we began to search for some kind of software that would help. Rosetta Stone seemed the obvious answer but we weren't fully convinced by the picture and text, full immersion, learn like a child kind of experience that Rosetta Stone was advertising.

But then we found Fluenz, and it was exactly what we were looking for. Fluenz is a 5 disk system that, like Rosetta Stone, tries to teach adults how to speak a foreign language, but unlike Rosetta Stone, Fluenz uses english and the english grammar you already know to explain concepts in French. 

I myself started from Disk 1, even though I did remember most of the material, but the place where Fluenz shines is it's grammar instruction. The explanation videos are always clear and concise, never too long, but clearly explaining the sentence structure, in relation to the language you already know. I'm already on Disk 2 and I've found the program to be exactly what I was looking for. With it's focus on conversation, real life situations, and clear grammatical explanations, I'd have to recommend the Fluenz system to anyone trying to learn a language on their own. 

Link: http://www.fluenz.com/

Conclusion: Focus on real life conversations and thorough explanations make the program a delight to learn from. 

Price: $498 for the 5 disk set