French Learning Suite Reviewer's Comments

The Complete French Learning Suite is a compilation of some of Transparent Language's most popular language programs and is a good choice for beginners. The main learning program is Learn French Now, which is a good program based around video lessons. This is bundled with the flashcard programs French Before You Know It and Panoramic, both designed to help with vocabulary and picture-word association. The Complete French Learning Suite also comes with an audio course and a dictionary for supplementing learning. All of these components are available to be purchased separately from Transparent Language.

Each of these separate programs have different things to offer when learning French, but adding them all together doesn't necessarily mean the bundle is worth more. In this case, the bundle is not worth the sum of its parts. Because the individual features and benefits of each program aren't brought together into one comprehensive program, the Complete French Learning Suite loses some of its effectiveness. If you want to take advantage of all the benefits you must switch back and forth between programs, making the learning process tedious and frustrating. And what's more, the main teaching program, Learn French Now, just doesn't hold up against the products in our top three.

The French Learning Suite is an excellent choice if you simply want to practice your vocabulary, but the bundle suffers in the areas of grammar, online testing, ease of use and personal progress tracking.

Features:  

One of the biggest problems with using a French Learning Suite composed of several different programs is that there is no overall progress tracking system. A few of the individual programs have one, but the main learning software, Learn French Now, does not. So there is no way to assess your progress overall.

Some of the lessons and vocabulary can be used on a mobile device, like an MP3 player. This is one of the French Learning Suite's biggest assets because you can practice your French anywhere you go.

Fundamentals:  

While there are elements of the French Learning Suite that handle all the fundamentals, the bundle focuses heavily on vocabulary. This is partially because of the flashcard programs and the dictionary included in the Suite. Some other fundamentals, like grammar, don't get covered nearly as well.

Conversation and pronunciation can be practiced through the speech recognition system included in the French Learning Suite, but it isn't quite as accurate as the programs in our top three.

Ease of Use:  

The Complete French Learning Suite can be quite frustrating to use because you must alternate between five different programs just to get all the aspects of learning a language. Even the individual programs can be frustrating since their navigation systems aren't as refined as many other language software. For example, French Before You Know It is hard to navigate even though the concept is simple: flashcards for various topics. We found it difficult to understand what various buttons did even after watching tutorials on the program.

Teaching Tools:  

There are several different ways of learning in the French Learning Suite. Many of the programs use picture-word association and word recognition activities to improve your French. The Complete French Learning Suite also makes good use of video to help you see and experience French conversations and accents in context. This is great for helping you understand how the language sounds.

There is also a speech recognition system that gives extensive feedback on different parts of your voice so that you know exactly what to work on. Unfortunately, the speech recognition didn't seem quite as accurate in evaluating voices as some of the other programs that we reviewed.

Another great feature is slow sound. Slow sound lets you slow each Spanish word down so that you can hear how a syllable is pronounced in great detail.

Word Tools:  

The Complete French Learning Suite comes with several different tools for helping you find or translate words. The included dictionary is the most thorough resource, but each program in the bundle has different tools to help you.

Tech Support/Help:  

We weren't able to find a FAQ about the Complete French Learning Suite, but there is a manual and tutorials to help you navigate the various programs included in the bundle. Transparent Language also has email and phone support line to help you in the case of technical problems.

Summary:  

You receive several interesting French language programs in one package deal with Complete French Learning Suite. Unfortunately, they don't add up to a great learning experience. If you want a better integrated and more intuitive learning experience, try out #1 or #2 products.