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Rocket French Transparent French TELL ME MORE French Pimsleur French Fluenz French Rosetta Stone French
Rocket French Transparent French Tell Me More French Pimsleur French Fluenz French Rosetta Stone French
Your Rank #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
Your Rating
+110
+74
+50
+42
+22
+2
Learning Material 5 points 5 points 4 points 4 points 3 points 2 points
Audio Lessons 5 points 3 points 3 points 3 points 3 points 2 points
Language Games 5 points 3 points 3 points 1 point 3 points  
Word Tools 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 2 points 4 points
Virtual Teacher 4 points 3 points 2 points 3 points 3 points 3 points
Usability 5 points 4 points 5 points 3 points 4 points 3 points
Features 5 points 5 points 4 points 4 points 4 points 3 points
Ease of Usage 5 points 5 points 4 points 4 points 2 points 4 points
Support 5 points 3 points 5 points 3 points 4 points 3 points
Price Value 4 points 4 points 3 points 1 point 2 points 3 points
Total Score 5 points 4 points 4 points 3 points 3 points 2 points
Review Read Review Read Review Read Review Read Review Read Review Read Review
Lowest Price $99.95 $179.95 $499/year $265.95 $358.00 $299.00
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Notes

French is part of the Romance language family, and is spoken by 110 million native speakers and 190 million second language speakers. In addition to France, French is spoken in the Romandy region of Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels, in Belgium, Monaco and the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick in Canada. Due to the history of French colonial rule in Africa, French is the dominant language of Gabon, Mauritius, Algeria, Senegal, and Cote d'Ivoire.

French is the primary second language taught in many high schools throughout America and the UK, and is an essential language to learn for those wishing to work or travel in the European Union. French is a fun and relatively easy language to learn, and with the help of a home-study course you'll be speaking basic French within a month. You'll also save a lot of money studying this way. Private lessons and language school fees can quickly amount to thousands of dollars, particularly if you study to an intermediate level. Using an interactive software course, like those featured in the above comparison table, will help you progress quickly to a proficient level of conversational French.

Comparison Table Analysis

The comparison table is compiled from my personal trials of each language software course. I have written an extensive review of each brand, and then used my findings to create the easy-access comparison table. As you can see, Transparent French is the table leader, and really is an outstanding course. The software uses an interactive book interface with easy-to-follow chapters that cover over 2,000 words and phrases. The interface is accompanied by a flash card system that helps expand your vocabulary, readying you for the online lessons, quizzes and tests.

If you're on a budget and can't stretch for Transparent, you'd do well to opt for Rocket French, which offers an equally good interactive platform for a fun, diverse learning experience. Rocket Languages is well noted for its post-purchase support, providing both a virtual teacher and learners' forum. Either way, both Transparent and Rocket will take you from basic to intermediate French for under $200, which really is a great deal.

Pimsleur is a good course too, except that it is shipped as a physical CD package, which for many is a little old-fashioned these days, since downloads provide far more flexibility in terms of transferring lessons to multiple digital devices. Moreover, the fact that Pimsleur ships as a box set pushes the price up considerably when compared with Transparent and Rocket, tipping it over the five hundred dollar mark for the full course.

I hope the comparison table above helps you decide on a course that best fits your goals, budget and overall learning requirements. To assist you in making your decision, I encourage you to dig down into the reviews and read more about each brand. You can also use the "Go" links at the bottom of each column to navigate to the vendor's page and read the latest updates on each course. Bonne Chance! Au revoir!

Last updated: Monday, Dec. 09, 2024