French other than rosetta stone?

[pjssully]

I am looking for a good program that can be self taught with maybe one tutoring session per week. any suggestions?

thanks

pam

[MaryCatherine]

Just thought I'd bump this for ya since it's been a couple of days. Hoping you can get some help.

[Liza Q]

My oldest used Le Francais Facile 1 and 2. It was not ideal, as there was very little spoken French. But she learned the grammar and a great deal of vocabulary. By the end of her second year, she was doing well writing in French (the program requires the student to keep a journal in French) and translating in both directions. I was able to supervise her, as I took French for 5 or so years in school. But I did not do much - it really is a self-teaching program.

 

She dropped French in her Senior year (she had done Latin 7-9th and French 10-11th), partly because we could not find something that looked good for French 3 and partly because she got a part-time job and did not want to take as many electives as I wanted :glare:

 

Anyway - fast forward to this September. After two years off from French she began again as a sophomore in college. She is doing very well and is now considering minoring in French! She remembers tons and it has made her work much easier, as the class is moving pretty fast.

 

So, if your goal is fluency by the end of High School, I don't think LFF will get your child there. But if you are looking for a self-teaching program that covers grammar and vocabulary, LFF might work.

 

Some other thoughts -

 

Does the tutor you are considering have something in mind?

Have you considered The Potters School? It looks thorough, and they offer the extra class just for conversation - sweet! Pricey, but sweet!

I have read some good stuff about Breaking the Barrier.

 

hth

[Punks in Ontario]

Have you looked at Aurolog's Tell Me More series. We're using this here and it's working out quite well. I should be using some tutoring or time with me to add to it, but I'm just not getting there.

[lauranc]

We are using Fluenz French and also Breaking the Barrier French. So far, we like both.

 

HTH

[Gratia271]

Breaking the Barrier is a good program. Some people on the board use it in conjunction with Auralog Tell Me More French.

[StephanieZ]

Galore Park's Latin & Spanish are excellent. I am sure their French is also.

[mooooom]

the videos are free at annenbergmedia. I was able to find the audio and text at Amazon used and only had to purchase the workbooks. The key is to watch the videos everyday. We supplement with low level chapter books. While my kids aren't speaking much (partly my fault for not making them) their oral and reading comprehension is pretty high, even for my kid who is terrible at memorizing and whom I never thought would learn at all.

[Laura Corin]

Galore Park's Latin & Spanish are excellent. I am sure their French is also.

 

I would not describe it as self-teaching, however. The audio is very simple, with no interaction. With a once-a-week tutor it would be doable - the tutor could set exercises to work on for the rest of the week.

 

Laura

[StephanieZ]

I would not describe it as self-teaching, however. The audio is very simple, with no interaction. With a once-a-week tutor it would be doable - the tutor could set exercises to work on for the rest of the week.

 

Laura

 

My dc are doing well with a tutor every 2 weeks. I am no help at all, so they manage with the books just fine. I agree that it would not be easy w/o regular access to a tutor.