Learn French Software - What Makes A Great Educational Learning Product

By Adrian Whittle

Wow, there's plenty of learn French software packages available these days so what do you go for? Here is a quick guide to features you need in a French learning software product if you want to be successful in learning French.

The product must teach you the fundamentals of language learning. It must have dedicated sections to:

• Reading
• Writing
• Comprehension
• Speaking

Reading and writing should be featured in your software package but there are other ways to learn these skills without too much interaction from a 'teacher'. You could read French on the Internet for example, or practise writing French on forums and chat rooms. But comprehension of a word or sentence needs a dialogue between the learner and the teacher (or software package). The same goes for speaking French. A software package should be able to record your voice and compare it to a native French speaker. It should be able to give advice on how to improve your pronunciation.

Learn French software should motivate and focus the student. It should have a lesson plan that the student can follow and it should be able to track the students' progress and improvement over the lifetime of the lesson plan. This will focus and encourage the student to stick with the program.

Learn French multimedia

You should like the audio-visual or multimedia look of the product. After all, you will probably be spending many hours looking and listening to it. Make sure you can see what typical screens would look like or use a demo of the product.

Get a feel for how the software works. It should be easy to use, you are learning French not how to use a piece of software.

What features does the product have other than the teaching modules? Are there any videos, games or flash cards? These extra features could provide a break from the teaching or 'warm you up' before the teaching begins proper. If the games, for example, are good you will come back to the software and it will have an addictive quality that will help you to learn French even quicker.

Make sure you buy the right product. This sounds a bit obvious but many learn French software products are either beginner, intermediate or advanced in their scope. Check on the box or in the sales literature before you buy.

Adrian Whittle is a writer for www.learn-french-guide.com The site offers plenty of useful resources to help you learn French. There are a number of reviews of popular learn French software titles, including Pimsleur French, Rosetta Stone French, Michel Thomas and a detailed Rocket French review