Tell Me More French by Auralog is an amazing software program that offers the eager learner the chance to delve right into the spoken language. As a French teacher, I can attest that this product is up to speed with the most current language teaching methodologies. Its focus is on effectively communicating in French in common day-to-day situations. Not only are users of this program able to hear French while they view the written form on the computer screen, they are also able to practice speaking the language with correct pronunciation and intonation using feedback from the program’s voice recognition software. This program puts the focus on oral and written understanding and expression, with just enough grammatical background to serve general communicative tasks.
The software package contains CDs for four levels of study: total beginner, advanced beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Each of the lessons begins with a dialogue in French that focuses on a particular task: introducing oneself, ordering in a café, buying a train ticket, or asking for directions, for example. For students who find the total immersion approach too daunting, there is a flag button available on the screen for almost every activity. With one click, this button will translate the French into English (or into Spanish, Italian, German, or even Dutch, if you prefer). This feature is particularly reassuring to both complete beginners and “visual” learners who like to listen to the audio with the written text and its translation in full view.
The adaptability of this language learning software to multiple learning styles is just one of its strengths. First of all, the user can chose from three different lesson modes: the guided mode (which is set up for the total beginner as a step-by-step approach to learning to read, understand, pronounce, and speak French), the free-to-roam mode (which allows for skipping from one exercise to the next and repeating exercises at random), and the dynamic mode (which allows students to set their own agendas for what they want to focus on the most: oral expression, listening comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, or grammar, for example). Secondly, each lesson includes a wide variety of exercises that repeat and reinforce skills, vocabulary, and structures introduced in the initial dialogues. Tell Me More French offers matching exercises, crossword puzzles, hidden word searches, fill-in-the-blanks exercises, scrambled sentences, dictations, writing activities, and picture/work association drills, in addition to the wonderful pronunciation and intonation activities and explanations. The exercises come with a solution button for immediate feedback, as well as translations and grammar explanations for many items.
Finally, this program includes another essential element for meaningful communication in another language: cultural information. Through maps, cultural texts of varying lengths, and cultural quizzes, Tell Me More French introduces the user to key aspects of French culture, from cuisine to traditions and customs, museums, monuments, and artists and musicians.
