<p>I plan on beginning the study of french when I begin college next fall. Would it be useful to purchase a language learning software to coincide with the classes? Or would it be a waste of money? My goal is to become fluent in the language.</p>
<p>DON’T DO IT!!!
It’s all just a hoax!
Just pay close attention in class and watch tv, listen to music, and read often in the target language. And if it comes to it, just go over the grammar everyday. Depending on the language and time you put into it, it should only take you around 27 weeks for romance languages and German, and 62 for the more complex asian languages. It really depends on how much time and effort you put into it.</p>
<p>I get a lot of learning language software for review through the Amazon Vine program. The only ones I think are really worth it are the more expensive ones, but every once in a while an inexpensive set of CDs will surprise me. I’ve found Rosetta Stone to be as good as they claim, if you actually stick with it. That being said, getting it as a supplement for a class you are in probably won’t work out. The arrangement of topics in the classroom will most likely not match the arrangement of topics on your software. Where the language software is good is for preparing before a class (ie. over the summer) or brushing up after the class.</p>
<p>If I were to get a program it would be Fluenz French (about $350). I do have a bit of french experience and as you said, I would ideally use it leading up to the fall in preparation for the first course. I just don’t know if it would be a good investment. Obviously other folks have not used language software and fluently learned a language.</p>
<p>I pirated a whole bunch. Haven’t gotten around to using them yet.</p>
<p>There are enough free (…or not-legally downloaded) resources that you shouldn’t need to purchase anything.</p>
<p>Depending on the language, of course, here are some sites:
[Learn</a> Chinese - ChinesePod<a href=“continue%20making%20new%20accounts%20to%20get%20full%20free%20access”>/url</a>
[url=<a href=“http://spanishpod.com%5DLearn”>http://spanishpod.com]Learn</a> Spanish - SpanishPod](<a href=“http://chinesepod.com%5DLearn”>http://chinesepod.com)
[Language</a> Learning with Livemocha | Learn a Language Online - Free<img src=“what%20I%20liked%20about%20this%20is%20that%20natives%20critique%20your%20pronunciation%20and%20grammar” alt=“/url”>
[url=<a href=“http://byki.com%5DLearn”>http://byki.com]Learn</a> Spanish, French, German, Italian and over 70 languages with Byki software.](<a href=“http://livemocha.com%5DLanguage”>http://livemocha.com)</p>
<p>A quick Google search will reveal a lot more free sites, but these are just the ones I regularly visit.</p>
<p>Software:
Pimsleur is what I swear by (free via torrents)</p>
<p>Avoid Rosetta Stone, it’s useless.</p>