Abheek Bhadury

Rocket French

Quick Review

3.7 

Summary:

Rocket Languages offers courses in a number of languages, some of which aren’t great, while others are pretty solid. Rocket French is neither amazing nor terrible, it’s pretty good. The content is structured well and gives you lots of opportunities to practice what you’ve learned. But, their lessons can be rather bland, with a large emphasis on rote memorization drills.

Quality

The lessons aren’t very exciting, but you’ll learn from them, and they’re designed well.

Thoroughness

The course structure is solid and includes lots of explanations.

Value

The price tag for the lessons is relatively high but justifiable.

Price

Level 1 costs $99.95, Levels 1 and 2 cost $249.90, all three levels together costs $259.90.

Alternatives: Pimsleur is a somewhat similar course that focuses more heavily on oral language.

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FrenchPod101

Quick Review

4.2 

Summary:

If you want to learn French from the comfort of your own house, then Frenchpod101 is definitely a site worth visiting. It is a comprehensive learning tool that has lessons catered to your needs, whether you want to master the language or just learn a few common phrases. With engaging content in all forms of media, though primarily audio, this is a great way to learn the language of love.

Quality

The website is easy to use, but the pathways could be improved.

Thoroughness

This website covers almost everything there is to know about the French language and culture.

Value

A subscription is required, but it offers great value for the money.

Price

If you choose to opt for just a one-month subscription, you’ll end up paying $8, $25, and $47 for the Basic, Premium, and PremiumPLUS plans respectively. There are varying lengths and prices for subscriptions. A two-year subscription costs $4 a month for the Basic plan, $10 per month for Premium, and $23 a month for the PremiumPLUS.

Use the promo code “ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES” to save 25% on a subscription to FrenchPod101.

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French Today

Quick Review

3.8 

Summary:

French Today offers audiobooks, skype lessons, and on-site lessons in France. This article will focus on the audiobooks which range from beginner to the upper-intermediate level. There are different types of audiobooks, all of which are quite extensive. Many of them have nearly 10 hours of content and a PDF file with 200 or so pages.

Quality

Good content that can also be accessed from their app

Thoroughness

There are hours and hours of content covering most of the important aspects of the language

Value

Frequent discounts and bundles can significantly lower the cost

Price

The audiobooks range from $20 to $70. There are also bundles that make things a bit cheaper.

Alternatives: FrenchPod101 has audio lessons available for a low monthly subscription cost. Additionally, there are other good French coursespodcasts, and YouTube channels.

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Earworms

Quick Review

2.5 

Summary:

Earworms is a unique language resource that relies on audio lessons mixed into music. The theory is that you will find the music catchy and thus remember your lessons easily.  The whole idea behind Earworms is the psychological theory of memory association. You would associate some information with the music and thus remember it easily. However, the music used in these lessons will not appeal to everyone, at least it didn’t for me. Moreover, the lack of visual aid and no exercises to assess your skills make it harder.  I would only recommend this for people who have failed to learn through other online resources or perhaps someone looking to learn a few phrases before a trip.

Quality

With a lack of exercises and visual aids, I can’t really say that it will prove to be a useful resource.

Thoroughness

All the lessons are comprised of various phrases that they think will be useful for anyone willing to learn French. Unfortunately, they’re too shallow and poorly structured.

Value

With such low utility, it is important to have a low-price tag. Fortunately, they have followed this idea and thus you won’t be losing out too much if you opt for this.

Price

Each volume can be purchased as an mp3 download for £8.32 or as a CD for £14.99. You can save a little money by purchasing bundles as well. You can also purchase via the app for £9.99 per volume.

Languages: Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese – European, Portuguese – Brazilian, Spanish – European, Spanish – Latin American, Russian, and Turkish

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Frantastique

Quick Review

2.8 

Summary:

One of the most simply designed resources on the web, Frantastique is more than meets the eye. It follows an ideology which believes in immersing the students in the language and culture while making use of AI. I would recommend it to people who know at least bits and pieces of the language and don’t care about spending the insane prices they’re asking for.

Quality

The immersive lessons force you to sink or swim but the design is lackluster.

Thoroughness

The content that is presented to you is based on where you lack in the language and their revision system is very well done.

Value

With the high price and a limit on the number of lessons you can access per week, Frantastique is terrible value for the money.

Price

Prices vary according to subscription length and plan. The one month and 3-years plans costs are as follows; $24 – $65 per month for the Basic plan, $36 – $98 per month for the Premium plan and $48 – $96 a month for the Pro plan. Progressing to higher plans gets you a few additional features but the number of lessons is limited to 5 a week in each case. There is also a standard 7 lesson free trial available.

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