When attending a private liberal arts college, I understood the desirability of acquiring a language other than my native English. People who could speak Spanish, French, or another tongue were perceived as being sophisticated, worldly and intelligent. Professors in all departments cited increased reasoning ability and broadened horizons as advantages for students enrolling in foreign language classes. But, in spite of all the romantic reasons given for me to begin such a study, I saw little practical use for the pursuit. The jobs I planned to apply for after graduation did not seem to require a second language, and most people I knew got along just fine as “English only” speakers.

 

Now, however, I can see how shortsighted those views really were. The more reading and studying I do, the more reasons I see for developing language skills. There are professional and economic considerations as well as social and personal incentives for developing into a bilingual person. I have decided to use the Rocket French system in order to learn to speak French, and at this point in my studies I am very happy that I am expending the effort. I’ve made a good start on my journey and am extremely pleased that I have. Whether you are a baby boomer or a member of another generation, an examination of some of the benefits and advantages of language studies could help to inspire you to learn a second language, as well.

 

Visit the 'Rocket French' website

 

 

Business Advantages:

 

First, there are many business opportunities in our modern world that are simply not available to those who do not speak more than one language. While people who are just entering the job market may not be required to be bilingual, it is always looked at as an advantage. If an employer has a choice between two individuals, who are otherwise equally qualified for the position, but one speaks French and the other does not, the French speaker is highly likely to be hired. The thinking is that even if the entry-level position does not need a bilingual person, the company can certainly find many ways to use that employee in years to come.

 

The phrase “It’s a Small World” has never been truer than it is today. Most large corporations have offices and production plants in all parts of the world. According to Language Today, French is the second-most commonly used language on the Internet and is ranked as the second-most influential language in the world. Fax and email technologies provide nearly instant access to ideas and suggestions from around the globe. Anyone who can read, write and understand French without time lost for clumsy translation has a definite leg-up in the corporate world. Even small businesses are becoming increasingly globalized. They often buy supplies from or sell products to companies located on six continents. The knowledge of French can do a lot to provide job security.

 

More and more companies are sending their workers to posts overseas for a period of time. Because the worldwide market often figures prominently in the business plan of a corporation, employees are expected to gain an understanding of some of the remote offices and the cultures where they are located. These assignments can be a terrific way for young workers to get noticed within their organizations, and fluency in the language that is spoken where they work will be a great advantage. Any up-and-coming businessman who can increase sales or production while working with a foreign market and labor force is sure to get noticed in the company. When assignments like this are completed with ease, a promotion often follows. Managers assume that anyone who performs well in a rather problematic cross-cultural environment is sure to handle a new home-based position without incident.

 

French (along with English) is the official language of many international organizations including the United Nations, The International Labor Bureau, NATO, The International Olympic Committee, and the International Red Cross. Many European organizations like the European Court of Justice and the European Community employ French as their working language. French is the 2^nd most commonly taught foreign language in the world (after English) so you are likely to find French-speakers wherever you travel.

 

One often-overlooked benefit of learning French is that it will help you improve your English skills. Learning a second language forces you to become more aware of grammatical rules and verb tenses, which in turn helps you use English properly. You will also increase your English vocabulary when you study French. This is because more English words have roots that come from French than from any other language. Your vocabulary and awareness of grammar will both benefit if you use Rocket French. This can be vital for anyone who writes or speaks for a living.

 

 As of 2006, US companies employed about 600,000 people who worked in France. French corporations employed another 500,000 American workers. When you add in all the people who work and trade with French-Canadian partners, the number of workers who use their ability with language on a daily basis is significant.

 

Visit the 'Rocket French' website

 

 This brings us back to the perceptions I had as a college student about bilingual people being worldly and cool. In today’s world, this perception has become fact. Whether you are shopping, dining, or meeting new folks in a social setting, if you know how to speak French, your stock rises in the eyes of most people.

 

The whole area of French food and wine is another place where the knowledge of language can be of great personal benefit. Reading and understanding French menus, and learning about the types and brands of wine have brought untold pleasure to thousands of people. Ordering with confidence at my favorite French restaurant has been one of the biggest perks I have enjoyed since beginning my study with Rocket French.

 

French films and novels are praised around the world for their artistic merit. Many literary works like poems or songs do not translate well into English. If you can read books in their original language or watch a movie without subtitles, you are more likely to gain a true understanding of the nuances of the work.

 

Studies have shown that learning a language is one of the best ways to increase brain function. Baby boomers like me that study a second tongue are about half as likely to experience dementia as those who do not stretch their brains in that way. This is a powerful motivation for me as well as many other people who view Alzheimer’s and similar maladies as something to be avoided if at all possible. At the other end of the age spectrum, children who study a second language have been shown to have higher standardized test scores and better problem solving skills than their peers who remained monolingual.

 

I’ve saved my primary reason for studying French for last. Since I have goals of traveling to several French-speaking areas of the world, I know that my ability to converse with citizens there in their own language will make my trips much more enjoyable. Natives tend to respect tourists who at least make an effort to speak their language more than those who assume that everyone should know English.  It is completely understandable why they feel this way, and they are likely to be much more friendly and helpful because of it. I intend to visit out-of-the-way places that do not cater only to tourists, and will therefore find the skills I have acquired through Rocket French to be even more invaluable.

 

So Why Rocket French?

If you are still reading this, you are probably finding some compelling reasons for beginning your own study of French. Now, the question becomes…why should you use the Rocket French system? There are plenty of methods that you could choose to help you become a French-speaker, but I firmly believe that Rocket French is the best. Before I started my lessons, I looked into other ways of acquiring language skills, including taking private lessons, enrolling in a local college course, and studying with another online or DVD system. I chose Rocket French, and am very happy that I did.

 

The two biggest problems with using a tutor or structured class are the expense and the scheduling inconveniences. Private teachers can charge more than $30 an hour for their services, which I found to be prohibitive. Classes at community colleges are cheaper, but they still have the limitation of meeting at a particular time and place that often does not seem to work into my schedule. Furthermore, just about all courses or lessons are set up to meet once or twice a week. I wanted to be able to study French every day and not get “stuck” repeating the same material over and over until the class met again.

 

These facts led me to DVD and online courses that promised to make me a French-speaker. I reviewed several products and talked to people I knew that had used some. Rocket French was my choice, and it has done more to help prepare me for my trip to France in just a few short weeks than anything else could have. I know this is true because my confidence and skill are growing every day. Not only do I feel at ease when visiting my favorite French restaurant, I’m now able to speak to the little old French Madame at my church in her own language to the delight of both of us. I’m learning the phrases I need to know to be able to go skiing in the Alps, visit museums and galleries and ask intelligent questions, and shop the Paris markets with ease. How has Rocket French been able to do this? It uses a multi-sensory, interactive approach.

 

Visit the 'Rocket French' website

 

The heart of the Rocket French course is 31 audio lessons taught by native French-speaker Marie Claire Riviere. As a teacher who could remember the frustrations of language learning when she studied English, Claire (as she calls herself in the lessons) wanted to produce practical and informative instruction that would fully engage the student and provide useful content right from the beginning of the course. When I realized that some of the teaching is done through audio files, I was a little skeptical. I really wondered if I would be able to listen to that many hours of one person’s voice without getting burned out. Fortunately, Claire has a very pleasant timbre to her voice and never gets whiny or shrill. Her accent is perfect because she is a native of France, and I know that if I imitate her as closely as possible, I will be able to make myself understood in Paris or Quebec City.

 

No matter how easy-on-the-ears a teacher may be, however, if the lessons were composed only of audio material, I would have been unimpressed. I know enough about the way people learn to understand that involving more than one of our five senses is crucial to successful education. If a person can hear, see, and say something, the chances that they will retain the new information are greatly enhanced. That is why the Rocket French course relies so much on the interactive component to the lessons.

 

Each new audio file is a well-produced conversation between Claire and her friend Paul who are discussing a wide variety of situations that people find themselves in. After listening to an exchange in French and reading along, the material is explained in English. Then you, as a student, are given a chance to repeat after Claire as she says each phrase clearly at conversational speed. It is the speaking that gives you the most reinforcement of the vocabulary you are learning. When you see a word on a page, hear it said, and then repeat it; you are giving the knowledge three pathways into your brain instead of just one. If you write the word down, (which is encouraged in some of the more advanced lessons) your chances of remembering are increased again.

 

Rocket French is available as a computer download or on CD’s, but either way you can stop or start the lesson as many times as you like. You have the flexibility to repeat it if you need to and listen at any time of the day or night. 

 

The grammar portion of Rocket French is very well done, too. I say that as a person who has never liked grammar and always considered it tortuous to study. This program comes with 45 written and illustrated grammar lessons that are accompanied by about 3000 short audio tracks. That means that you get the advantage of seeing and hearing together when learning grammar, as well. The workbook is full of interesting little exercises and quizzes that provide lots of variety. It is so entertaining that I can almost forget that I am studying grammar.

 

Visit the 'Rocket French' website

 

Now we come to the part of the course I have enjoyed most of all…the computer learning games. Maybe it’s because I have a competitive nature, but something about being able to improve my score or my time by playing a game is very motivating for me. Rocket French comes with three games that address different aspects of language learning and provide a fun way to gain skills.

 

The first game is called Mega Vocab, and its purpose is obviously to boost your French vocabulary. When playing the game you are shown a picture and then four possible French words that could identify it. If you choose the correct one right away, you get the maximum number of points. Your score decreases with each incorrect guess. I feel so great if my score is higher today than it was yesterday, you’d think I had won an Olympic event. A really cool feature of Mega Vocab lets you add in your own pictures and list of answers. This is great for anyone that needs to learn a specialized or technical subject matter. I plan to visit many art museums when I go to France, so I have entered a lot of names for art techniques and methods so that I can learn them and ask as many questions as I like when I visit.

 

The second computer game is called Mega Audio. This one is invaluable for learning how to understand the spoken word. Since I won’t have a transcript of any real conversation I may have with a French citizen in front of me when I get there, I need to be able to understand what I hear with a minimum of requests for repetition. When I play Mega Audio, I hear a word or phrase spoken at a real-life speed with a perfect accent. Then I chose the correct answer from six pictures that could be illustrating what I heard. I find myself getting better and better at understanding the words and phrases that are spoken during the game and my scores keep going up.

 

Mega Verbs is the name of the third computer game that is part of the Rocket French system. I just started using it recently when I reached the intermediate level of the course. It teaches proper verb construction that is needed for composing more and more complex sentences. Once again, the fact that I can conjugate verbs by playing a game means that I am more likely to practice, just so that I can see my scores climbing.

 

Visit the 'Rocket French' website

 

The Rocket French course comes with some bonus materials that really enhance the learning of French. My personal favorite is the members’ forum that allows me to chat with other French students online. The other students there like to vent about their difficulties and frustrations in trying to learn a new language, and they like to share their successes as well. It’s a very friendly community that lets me practice a little French and learn some things about culture and other topics I am interested in. For example, I just read an interesting thread from a member who wanted a recommendation for a French movie that she could watch in order to practice her new language skills. Several other forum posters gave suggestions about good films, both with and without subtitles, which she would enjoy. After reading all the comments I decided I am going to watch “La Vie En Rose” at the first opportunity.

 

Another bonus of the course is the free six-day sample lessons that are provided without obligation. I tried those before I bought the course and I have to say that they supply a very good feel for what the main system will do. If you try them and decide not to purchase the program, you have lost nothing. But even if you do get the whole Rocket French course, you can change your mind after you make the purchase. This is because the company offers a money-back guarantee. You have sixty days to decide whether or not you want to keep the whole thing. In my experience, businesses have to be pretty confident of their products in order to make such a promise. It’s an indication of a quality course if you can get a full refund after you have had plenty of time to try it out. 

 

Conclusion:

I have absolutely no regrets about the decision I made to buy Rocket French. It is stimulating my mind, preparing me to travel, and making me a more interesting person. Perhaps an old Czech proverb said it best: “You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once.” I intend to live at least twice, and I may even go on to learn Spanish or German in the future. Read more about Rocket French HERE or have a look at some of the other courses I've purchased below.