Le Français?
Hein ... à ce moment là?

(Je m'excuse ... mais ce n'est pas possible!)

French Now!  by Transparent Language is a French language instructional program designed to expose learners to mastery of the French language. Through the use of a multimedia computer, French Now!  presents its text-based content both in writing and aloud. The program encourages reading, listening, speaking and writing. With a point and a click, you can listen to French words and phrases in isolation. Likewise, you can listen to complete sentences or an entire text. On computers equipped with microphones, the opportunity further exists to record and immediately listen and compare one's pronunciation with the text as read à voix haute.

For $129.00, French Now!  offers a master collection of several Language Now!  titles bundled together into a CD-ROM family of courseware titles. The master language package evaluated in this review consisted of three items: A Trip to Paris, newspaper excerpts from the French-American Journal français d'Amérique, and a collection of ancient fables entitled Contes et légendes. These titles and more may also be purchased separately for prices ranging from $24.95 to $29.95. Transparent Language offers over 220 titles including literature, non-fiction, culture, business, current affairs, and travel content for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Latin, and English language learners.

A Trip to Paris  is an example of a conversation series that re-enacts a voyage through France in all its myriad episodes. The journey dialogue is sometimes natural; sometimes overly accentuated; but always lucid. The male voice is superbly convincing ... expressive! Sadly, the female voice leaves something to be desired, which is a shame because this is supposed to be "real-life" conversation. Can this be representative of dialogue that one would expect to find in Paris or Marseilles? This not withstanding, French Now!  remains true to an objective of introducing as many words and phrases as possible in what might ordinarily be a vastly incomprehensible "sea of language." When spoken clearly and consistently, the featured words, phrases, and structures become comfortable and familiar far more quickly. (author's note:  This reviewer has traveled France on occasion and while he found comprehension of the French Now!  dialogue easy and enjoyable, the featured scenarios are bereft of "real-life" authenticity.)

The Journal français d'Amérique  offers well-written, "real-life" exposure to the French language. Though the pace of narration is hardly as fast as that of an authentic television or radio news summary, the exposure to ever-extensive vocabulary and far-ranging themes of actualité  is worthwhile. Featured as subject matter is the political life of François Léotard, the film career of Catherine Deneuve, an article about mothers in France who both work and raise families, and a book review of a novel by Marguerite Duras. This is content of the like that one expects to find in any daily journal.

Contes et légendes  consists of four fables, "Les trois souhaits," "Le chat et le renard," Le poisson d'or," and "Baba laga." Through storytelling, this part of French Now!  offers a natural approach to language learning. Unfortunately, the quality of the telling  does not match the caliber of the stories. While all of the words are well-read and, above all, well-pronounced, the verbal expression fails to meet the basic entertainment standards of fais dodo  bedtime expectation. This is gravely disappointing. Transparent Language misses a wonderful opportunity to create a multimedia language arts statement through the magic of performance.

Beyond reading and listening content, French Now!  is also a grammar and vocabulary instructional program intended to help teach the French language purportedly "in the same way" that one learned English. However, inherent in this computer-mediated approach is at least one basic flaw: I did not learn English with the assistance of translation.

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