Notre semaine avec Ubisoft's My French Coach est arrivée, malheureusement, à la fin. That is to say, in properly worded and conjugated English (because I'm sure the French was terrible ... or it was before commenter Rodac helpfully corrected it!), our week with the recently released French language trainer has, unfortunately, come to an end. After seven days of working with the title, it's time to not only recap today's lessons, but speak on the worth of the title as a whole.
If I were someone else, I would probably include a clip of Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" here, but instead you'll have to suffice with the shedding of one lone, tragic tear. It has been a very interesting sort of "review," and one that is well suited for a training game. I can even speak as to why, after lessons each day, that first sentence was so likely to be terrible.
All week long, we've been taking on Ubisoft's My French Coach in an effort to find out whether or not it's possible to learn (or at least supplement) a language with a DS game. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day six of our language training.
With only one more day to go in this diary after today's entry, I must say that I will be sad to see this wind down. However, the time with the training title has been so useful that I think I'll continue it, though perhaps a little less publically; after all, I really do struggle with French, though I find it a fascinating language. It's nice to find a resource that isn't based solely on spoken language, but is rather a blend of different styles. I know a lot of people who benefit from audio-based language training via CDs, and I am not one of them, alas. Being able to see and interact with things in My French Coach, however, has been dead useful.
The week is more than half gone, and that means our time with Ubisoft's My French Coach is winding down... at least, for the purposes of this diary. All week long, we've been taking on the training title in an effort to find out whether or not it's possible to learn (or at least supplement) a language with a DS game. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day five of our language training.
Today, I dropped back down to two lessons, though I had initially planned to do three. What happened? Directions happened. After continually confusing droite and droit (and really, who could blame me?), I thought it best to take a break instead of going for the gold. I did learn some new and interesting ways to maximize my learning with the game, however, which I will happily share.
The week rolls on here at DS Fanboy (and, uh, everywhere, really), and that means more quality time with Ubisoft's My French Coach. All week long, we're on a mission -- French language mastery! Or at least a valiant attempt to get through as many lessons as possible in seven full days. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day four of our language training.
As promised, today I attempted -- and passed! -- three lessons instead of two, and I do not recommend it. Maybe very early in the game, when it's just vocabulary, but by the time I was getting close to finishing, everything was starting to run together, and it took me longer to get through the lessons. I also made the mistake of trying to a) watch a little television during the first lesson, as well as b) carry on a conversation. The result? Brain overload. DS Fanboy's official advice while training on a language game is to focus ... or at least do something mindless while working through your lessons.
It's another day at DS Fanboy, and this week, that means more quality time with Ubisoft's My French Coach. All week long, we're on a mission -- French language mastery! Or at least a valiant attempt to get through as many lessons as possible in seven full days. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day three of our language training.
Since I did two lessons yesterday, it only seemed proper to keep that up. Even at this rate, I won't make it halfway through the lessons by Sunday! I may have to step it up to three tomorrow, but that's a lot of French, and my brain is weak and poor, and my mushy Southern accent may get in the way of mastering all that pronunciation. But that's no reason not to try, eh? Today's lessons weren't as complex as yesterday's ... or maybe I'm just getting better!
It's another day at DS Fanboy, and this week, that means more quality time with Ubisoft's My French Coach. All week long, we're on a mission here -- French language mastery! Or at least a valiant attempt to get through as many lessons as possible in seven full days. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's roll on through the second day's excursion with the language trainer.
During the second day's session, I decided to do not one lesson, but two. I also learned that cockiness does not pay -- but the butt-kicking I endured was completely worth it, as I managed to increase my list of mastered words by a great deal, and grew much more confident with the mini-games and various features of My French Coach.
As soon as Ubisoft announced their language trainers, we here at the DS Fanboy offices just knew we'd have to take one for a spin. The real question was ... which to choose? I love studying languages and have made a casual hobby of it over the years, and thus have a little bit of knowledge in a lot of areas. Of the two languages at hand -- Spanish and French -- I struggle more with French, so that seemed like a natural choice for the big test. I love the sound of the language, but the peculiar (to me) accents, the soft, slurring sounds, and all the similarities between the singulars and plurals often leave me mystified. Written French I can handle in small doses, but spoken leaves me struggling. Can Ubisoft's trainer help me master my difficulties in the space of one week? There's only one way to find out!
