Learning to speak a second language is one of the most rewarding challenges that you can undertake. Learning the native tongue of the countries you travel adds wonders to an already thrilling experience.

You will find many courses to choose from if you are looking for a course that will teach you a foreign language. How do you know which courses excel at their job and which ones fail to make the grade? You certainly do not want to waste your money on an imperfect course! This site has been erected in order to share our experience with anyone who wants to learn how to speak French.

I have chosen to review Rocket French which has been produced by a company called Rocket Language Ltd. Marie-Claire Rivire wrote the course who is a native to France. This company prides itself for producing high quality language learning courses which include Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, German, French and the American Sign Language.

The first module is made up of 31 audio tracks. You will be able to speak some basic words immediately following your very first lesson. This course instructs you in conversational French. This means that you will be able to converse with native French speakers as you travel throughout the country. You will feel that you are in your own comfort zone as you speak with the locals, ordering in restaurants and asking for directions, etc.

The package includes the actual transcripts of the audios and I found that particularly helpful in following along. Each audio is about 20 minutes long which means the full module is about 11 hours of content. The methods used within this content will allow you to absorb and speak modern French quickly. Eleven hours seems like a lot I know, but with the use of the audio tracks the time goes by very quickly and effortlessly.

This program includes software which not only makes learning fun but easy as well. MegaVocab is the title of the first software application.

MegaVocab is a vocabulary recognition tool. This was found to be very helpful especially in the beginning. Basically, as you run through a series of words, you learn the words not only through repetition but by association with a picture. This is sort of like using flashcards, the same method you used as a child.

This software has 1,000 pictures and words built into it. However, as you progress with the language, you are able to add more words and pictures of your own choosing.

Once I began to learn the vocabulary, the next step was to go on to the MegaAudio software. I then began to feel self-confident with all I had learned.

The software will provide exercises that not only test but improve your recognition of the spoken words. You will always have a unit of measure for your progress as the system provides a score with every exercise that you take.

I found this software to be a lot of fun to use. It is one thing to learn the vocabulary, but to understand it when spoken is another. In my opinion this is where other programs fall short, and where Rocket French excels.

Another sweet aspect of the Rocket French program is that it is not simply an introductory course. It was designed with the assumption that the student has no knowledge in the language when just beginning. This course continues to an advanced level as well. This was great and increased the value of this program because I would not have to go out and buy a more advanced French course as I progressed.

One very impressive part of this course is that of the ‘members only forum’. It is here where you can not only get your questions answered but you can converse with other students as well as the Rocket language online instructors. In my opinion, the forum made the cost of the Rocket French program a real bargain. If you happen to get stumped by something, you will be able to find lots of help on the forum.

My closing comment involves the pricing of this course. I wanted to get started straight away so I was delighted to find that they offered a download option which means they don’t have to ship out CD’s, software and printed material. They offer a two hundred dollar discount if you choose the download option (which is what I did). I was then able to listen on my computer, burn the material to a CD, and even load audio onto my ipod. By purchasing the downloaded course I was able to save myself two hundred dollars and I picked the course up for just under $100.

To top it all off, the folks at Rocket offer the course with a 60 day guarantee with no questions asked. When I consider the quality of the material presented, the software, the forum participation, the guarantee, and the bargain price, I can only give the Rocket French program my highest rating of 5 stars. If you are wanting to learn a second language, I think you will have a real hard time beating the quality of this program.