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February 2008
Editors' Choice DS Game My French Coach (DS) Reviewed by Angie Kibiloski
My French Coach (Retail $29.99), from Ubisoft, is the product to turn to for anyone who wants to learn French in a fun and different way. This game, for the Nintendo DS, is easy to use, comprehensive, and great for both a beginner and someone who just needs a refresher on the language. You'll learn vocabulary, pronunciation, and phrases that will allow you to converse easily when traveling. The game tracks your progress as you play, and only lets you proceed to the next lesson if you have mastered the previous one. This way, you are sure to have the proper foundation, before continuing on to more complex language concepts. My French Coach is like a classroom in the palm of your hand.
This program contains around 10,000 words, and 700 phrases, within the 1,000 interactive and enjoyable lessons. Before you begin playing, you are given an aptitude test, to see how much French you already know, and which lessons you might be able to skip. The course begins with simple vocabulary like "who," "what," "when," "where," and "why," and builds simple phrases from there. One of the first phrases you'll learn might be the most important when traveling: "Where are the restrooms?" FYI, this translates to "Où sont les toilettes?" Each lesson begins with a group of words or phrases, with visual and audio translations. You can then record your own voice speaking the French, to compare to the game's instruction voice. This is really helpful in mastering the sometimes tricky accent.
Once you have seen and heard all the words or phrases of the lesson, you will be tested on your comprehension via fun games. These games include Flash Cards, Memory, Hit-A-Word, Word Search, and many more. Each time you play a game, you collect Mastery Points for each word you used correctly. Collect enough Mastery Points to master each word, and you can move on to the next lesson. As you finish levels, the game will unlock more games, or increase your status, from Kindergarten, to First Grade, etc. After you have mastered 50 structured lessons, the Open Lesson section will be unlocked. This is a faster, more advanced lesson system, where you will learn 10 vocab words at once, and be tested on your retention. You can continue through all 1,000 of these lessons, and have the chance to learn every word in the dictionary. In addition to the lessons, you can look up any word you wish to translate in the Reference section. You can search the Dictionary in French or English, to get a word translated, conjugate a verb, and hear a pronunciation. The Phrasebook allows the same kind of search, for common phrases instead of single words. And for when you are traveling and can't seem to find a proper translation quick enough, you can try to convey your meaning to your listener with the Sketchpad feature. Here you can use the stylus to draw what you want to say, and hope that the French person you are speaking with is good at Pictionary. My French Coach is really a great product for all levels of French students, from beginners to advanced speakers. It is a useful tool for traveling, as a quick reference, or a prep course on the plane. It’s simple to use, caters to both audio and visual styles of learning, and most importantly, is fun! I took French for 6 years in school, and I am having a ball going through this program and testing myself in the games, relearning things I didn't realize I had forgotten, and discovering words and phrases that I'd never come across before. And, in case being bi-lingual is not enough for you, after you have mastered French, Ubisoft also offers My Spanish Coach, so you can expand your language education even more. For more information about this product, click on the image below.
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