Coffee Break French is the language podcast I mentioned in yesterday's post. It's a great course, whether you're new to French or reviewing what you've studied before (as I am). Mark is the teacher, and he's accompanied on the 'cast by Anna, who took French in school and is relearning along with us, the listeners.
The episodes follow a nice progression of knowledge and skill, and are 15-20 minutes long each (like your coffee break... get it?). In a typical lesson, Mark introduces a word or phrase, then there's a short silence for you to repeat the word, then Anna repeats it. The explanations are clear, the pronunciation tips good, and the production values excellent.
The fun part is: they're both Scots. Mark's French accent seems impeccable. Anna's... not so much, but then neither is mine! It's awesome listening to them go back and forth between accents.
Coffee Break French is produced by Radio Lingua Network, which offers a wiiiiide range of language podcasts. I listen to the free version and subscribe to it through iTunes. Premium (pay) versions are available and include additional course materials and/or podcast extras.
How about you -- have you ever used a podcast to learn a language? Did you get a chance to practice on some native speakers? If so, which podcast(s)? I'm interested in RLN's German and award-winning Spanish 'casts, too -- let me know if you've used them. Thanks!
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6 ate pie:
Hi! *waves*
This is awesome - 'cause I'm going to Paris next year and I cannot believe my French is so bad after how many courses I've taken. I want to at least be able to ask for directions.
Thanks for the review - we're always really pleased to hear from listeners and wish you well in your continued studies of French - bonne continuation.
Mark - Coffee Break French host
Hey, Krissy! WOOT for an upcoming trip to Paris -- you'll have a blast. One thing you may like about this podcast is that Mark has a deep, sonorous, great-for-audio voice. Not that that has any bearing on why I'm a loyal listener.
Oh hey, everyone -- IT'S MARK! Howdy, Mark. You're welcome. I voted for Coffee Break French at Podcast Alley. Will stop by iTunes to review, as well. I'm looking forward to trying your other language offerings!
I'm definitely going to check out some the language podcasts from Radio Lingua! I've used the podcast thing to help learn Japanese (I sorely need to do some review too, back to the podcasts for me). I used JapanesePod101 but it sounds fairly similar to Radio Lingua.
You had me at "Scot"
Jenn - RLN has a lot to choose from, and languages you don't see everywhere, too.
beth - heh-heh. (Seriously!)
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