Learning Languages with Linguaphone (Linguaphone In Action Spanish 2.0 (Audio CD))

Member Name: Kukana

Product:	Linguaphone In Action Spanish 2.0 (Audio CD)
Date:	26/10/04 (2256 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comprehensive course material, Online support, Many languages available

Disadvantages: Very expensive, Hard going on one's own, Not really appropriate for children

The Linguaphone system is one of the oldest and most popular methods of learning a foreign language. The word 'Linguaphone' literally means 'language-sounds', and the idea behind it is to spend time listening to native speakers using their language in context, so it can be learned almost as a child might learn by living in a foreign country. In recent years they have updated their system extensively from the early vinyl records through to full multi-media options for some languages, and a comprehensive web-site http://www.linguaphone.co.uk which explains the method, and where you can order the courses and register for support.

When you receive a course, it comes nicely boxed with either cassettes or CDs, and books which generally contain the text in full plus explanatory notes, and perhaps a dictionary. The theory behind Linguaphone is to learn primarily by listening, so the most important part is the audio material. The earliest lessons consist of people introducing themselves, and using simple greetings; by about the tenth or eleventh they will have covered basic use of words around the home, perhaps a conversation over a meal, booking into a hotel, or going for a walk and discussing plants. The culture related to the specific language tends to be introduced in a natural way, so the approach is 'whole language', and the books reinforce what the student listens to rather than being the primary method of learning.

Linguaphone claim that their courses can usually be completed successfully in about twelve weeks.

~~ So does it work? ~~

My parents - for some reason - had a Russian Linguaphone set many years ago, and when I was about twelve I decided it would be fun to learn. This was long enough ago that there were little 45rpm records provided. However I thought it would be more useful to start by learning the alphabet in Russian... and unfortunately never got any further. I couldn't make head or tail of the lessons by myself. After a couple of weeks I gave up and taught myself to type instead, which was considerably more successful and useful!

~~ Arabic ~~

My next experience was with Arabic Linguaphone. The reason we live in Cyprus at present is that my husband does much of his work in Arabic-speaking countries, and it's much cheaper and quicker to visit them based here rather than in the UK. Before we moved, he tried to join an Arabic evening class but there weren't enough students to make it viable; so, spotting a discount advert in a magazine, I suggested we buy the Arabic Linguaphone course so he could learn at his own speed, and the rest of the family could use it too if we felt so inclined. The total cost back then should have been around £200 but we had a discount of about 10% due to the coupon.

Unfortunately, it was extremely complicated. Several books accompanied the nine cassettes, but there were no general instructions about what to do! Listening to the start of the first tape on its own sounded like gibberish. There were three books with the text in Arabic, exactly as spoken on the tapes (apparently), but we didn't know how to read Arabic so they weren't much help. They didn't even tell us which one came first, or not in English anyway!

There's also a booklet explaining the Arabic alphabet, which was quite interesting, but rather overwhelming since it's nothing like any European alphabet - and of course it goes from right to left rather than the way we're used to. Even Russian was easy compared to this. Then written Arabic is rather different to printed Arabic, and the booklet was full of exercises which looked remarkably dull. So I abandoned that...

Then there's a handbook which gives every word used on the tapes, and grammatical explanations of the text in the lessons. Unfortunately, even the most basic of Arabic is apparently very complicted. Lesson one, supposedly the very simplest introduction, included over five pages of vocabulary words and a further ten pages of grammar notes. I would have to be very motivated indeed to work my way through this! My husband, who was a great deal more motivated than I was, but has always found languages hard, found it even more daunting.

Finally there's a book called 'translation', which included a transliteration (ie English letters used phonetically) of the Arabic, and translations of the text into English, with shorter vocabulary lists at the top of the pages. We could just about follow along the first lesson or two using this, but that's not how Linguaphone is supposed to be used: the idea is nostly to listen without reading, and to use the translations as help. Maybe the language was just too complicated, but I couldn't get beyond lesson one. More significantly, neither could my husband. When we arrived in Cyprus he took Arabic classes with a Lebanese lady for a year, and by the end was able to carry on a brief conversation in Arabic - but he still couldn't get beyond the first few lessons in the Linguaphone course.

~~ French ~~

Not long after we arrived in Cyprus we spotted a Linguaphone French set at £20 in the local thrift store. I had started home educating our sons, and was particularly worried about modern languages. My French is a rusty GCSE-level standard, and although I can read French (slowly, with the aid of a dictionary) and write simple French, I was never very good at speaking it. So we decided to give Linguaphone a try.

This was rather more successful - for one thing there were only two books to go with the tapes, and for another my French was adequate to deal with at least the first fifteen lessons or so, and to give explanations where relevant. We tried working through one lesson per week, listening each day to the French, then listening with the text in front of us, then working through the handbook which gave grammar explanations, then reading the text to help our accents...

I felt quite positive about it for the first month or two; the boys seemed to be picking it up well, even though they clearly weren't going to get through it in twelve weeks - I was doubtful we'd complete it in a year. Still, I was easily keeping a step ahead (so far!), and when they listened to 'old' lessons they could still understand them. The only problem that gradually emerged was that it was clearly intended for adults, rather than children. My sons were 11 and 9 at the time, so listening to people booking into hotels or discussing fine wines over dinner was pretty unappealing to them. They lost interest after about four months, and we decided to try an online course instead for a while.

Now, six years later, my younger son is working through a French text book which is very thorough but has no conversational French to listen to, so he supplements that by listening to the Linguaphone French. I keep planning to work through it myself to improve my French, but somehow time gets the better of me... and since we don't know anyone who speaks French out here, it's not easy feeling motivated.

~~ Greek ~~

The obvious language for us to learn in Cyprus is of course Greek. Friends had a Greek Linguaphone course, so after the boys learned the alphabet (much simpler than Arabic - and I did Ancient Greek at school so I knew it already) and had worked through the early chapters of a school-type textbook, we borrowed the Linguaphone course and started going through that much as we had done with the French.

And it followed the same pattern. We felt greatly encouraged in the early chapters. It was a bit harder for me to keep a step ahead, but I did at least understand some Greek grammar, which has simplified in 2000+ years but still has much that's the same. Reading Greek was easy for us all as it's fully phonetic; as we see it all around us we had at least got used to it. Listening to it on the tape wasn't too hard either: we hear it in shops and other places, and the early lessons went slowly with useful words and phrases.

But then it started getting harder, the vocabulary increased - and became less relevant to children - and the grammar concepts got harder. Linguaphone doesn't push grammar too hard, but it's almost impossible to learn a language past the age of six or seven without considerable reference to grammar. Small children can learn intuitively simply by hearing language around them, but adults have lost that facility. We see this all the time with newcomers to Cyprus - their young children pick up both English and Greek within a few months, without any effort, and chatter away fluently in both while their parents are still struggling with the basics!

So eventually we decided to return the Linguaphone, and use instead a free online course we had discovered. Even then none of us has got very far, and my older son is now taking private lessons from a friend to help his Greek.

~~ Summary ~~

For all these languages, to some degree, it was useful hearing the language is conversation. It certainly gave us a feel for modern Greek, and both my sons quickly learned how French sounds; moreover, neither of them forgot the basics, even though the older one decided not to continue studying it at all.

I think for an adult who is seriously motivated to learn a language, Linguaphone probably could work well; it really does provide a thorough grounding, so long as you're content to learn grammar and vocabulary as determined by the course. Clear explanations are given, even if not in the order I would expect, and it's always possible to go over them again if needed. I like being able to go at my own pace, too - taking as long as needed over any lesson, reviewing them if necessary, with no pressure from anyone else and no feeling of failure or of being stupid.

The focus on conversation is positive too, but then most modern language courses opt for that rather than the old-fashioned method of grammar first. I can't really see how anyone could finish a course in twelve weeks unless they were spending eight hours a day on it, and doing little else, but taken over six months or so, with regular study, I think it could potentially provide an excellent grounding.

On the other hand, when starting completely from scratch with no knowledge of the language at all, it can seem overwhelming and almost impossible. There's no teacher to answer questions that may not be included in the handbook - or may be covered much later on, although I gather that the Linguaphone web-site now offers free email support which could help with some of these problems.

With French and Greek, I knew enough to be able to answer such questions for my sons, at least in the early stages. With Arabic, we were completely in the dark. Perhaps if we had moved to an Arab-speaking country where there was little English spoken, we would have made more effort and would eventually have managed to work through it. According to the Linguaphone web-site, Arabic is their most popular course. We still have it, and one day - when I've learned Greek and revised French, and perhaps when pigs start flying... I may decide to try seriously. Maybe.

~~ What languages ~~

There are many languages available, from Africaans through to Welsh. New courses are being developed, and I gather old ones are being updated. There are now multimedia CD-Roms to go alongside some of the more traditional cassette-based Linguaphone courses, which - if your computer is able to take them - may make it more interesting and understandable.

~~ Levels ~~

Some of the languages have courses available in different levels, so that if you're not a complete beginner you can take a more advanced course. From our experience, I expect that the more advanced courses would be more successful, since the student would at least be beginning with some knowledge of the language and the ability to read it. We did buy an advanced French course from our thrift shop, at the same price we paid for the basic French, and I thought it would be useful for me to while away the hot summer days. As yet, I haven't done more than read the introduction, but one day...

~~ Libraries ~~

Some libraries stock Linguaphone courses, and will allow for extended loans, so if you think this might be for you, it's well worth checking first whether your local library stocks the language you want to study, or can order it for you. They're unlikely to have the most modern versions, but the system itself hasn't changed; if you find it works for you, then you can consider buying it after trying it out first.

~~ Prices ~~

Perhaps the worst thing about Linguaphone is the price. Our French courses were excellent bargains; new they would now cost about £250 per course. You could buy a lot of text-books and other French tapes - or videos - for that amount. You could probably take an evening class for considerably less. The multi-media courses (which aren't complete in themselves, but are supposed to be used alongside the cassette-based ones) cost about £50 for four CDs and a handbook. The cost covers the ongong research and production costs, and is probably not unreasonable; but you can't buy just the first part of a Linguaphoen course to see how it goes. Which is why, in my view, it's better to borrow one from a friend or a library rather than forking out the entire amount only to find that it doesn't work for you.

Do check the web-site for an up-to-date price list, and note that prices vary from course to course.

~~ Recommended? ~~

Yes, despite my reservations, I do think the concept is good and the teaching thorough. If you need to learn a language prior to moving abroad, and can't find a good class, then Linguaphone is a solid course to give you the basics, although it will be much easier if you can get at some help from someone who knows the language, through at least the first few lessons.

It's not really suitable for children - there are better methods available which are actually designed for them - but if two adults, or older teenagers are going to learn, then Linguaphone isn't too bad value. But it's not easy. You really do need a strong motivation to take the time and effort needed to get anything out of it.

However if you're just vaguely interested in another language, perhaps because you plan to go on holiday abroad, then there are much less expensive methods generally available which you can try out rather than investing in the whole course.

~~ Availability ~~

Linguaphone, as far as I know, is not sold new in shops. However it's often advertised in magazines, sometimes with special offers; look out for the forms if you want to order that way, and send off for the information pack. But the easiest method is to order from the web-site. There's a 21-day return option, or up to eight weeks after purchase you can exchange for a different course if you decide it's not for you.

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