Collins French with Paul Noble

Now that I've graduated from college and have intellectual energy to spare, I've been working on picking up French and Portuguese in my spare time. I've been working through a beginner's French textbook, but was lacking an audio companion, so I downloaded part one of the Learn French with Paul Noble series on Audible. It was less than $5.00 for over three hours of content, so I barely hesitated to impulse purchase this when I was laying in bed looking for a new audiobook to fall asleep to. I am absolutely obsessed with this program!

To start off with, Paul Noble speaks with an incredibly soothing British accent. Listening to the audio program feels like you're working with a close friend who is casually passing on some helpful tips on speaking French. It's a very relaxing and low-stakes environment that takes the anxiety out of language learning.

I've never encountered a program that introduces material the same way that Learn French with Paul Noble does. You aren't only introduced to useful travel phrases, but without even realizing it you are learning complex sentence structures that are not typically presented so early in a language learning text. There is an obvious flow to the course that allows for vocab and grammar to be picked up effortlessly. Even though I'm typically a narc for structured learning, I thoroughly enjoy the teaching strategy employed in Learn French with Paul Noble and can tell it will have lasting results. 

The audio program is also very interactive as Paul prompts you to respond to various prompts, translating from English into French. This style of teaching that emphasizes English-to-French translation will help to fully cement vocab and grammar in your mind, as it is often much more difficult to translate out of your native language rather than into it. That is to say, Learn French with Paul Noble does not give you an easy way out of exercises, and this makes all of the difference in successfully learning a language.

I personally love that the program highlights the linguistic ties between French and English. This not only helps to build French vocabulary with words that you already know from English, but it also teaches you key elements in the history of the English language.

If you're looking to add some French flair to your life, I would definitely recommend the Learn French with Paul Noble series. For serious language learners, however, I would also recommend some kind of text companion to use alongside the audio program so you can become familiar with formal grammar structures and spelling.

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