Behind the Wheel - French 1

By: Behind the Wheel, Mark Frobose

Narrated by: Mark Frobose

Behind the Wheel French Level 1 covers beginning to intermediate level French, providing a flexible, solid and universal foundation in speaking, understanding, and creatively expressing yourself in French. The program features an English speaking instructor to guide you through the lessons and a native French speaker to aid with your pronunciation.

This program includes a companion book to reinforce and enhance the audio experience.

©2008 Macmillan Audio; (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

<p>“The audio-only lessons build upon one another, using a native speaker to help you learn useful words and actually construct sentences from the get-go.” —<i>Minneapolis Star-Tribune</i><br><br>“Unlike other audio language programs, this series encourages students to create their own sentences, making it more fun and conversational than other more expensive programs.” —<i>The Cleveland Plain Dealer</i><br><br>“Focuses on real-world conversation...Great value.” —<i>Men's Health magazine</i></p>

Good for beginners who have a slight base

Where does Behind the Wheel rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is an average book. I like the length of the book (over 8 hours) because it allowed me to feel I was slowly improving over time.

What other book might you compare Behind the Wheel to and why?

I have also listened to most of the beginner Michel Thomas french. I think if I'm honest I prefer that book, I found it more interactive as you practiced with the other 'students' in the audio. I also thought that it gave longer pauses so I could really test myself before hearing the correct response, but I don't want to put you off this book because I did think it did a good job of organizing the material into manageable chunks.

What about the narrator’s performance did you like?

The main narrator's voice sounds almost computer generated. It took some getting used to because it would put me to sleep if I wasn't paying attention. The other narrator is a native french speaker and I found her performance good.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Nothing particularly moved me, but I will seriously consider purchasing the second one in the series.

Any additional comments?

I listened to the book while walking to walk and would repeat each lesson at least once before moving on to the next. I thought it went at a nice pace, and the later chapters would review the material learned in the beginning. I enjoyed this because it really felt like a good test of my memory.