Learn French Fast!

Can We Really Have You Speaking French in Just Ten Days?

Hard to believe, isn't it? Till you ask yourself one simple question: How did you learn English as a child? Did you wade through text books? Did you struggle with grammar? Did you drive yourself crazy trying to get the accent right?

No. You just "picked it up." You heard adults speak, and you uttered your first word. Well, that's how the Pimsleur method works. It's the natural way to learn French.

In easy half hour "bites" on CD, our scientifically sequenced lessons will have you speaking French the way the French do–or you pay nothing. Guaranteed. Just give it a try.

Why it's Important to Learn French

Ah, French. The language of love, fine dining, high fashion and diplomacy is spoken in over 40 countries today. Join over 110 million people around the world who are native speakers of French–and the nearly 50 million people who speak French as a second language.

Learning French will open up several opportunities for you. If your company has offices in France, Canada, or any country where French is the primary language, you'll be a valuable member of the team, able to communicate with overseas employees. You may even get to travel for business.

Traveling in France, or any of the countries where French is spoken, will be an easier, more enjoyable experience as you'll be able to find your way around, and communicate more freely with the people who live there without relying on hand gestures. We'll leave those to the many mimes that inhabit Paris!

If you enjoy French music, films, and literature, you'll be able to enjoy them in their original language, without worrying about subtitles, or losing anything in the translation.

Conversational French vs. Academic French

To learn French from a book will require you to start with the most basic building blocks of the language and work your way to putting them together in conversation. You must learn grammar, spelling, accents, and vocabulary before you can even begin to communicate. Even with all that effort, you still might lack the confidence to actually speak French like a native-speaker.

It's different with Pimsleur. You hear all those components put together from the start, without having to break them down into individual parts of speech. You learn by hearing, so rather than memorizing verb conjugations, you just learn the important phrases you'll need to get around. For example:

Je m'appelle… – My name is…
Où est la gare? – Where is the train station?
Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. – I would like coffee, please.
Ça coûte combien? – How much does this cost?

By learning French the natural way, using idiomatic expressions the French actually use rather than textbook phrases, you will benefit by speaking French that is "real" rather than academic.

A Logical Way to Learn French

Only after 20 years of scientific research did Dr. Pimsleur hit upon the right method to teach language–by watching his own children. Children have the ability to pick up languages quickly and naturally. What makes Pimsleur courses so successful are the specific scientific principles that replicate the speed and ease at which children learn languages. Read more about how this unique system–which has been purchased by the FBI and NSA (National Security Agency)–works.

No matter what situation you find yourself in–making new friends at a party, in a business meeting or negotiation, or just asking the way to the railway station or a good restaurant–you will find Pimsleur has given you the right French words and phrases, the ones that come naturally, without thinking. Read more about what you'll learn with Pimsleur.

French Facts

More than 110 million people use French as their first language, including more than 55 million in France. And another 60 million people speak French as a second language. You can see the benefits of traveling not just in France but around the world speaking French like a native.

French is an official language for many countries around the world, including France, Canada, and several countries in Africa. It's also one of the official languages of the Olympics and the United Nations. You won't be limited to just France if you learn through the Pimsleur Approach!

Even today in the United States, French is taught in many schools and used in many restaurants and other settings. For centuries, French has been perceived as a language spoken by sophisticated people of high social stature, and world travelers. Isn't it time you joined them?