Answers
Nov 11, 2011 - 12:17 AM
I have only completed the first level of French but can tell you that based on the first 30 lessons Fluenz is light on vocab. You learn about the structure of the language and get a lot of practice that will help you formulate sentences, but the pace of word introduction is slow. That shouldn't be a problem though. Just get a French-English dictionary and teach yourself the words-it doesn't take an instructor to explain word meanings.
Nov 11, 2011 - 12:02 PM
Hi. I'm through French 3 and would estimate that the 3 levels have introduced about 900 words to my vocabulary. So 1500 for all 5 levels is a good guess. But I agree with flagler23 that while Fluenz is a great learning tool, you really shouldn't depend on it exclusively for increasing your vocab. Moreover, the vocabulary is heavily slanted toward travel-related topics. This is great for the traveler, but may not be broad enough for those looking to have a more generalized conversation. You may want to look for additional sources.
Nov 14, 2011 - 09:07 AM
We definitely agree with you Michael. Fluenz aims to give you a very strong foundation in how the language works, along with the most important vocab for new speakers. The idea is that once you have the foundation that Fluenz provides, learning and using new vocabulary will be pretty simple. I'm not sure if we have an estimate on how many words French 1-5 teaches, but I'll ask around and see if anyone has a good guess.
Nov 14, 2011 - 10:16 AM
Michael, when you say you've learned 900 words are you counting all the variations we're taught like masculine, feminen, and neuter? For example, I'm loving the German and through 15 lessons on just the FIRST DVD I believe I counted over 200 words and phrases and that's including things like "Kommen", "Kommt", "Komme" and "Ihr", "Ihre", "Ihren" all mean "Come" and "Yours" but change based on who it's referring to. Maybe I'm cheating by counting the variations and technically it's only two words but tell that to my brain who has to sort out six items LOL. Either way, I think the amount of vocabulary I'm learning using Fluenz is neither too little or too much. Any less and I'd be going too fast and feeling like I'm not learning much and any more and I think I'd be overwhelmed every lesson.
Nov 14, 2011 - 01:28 PM
Jonathan, when I say my estimate is about 900 words through 3 levels of French, I'm not counting derivatives of words. For example, with verbs, I'm only counting the infinitive form, not all conjugations of the verb. For nouns, I'm only counting the singular or plural form, not both. Same goes for regular adjectives. It's hard for me to be more accurate because I've added a lot of vocabulary from other sources. I use an SRS (Spaced Repetition System) flashcard program called ANKI to mange them and keep the vocab fresh in my head every day. And even though I'm only through level 3 of my Fluenz program, I've got over 2000 cards in my decks. That may sound like a lot, but it's taken me 2 years to accumulate and memorize that many. In any case, I agree with you that the brain can absorb only so much in a short time. So I'd encourage you to just keep going as you are. The vocab will come. You'll see.