Using Audiobooks To Learn A Foreign Language In Just 12 Weeks

Like most school kids growing up in the UK in theSome thirty years later, I decided to give French
1970's I attended French classes at school - 2 lessonsanother go. This time, I actually wanted to speak the
a week, 40 weeks a year, for 3 years. During all thislanguage and made a commitment to learn French
time, I don't actually know what I learned! I knowwithin 3 months.
that I didn't take the subject particularly seriously, butAs a seasoned user of audio books, I found and then
after a total of 240 lessons I should have had abought the "Teach Yourself French" series of audio
better command of the language.books. I listened to these books while walking the
Just how poor my command of French was, wasdog each morning and driving to and from work each
illustrated in a family trip to France in 1978. As anday.
eighteen year-old, I joined my parents on a car tripInitially I didn't pay that much attention and it all
to France. The ferry trip was uneventful and weseemed too difficult. Then, it began to get easier and
hopped into our car at Calais.easier.
My dad, being a typical pom, assumed everyoneWithin 8 weeks I became quite comfortable with
drives on the left hand side of the road - and withinhearing French and could follow most of what was
5 minutes we had a head-on collision! Fortunately nobeing said. Within 12 weeks, I'd say that I was almost
one was hurt. But, as expected the other diver wasfluent! All this from just an hour a day listening to my
pretty angry, hurling abuses to us in French.audiobook during "down" time!
As someone who had taken French for 3 years, myI'm please to report that on my latest trip to France,
parents looked at me to speak to this chap in FrenchI could say a lot more than "The Sky is Blue". And
and calm him down. To my embarrassment all I couldno, I didn't drive on the left hand side of the road
say was "The sky is blue". Not very useful!and didn't have a collision!