In Review

04 December 2008 03:16 BST

Collins Language Revolution: Beginner French by Tony Buzan

Published by Collins, out now paperback, 277 pages, 2 CDs, £19.99, Spanish and Italian also available .

In a nutshell…

Simple, crisp beginners guide to French

What's it all about?

The Language Revolution series uses 'Mind Mapping' techniques - basically flow charts linking words - to help you learn French. The course takes you from le café to le musée, le restaurant and le marché, while making sure you get on your bus or train on time.

The Mind Mapping techniques provide a way of learning new word and grouping them, while new words are introduced with a green light (the same as in English), yellow light (similar to English) or red light (completely different but with tips for mental connections to help you remember).

A nice feature is that one CD follows the book, while one is stand-alone, which provides a substantial revision aid.

Who's it by?

Tony Buzan has made his name in language circles with his Mind Mapping technique to help to develop memory. The method is now put into place for language learning.

He explained the key behind the system is using imagination and association: "The more you can imagine the images of the words and the pictures that represent those words, and then find links with things you know and the new words, the faster you can learn a language."

So is it any good?

As a former language teacher I came across just two people who had picked up a language from books alone - a Belgian nun and a Polish man who spent two hours a night for a year learning with tapes.

I'm sure that for every 100 language courses sold, 99 lay unfinished and 50 have not been used passed the end of the first chapter.

However, it is not the books that are to blame, it is people need a solid kick up the arse to learn a language. I firmly believe anyone can learn a language - all they need to do is put in the work.

Assuming you have some determination, and willingness to put in the hours, then the Language Revolution should provide a good basic standing in French - grammar is hardly taught, just phrases, which at the end of the day is all you need to communicate.

The mind mapping techniques are a great way of learning and creating associations - however, the course does not rely on this. It reinforces the importance of writing, reading and speaking.

The CDs, while having the obligatory naff music, are clear and give the student time to think and use fully – and not feel consumed by a storm of new words, as is often the case in language courses.

Where the Language Revolution does fall down, is the low number of exercises. While Buzan highlights the importance of repeating to learn a language - something people often forget desperate to race onto the next chapter, his course is quite limited in the options to enjoy repetition. Some courses provide these necessary repetition in later chapters, but Language Revolution trusts that you do this yourself - which can be hard when repeating the same exercises -which are already limited.

The book contains no solid narrative - which some find useful in creating associations when learning - and a mini-dictionary is missing from the back of the book, although this can be a blessing as it can stop a student being lazy. Also without a teacher and a class, a student will always be confined to what the book offers and unlikely to be truly playful with the language, nor get the confidence to speak with others.

Overall the claims that 2 or 3 hours a week can get you speaking French seems a little ambitious - unless it is 30 minutes a day - and the low level of repetition may mean long-term remembering could be hard.

However, with determination and effort Collins Language Revolution: Beginner French should get you speaking the basics well and confidently. It will not hand you French on a silver plate, but it'll help you to get there.

Daniel Barnes