It's become a cliché in Britain to call somebody in the entertainment field a national institution -- but that's exactly what Dawn French is. As both comedienne and actress (the latter in both comedy and straight parts), she has become one of the best loved entertainers in the country. Her range is not wide (unlike her dimensions -- and that's the sort of joke she'd crack), but she is utterly winning in everything he does. And that quality continues in Dear Fatty, a truly entertaining memoir of an event-packed life.

The form of the book is a series of letters by French, conjuring her transformation from a West Country RAF girl to a star of the cult alternative comedy group The Comic Strip. This was followed by the groundbreaking all-female Girls on Top (which did much to establish the position of women in British comedy), the astonishing success of the TV series French and Saunders (with French's equally talented friend Jennifer Saunders) and the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, where French's wickedly sardonic touch keeps the tweeness of the basic situation -- female vicar in a rustic town -- at bay.

For French, early dreams of becoming a ballerina or an air hostess came to nothing, but the loss to the worlds of dance and aviation was a gain for TV audiences. All of that, of course, is covered in this frequently hilarious and often moving collection. We are invited into her most personal relationships with (among others) her mother and father, her husband (fellow comedian Lenny Henry), and, of course, her most important comedic ally, Jennifer Saunders. Everything French describes -- from the agonies of being a teenager to the death of her father -- and (of course) the way in which society defines her by her generous size -- is treated with a highly diverting insight. Fans of Dawn French's TV appearances will lap it up, but Dear Fatty has a lot more to offer, even to those only vaguely familiar with her. But is anyone in Britain only vaguely familiar with Dawn French? --Barry Forshaw

Two Words : Inspirational and moving, 07 Nov 2008
I needn't say a lot - the book itself speaks volumes.

Dawn is a true icon, a role model to all women and through this book she allows you access to her personal life whilst maintaining modesty, dignity and her infectious good nature.

I saw in Dawn and her experiences my own mum and someone I want to become when I have my own family.

Every page I had tears in my eyes from either tears of joy, of laughter or of pure sadness but never pity. She shares her personal up's and down's; her life is there for you to read.

Dawn is and will always be an inspiration to all. Her personality shines through every word and every time you put the book down you're left with a swelling heart full of admiration and respect for a woman so strong, so loving and so honest.

I now have two hero's in my life; my mum and Dawn French.

Full recommendations and full marks for this, the masterpiece of memoirs for one of England's best loved and appreciated celebrities in the true sense.

Absolutely Fabulous , 26 Oct 2008
It might be a cliche but I really couldn't put this book down. It's written in a very easy to read style with short letters taking you through Dawn's life. There is a lot unwritten and she at times seems guarded but I enjoyed every single page. Definitely a laugh out loud book but still some very personal, sad times. The book takes you on a journey and it's one that I can thoroughly recommend. A+++

Queen of comedy, 24 Oct 2008
It's said that a good review is detailed and specific. I've never been 'normal' and followed rules, so here is my view of Dawn's book 'Dear Fatty'.

I just 'snagged' boyfriend's credit card to buy my daughter a copy to enjoy as well. Great, fantastic, down to earth, one of us - That's what I think of Dawn. Just when I thought I couldn't get more entertained, she wrote this book. Luv it!!!!


Collection of Tails: Read, Learn and Colour

Dawn French: The Unauthorized Biography

Dear Fatty, 22 Oct 2008
I went into Waterstones with the intent of not buying another book to my already large group of currently awaiting books to be read. But within 3 seconds of announcing this to my daughter I held the book that was looking right at me and was there at the counter paying my money. I totally enjoyed the book, it shows Dawn as the truely rounded person she is (sorry for the pun Dawn). I liked the way she wrote it, letters to everyone and it was actually a good idea considering she had never written a book before. Madonna lost out as she couldn't possible compete with the comedy diva's of French and Saunders we have in Britain. That's probably why she always turned you down. Your talent shines through and so does the love you have for your family and friends. It would of been nice if you had told others about the time you took Alison by surprise and turned up at her concert at the NEC in Birmingham with a custard pie. I didn't know she could swear so much but it had to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. Maybe next time eh? Thank you for letting us into your world and sharing it with us. Good luck to Dawn, Len and Billie.

Real Life, 21 Oct 2008
Dear Fatty has made me smile, made me laugh, made me cry and made me reflect on my own life. It was a great way for Dawn to "talk to" her friends and family and to share her life story (to date) with everyone. I loved the way it was written and the fact that I can almost hear her speaking. Great book!

Two Words : Inspirational and moving, 07 Nov 2008
I needn't say a lot - the book itself speaks volumes.

Dawn is a true icon, a role model to all women and through this book she allows you access to her personal life whilst maintaining modesty, dignity and her infectious good nature.

I saw in Dawn and her experiences my own mum and someone I want to become when I have my own family.

Every page I had tears in my eyes from either tears of joy, of laughter or of pure sadness but never pity. She shares her personal up's and down's; her life is there for you to read.

Dawn is and will always be an inspiration to all. Her personality shines through every word and every time you put the book down you're left with a swelling heart full of admiration and respect for a woman so strong, so loving and so honest.

I now have two hero's in my life; my mum and Dawn French.

Full recommendations and full marks for this, the masterpiece of memoirs for one of England's best loved and appreciated celebrities in the true sense.

Absolutely Fabulous , 26 Oct 2008
It might be a cliche but I really couldn't put this book down. It's written in a very easy to read style with short letters taking you through Dawn's life. There is a lot unwritten and she at times seems guarded but I enjoyed every single page. Definitely a laugh out loud book but still some very personal, sad times. The book takes you on a journey and it's one that I can thoroughly recommend. A+++

Queen of comedy, 24 Oct 2008
It's said that a good review is detailed and specific. I've never been 'normal' and followed rules, so here is my view of Dawn's book 'Dear Fatty'.

I just 'snagged' boyfriend's credit card to buy my daughter a copy to enjoy as well. Great, fantastic, down to earth, one of us - That's what I think of Dawn. Just when I thought I couldn't get more entertained, she wrote this book. Luv it!!!!


Collection of Tails: Read, Learn and Colour

Dawn French: The Unauthorized Biography

Dear Fatty, 22 Oct 2008
I went into Waterstones with the intent of not buying another book to my already large group of currently awaiting books to be read. But within 3 seconds of announcing this to my daughter I held the book that was looking right at me and was there at the counter paying my money. I totally enjoyed the book, it shows Dawn as the truely rounded person she is (sorry for the pun Dawn). I liked the way she wrote it, letters to everyone and it was actually a good idea considering she had never written a book before. Madonna lost out as she couldn't possible compete with the comedy diva's of French and Saunders we have in Britain. That's probably why she always turned you down. Your talent shines through and so does the love you have for your family and friends. It would of been nice if you had told others about the time you took Alison by surprise and turned up at her concert at the NEC in Birmingham with a custard pie. I didn't know she could swear so much but it had to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. Maybe next time eh? Thank you for letting us into your world and sharing it with us. Good luck to Dawn, Len and Billie.

Real Life, 21 Oct 2008
Dear Fatty has made me smile, made me laugh, made me cry and made me reflect on my own life. It was a great way for Dawn to "talk to" her friends and family and to share her life story (to date) with everyone. I loved the way it was written and the fact that I can almost hear her speaking. Great book!

Fantastic way to learn., 03 Oct 2008
I bought this originally for myself as I am studying French, German and Spanish (for fun would you believe) but it is so easy to learn that my 7 year old has it on her iPod and we are starting to have conversations.
(I also speak to her in German at times and due to how easy these CD's are, she is able to have limited chats in that too.)

There are some tunes in the background which phrases are laid over in time, and you hear them and lock them in your mind along with the tune. The guys voice is almost hypnotic and the woman who speaks with him is clear and easy to understand making it ultra easy to repeat and learn.

She will often make the odd comment about language rules, but the CD doesn't bombard you with nouns, verbs, conjucating and all the other stuff that only serves to addle your brain when trying to learn a language. It has a little booklet in with the cover so you may refer if your a bit unsure or if you want to know how to spell anything.

I wouldn't try and learn any other way now, as this has been quick and easy and even better, hard to forget and my 7 year old has picked it up brilliantly. A great addition to her French lessons at school.

Great for kids and adults and well worth trying if you've struggled to absorb languages before. (available in many other languages too)

A great intro for the scared, 26 Jul 2008
I couldn't do languages at school, wasn't bad at other things, but with languages I always had a kind of block in the brain. But having a partner and his family who spoke French made me try to learn as an adult, and this has truly helped me. I'm not going to tell you that I'm suddenly fluent, but listening to this CD made me realise that I could do it. I learnt the whole CD after several listenings and felt a real achivement, and it spurred me on to learn more (I went onto Michel Thomas who is great). I'm actually enjoying language learning now which I didn't before, and it was because this CD made French accessible to me, if not providing a huge range of vocab. You could go straight to Michel Thomas from nothing, but this did a great job of giving me a little and boosting my confidence first. I listen in my car on the way to work and that requires no effort at all re reading or computer work. Get the second CD too, it's very good, though again quite scary at first!

The easy & enjoyable way to learn a language for holiday use, 13 Jul 2008
As someone who has studied languages to degree level and also taught foreign languages in secondary school, it would be fair to say that I am generally sceptical of DIY langauage teaching CDs - and often with good cause. However, Earworms CDs are an absolutely invaluable learning resource. They will equip you, with minimal effort on your part, with a basic understanding of the language building blocks - which coupled with vocab covering the usual holiday scenarios, such as ordering drinks, food, buying things, counting, etc, will enable you to begin to start to extrapolate from what you have heard on the CD and, with the help of a dictionary, build your own sentences to meet your specific needs. Some grammar is explained - just enough to help with exactly what I've just said above - but not too much to be overwhelming.

I would thoroughly recommend these CDs to anyone who wants just 'holiday' language, or to anyone who is wishing to study the language in greater depth but would like a gentle introduction first.

The learning process is stress-free and fun. These CDs are so easy to listen to, as the background tracks are non-intrusive, rhythmical, and really do help to nudge the words and phrases into your memory. Everything is repeated several times, with one presenter speaking English and the other saying the same things in the target language. Everything is delivered in time to the music, which aids recollection later, there is good use of humour now and then, and all phrases are broken down so that you can see exactly how they have been made up. The emphasis is on repetition, so there is no feeling that things are moving too quickly. The idea is that you just relax, rather than straining to follow a fast-moving coaching CD. It really does work - once you have listed to the CD a few times, you will find you are remembering whole phrases.

Fun, flirtatious and easy to learn!, 27 May 2008
I have listened to Volume 2 (on my iPod whilst cycling into work) 3 times now and am already finding myself coming out with the phrases either in my head or when talking to the rest of my family.

The couple are very flirtatious, which also works as it helps to take your mind off trying too hard and the lady's accent and voice is beautiful, add into that the soft rymthical tunes behind the voices and you have an excellent product I would highly recommend.

Moving to France to live is a challenge to say the least. As a family we have bought almost every type of course available however this one is by far our favourite.

Good Rapid French- better with an iPod!, 13 Feb 2007
Bought Rapid French Vol.1 a year ago and had listenend to the product sitting at home in front of the CD player. Gave up with it after two weeks as the effort of taking an hour off from my schedule wasn't worth it for me.

Gave the product another try after buying an iPod and since then I have found it worked much better- the background music and the rhythmic repititions of English phrases and the French translation immediately whilst set to 'techno' music seemed to burn into my head well- perhaps too well as I developed sinusitis for the first ten days. Was worth it in the end!

Rapid French Vol.1 (and an iPod!) has been the easiest and most effective way of listening and learning basic French- its effortless and I can now listen to French radio podcasts and pick out some words and get the general gist of what they're saying.

Only complaint is that 200 words are a bit basic, but will remedy that when I get Vol. 2!

Two Words : Inspirational and moving, 07 Nov 2008
I needn't say a lot - the book itself speaks volumes.

Dawn is a true icon, a role model to all women and through this book she allows you access to her personal life whilst maintaining modesty, dignity and her infectious good nature.

I saw in Dawn and her experiences my own mum and someone I want to become when I have my own family.

Every page I had tears in my eyes from either tears of joy, of laughter or of pure sadness but never pity. She shares her personal up's and down's; her life is there for you to read.

Dawn is and will always be an inspiration to all. Her personality shines through every word and every time you put the book down you're left with a swelling heart full of admiration and respect for a woman so strong, so loving and so honest.

I now have two hero's in my life; my mum and Dawn French.

Full recommendations and full marks for this, the masterpiece of memoirs for one of England's best loved and appreciated celebrities in the true sense.

Absolutely Fabulous , 26 Oct 2008
It might be a cliche but I really couldn't put this book down. It's written in a very easy to read style with short letters taking you through Dawn's life. There is a lot unwritten and she at times seems guarded but I enjoyed every single page. Definitely a laugh out loud book but still some very personal, sad times. The book takes you on a journey and it's one that I can thoroughly recommend. A+++

Queen of comedy, 24 Oct 2008
It's said that a good review is detailed and specific. I've never been 'normal' and followed rules, so here is my view of Dawn's book 'Dear Fatty'.

I just 'snagged' boyfriend's credit card to buy my daughter a copy to enjoy as well. Great, fantastic, down to earth, one of us - That's what I think of Dawn. Just when I thought I couldn't get more entertained, she wrote this book. Luv it!!!!


Collection of Tails: Read, Learn and Colour

Dawn French: The Unauthorized Biography

Dear Fatty, 22 Oct 2008
I went into Waterstones with the intent of not buying another book to my already large group of currently awaiting books to be read. But within 3 seconds of announcing this to my daughter I held the book that was looking right at me and was there at the counter paying my money. I totally enjoyed the book, it shows Dawn as the truely rounded person she is (sorry for the pun Dawn). I liked the way she wrote it, letters to everyone and it was actually a good idea considering she had never written a book before. Madonna lost out as she couldn't possible compete with the comedy diva's of French and Saunders we have in Britain. That's probably why she always turned you down. Your talent shines through and so does the love you have for your family and friends. It would of been nice if you had told others about the time you took Alison by surprise and turned up at her concert at the NEC in Birmingham with a custard pie. I didn't know she could swear so much but it had to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. Maybe next time eh? Thank you for letting us into your world and sharing it with us. Good luck to Dawn, Len and Billie.

Real Life, 21 Oct 2008
Dear Fatty has made me smile, made me laugh, made me cry and made me reflect on my own life. It was a great way for Dawn to "talk to" her friends and family and to share her life story (to date) with everyone. I loved the way it was written and the fact that I can almost hear her speaking. Great book!

Fantastic way to learn., 03 Oct 2008
I bought this originally for myself as I am studying French, German and Spanish (for fun would you believe) but it is so easy to learn that my 7 year old has it on her iPod and we are starting to have conversations.
(I also speak to her in German at times and due to how easy these CD's are, she is able to have limited chats in that too.)

There are some tunes in the background which phrases are laid over in time, and you hear them and lock them in your mind along with the tune. The guys voice is almost hypnotic and the woman who speaks with him is clear and easy to understand making it ultra easy to repeat and learn.

She will often make the odd comment about language rules, but the CD doesn't bombard you with nouns, verbs, conjucating and all the other stuff that only serves to addle your brain when trying to learn a language. It has a little booklet in with the cover so you may refer if your a bit unsure or if you want to know how to spell anything.

I wouldn't try and learn any other way now, as this has been quick and easy and even better, hard to forget and my 7 year old has picked it up brilliantly. A great addition to her French lessons at school.

Great for kids and adults and well worth trying if you've struggled to absorb languages before. (available in many other languages too)

A great intro for the scared, 26 Jul 2008
I couldn't do languages at school, wasn't bad at other things, but with languages I always had a kind of block in the brain. But having a partner and his family who spoke French made me try to learn as an adult, and this has truly helped me. I'm not going to tell you that I'm suddenly fluent, but listening to this CD made me realise that I could do it. I learnt the whole CD after several listenings and felt a real achivement, and it spurred me on to learn more (I went onto Michel Thomas who is great). I'm actually enjoying language learning now which I didn't before, and it was because this CD made French accessible to me, if not providing a huge range of vocab. You could go straight to Michel Thomas from nothing, but this did a great job of giving me a little and boosting my confidence first. I listen in my car on the way to work and that requires no effort at all re reading or computer work. Get the second CD too, it's very good, though again quite scary at first!

The easy & enjoyable way to learn a language for holiday use, 13 Jul 2008
As someone who has studied languages to degree level and also taught foreign languages in secondary school, it would be fair to say that I am generally sceptical of DIY langauage teaching CDs - and often with good cause. However, Earworms CDs are an absolutely invaluable learning resource. They will equip you, with minimal effort on your part, with a basic understanding of the language building blocks - which coupled with vocab covering the usual holiday scenarios, such as ordering drinks, food, buying things, counting, etc, will enable you to begin to start to extrapolate from what you have heard on the CD and, with the help of a dictionary, build your own sentences to meet your specific needs. Some grammar is explained - just enough to help with exactly what I've just said above - but not too much to be overwhelming.

I would thoroughly recommend these CDs to anyone who wants just 'holiday' language, or to anyone who is wishing to study the language in greater depth but would like a gentle introduction first.

The learning process is stress-free and fun. These CDs are so easy to listen to, as the background tracks are non-intrusive, rhythmical, and really do help to nudge the words and phrases into your memory. Everything is repeated several times, with one presenter speaking English and the other saying the same things in the target language. Everything is delivered in time to the music, which aids recollection later, there is good use of humour now and then, and all phrases are broken down so that you can see exactly how they have been made up. The emphasis is on repetition, so there is no feeling that things are moving too quickly. The idea is that you just relax, rather than straining to follow a fast-moving coaching CD. It really does work - once you have listed to the CD a few times, you will find you are remembering whole phrases.

Fun, flirtatious and easy to learn!, 27 May 2008
I have listened to Volume 2 (on my iPod whilst cycling into work) 3 times now and am already finding myself coming out with the phrases either in my head or when talking to the rest of my family.

The couple are very flirtatious, which also works as it helps to take your mind off trying too hard and the lady's accent and voice is beautiful, add into that the soft rymthical tunes behind the voices and you have an excellent product I would highly recommend.

Moving to France to live is a challenge to say the least. As a family we have bought almost every type of course available however this one is by far our favourite.

Good Rapid French- better with an iPod!, 13 Feb 2007
Bought Rapid French Vol.1 a year ago and had listenend to the product sitting at home in front of the CD player. Gave up with it after two weeks as the effort of taking an hour off from my schedule wasn't worth it for me.

Gave the product another try after buying an iPod and since then I have found it worked much better- the background music and the rhythmic repititions of English phrases and the French translation immediately whilst set to 'techno' music seemed to burn into my head well- perhaps too well as I developed sinusitis for the first ten days. Was worth it in the end!

Rapid French Vol.1 (and an iPod!) has been the easiest and most effective way of listening and learning basic French- its effortless and I can now listen to French radio podcasts and pick out some words and get the general gist of what they're saying.

Only complaint is that 200 words are a bit basic, but will remedy that when I get Vol. 2!



Good introduction to La France!, 25 Oct 2008
Really hard to review any foreign language learning package as success here is dependent on...
1. Your ability (some are apt at languages - others struggle!)
2. Desire to plough through the course after the memories of that beautiful summer holiday start to fade!

That said, this is an OK package for the money - somewhere between tourist French and the begining of an attempt to learn for real - certainly a big step up from a simple phrase book - the short "bite sized chunk" approach based on situation learning, contains clear, concise and relevant pockets of the language - certanly enough to get you through most tourist situations and certainly helpful to those that find any new language a struggle.

Great cd set!, 21 Aug 2008
This is a fun and enjoyable cd set that is easy to follow. The example spoken and written phrases are exactly what you want to hear and see when you are new to a language.I liked the fact that is all seems modern and not at all like the old fashioned text that we learned in school.

I downloaded the discs to my Mp3 and made much more prgress than I expected leading up to our visit to France. Highly recommended!


A good introduction to the language, 05 Aug 2008
Having no knowledge of French (having learnt German at school) but with a keen interest to start learning, this course was an ideal way for me to get stuck in. The lessons revolve around keywords introduced in turn, which are then used in the subsequent conversations; then you have to try and remember them. The fact that they are used in dialogue within a context does make the words easier to remember. Each lesson is only 10 minutes or so long, which is particularly helpful for people with a short attention and motivation span (like me)! As a CD course, it is of course possible to transfer the tracks onto your mp3, so that you can revise your knowledge on the go - and the succinct and compact booklet helps as well.

The downsides are that it is perhaps a little too basic; for those already with at least schoolboy/girl level French, it will leave you wanting. A thorough completion of the course will probably get you to a good level of holiday French with some basic phrases, but if you are going to do some serious learning, I'd advise going for a traditional textbook and audio course as the booklet is a little too concise for that purpose. Similarly, if you are looking to improve your written communication or reading, this is also not suitable as it is predominantly a casual speaking course.

This audio course does what it saids on the tin - it eases you slowly and easily into the basics of spoken French, as the first step towards learning the language. If this course compels you to start studying French seriously, then all the better!

Not double dutch, 25 Jul 2008
Sometimes titles like these can equal hard graft. Listening and re-listening. Whilst there is by its very nature an element of this -this hand holding exercise works rather nicely and begins at a nice easy level. My french was years ago intermediate and this has worked as a nice refresher -it has eased me back into what I hope will be end up being a reasonable grasp of the language.

Good but limited., 21 Jul 2008
Having learnt French from the age of 11 to 15 and forgetting it all by the age of 30 I wanted to brush up on my basics, I figured the easiest way would be to put this onto my iPhone and make it more usable than being limited to being near a CD player. I found that the booklet itself that comes with the three discs to be as useful as the discs but is easy to misplace due to its small size.

I feel that this is ok as a refresher course but probably quite good for complete beginners. Having already learnt these basic phrases I found that the CD's really weren't what I was expecting and similar things are now available straight onto iPhone / MP3 Players.

If you are completely new to the French language this is a good place to start out, you will hear good French accents and pick up the basics in hours, although there are plenty of other ways to learn the same basics the price tag is great.

Two Words : Inspirational and moving, 07 Nov 2008
I needn't say a lot - the book itself speaks volumes.

Dawn is a true icon, a role model to all women and through this book she allows you access to her personal life whilst maintaining modesty, dignity and her infectious good nature.

I saw in Dawn and her experiences my own mum and someone I want to become when I have my own family.

Every page I had tears in my eyes from either tears of joy, of laughter or of pure sadness but never pity. She shares her personal up's and down's; her life is there for you to read.

Dawn is and will always be an inspiration to all. Her personality shines through every word and every time you put the book down you're left with a swelling heart full of admiration and respect for a woman so strong, so loving and so honest.

I now have two hero's in my life; my mum and Dawn French.

Full recommendations and full marks for this, the masterpiece of memoirs for one of England's best loved and appreciated celebrities in the true sense.

Absolutely Fabulous , 26 Oct 2008
It might be a cliche but I really couldn't put this book down. It's written in a very easy to read style with short letters taking you through Dawn's life. There is a lot unwritten and she at times seems guarded but I enjoyed every single page. Definitely a laugh out loud book but still some very personal, sad times. The book takes you on a journey and it's one that I can thoroughly recommend. A+++

Queen of comedy, 24 Oct 2008
It's said that a good review is detailed and specific. I've never been 'normal' and followed rules, so here is my view of Dawn's book 'Dear Fatty'.

I just 'snagged' boyfriend's credit card to buy my daughter a copy to enjoy as well. Great, fantastic, down to earth, one of us - That's what I think of Dawn. Just when I thought I couldn't get more entertained, she wrote this book. Luv it!!!!


Collection of Tails: Read, Learn and Colour

Dawn French: The Unauthorized Biography

Dear Fatty, 22 Oct 2008
I went into Waterstones with the intent of not buying another book to my already large group of currently awaiting books to be read. But within 3 seconds of announcing this to my daughter I held the book that was looking right at me and was there at the counter paying my money. I totally enjoyed the book, it shows Dawn as the truely rounded person she is (sorry for the pun Dawn). I liked the way she wrote it, letters to everyone and it was actually a good idea considering she had never written a book before. Madonna lost out as she couldn't possible compete with the comedy diva's of French and Saunders we have in Britain. That's probably why she always turned you down. Your talent shines through and so does the love you have for your family and friends. It would of been nice if you had told others about the time you took Alison by surprise and turned up at her concert at the NEC in Birmingham with a custard pie. I didn't know she could swear so much but it had to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. Maybe next time eh? Thank you for letting us into your world and sharing it with us. Good luck to Dawn, Len and Billie.

Real Life, 21 Oct 2008
Dear Fatty has made me smile, made me laugh, made me cry and made me reflect on my own life. It was a great way for Dawn to "talk to" her friends and family and to share her life story (to date) with everyone. I loved the way it was written and the fact that I can almost hear her speaking. Great book!

Fantastic way to learn., 03 Oct 2008
I bought this originally for myself as I am studying French, German and Spanish (for fun would you believe) but it is so easy to learn that my 7 year old has it on her iPod and we are starting to have conversations.
(I also speak to her in German at times and due to how easy these CD's are, she is able to have limited chats in that too.)

There are some tunes in the background which phrases are laid over in time, and you hear them and lock them in your mind along with the tune. The guys voice is almost hypnotic and the woman who speaks with him is clear and easy to understand making it ultra easy to repeat and learn.

She will often make the odd comment about language rules, but the CD doesn't bombard you with nouns, verbs, conjucating and all the other stuff that only serves to addle your brain when trying to learn a language. It has a little booklet in with the cover so you may refer if your a bit unsure or if you want to know how to spell anything.

I wouldn't try and learn any other way now, as this has been quick and easy and even better, hard to forget and my 7 year old has picked it up brilliantly. A great addition to her French lessons at school.

Great for kids and adults and well worth trying if you've struggled to absorb languages before. (available in many other languages too)

A great intro for the scared, 26 Jul 2008
I couldn't do languages at school, wasn't bad at other things, but with languages I always had a kind of block in the brain. But having a partner and his family who spoke French made me try to learn as an adult, and this has truly helped me. I'm not going to tell you that I'm suddenly fluent, but listening to this CD made me realise that I could do it. I learnt the whole CD after several listenings and felt a real achivement, and it spurred me on to learn more (I went onto Michel Thomas who is great). I'm actually enjoying language learning now which I didn't before, and it was because this CD made French accessible to me, if not providing a huge range of vocab. You could go straight to Michel Thomas from nothing, but this did a great job of giving me a little and boosting my confidence first. I listen in my car on the way to work and that requires no effort at all re reading or computer work. Get the second CD too, it's very good, though again quite scary at first!

The easy & enjoyable way to learn a language for holiday use, 13 Jul 2008
As someone who has studied languages to degree level and also taught foreign languages in secondary school, it would be fair to say that I am generally sceptical of DIY langauage teaching CDs - and often with good cause. However, Earworms CDs are an absolutely invaluable learning resource. They will equip you, with minimal effort on your part, with a basic understanding of the language building blocks - which coupled with vocab covering the usual holiday scenarios, such as ordering drinks, food, buying things, counting, etc, will enable you to begin to start to extrapolate from what you have heard on the CD and, with the help of a dictionary, build your own sentences to meet your specific needs. Some grammar is explained - just enough to help with exactly what I've just said above - but not too much to be overwhelming.

I would thoroughly recommend these CDs to anyone who wants just 'holiday' language, or to anyone who is wishing to study the language in greater depth but would like a gentle introduction first.

The learning process is stress-free and fun. These CDs are so easy to listen to, as the background tracks are non-intrusive, rhythmical, and really do help to nudge the words and phrases into your memory. Everything is repeated several times, with one presenter speaking English and the other saying the same things in the target language. Everything is delivered in time to the music, which aids recollection later, there is good use of humour now and then, and all phrases are broken down so that you can see exactly how they have been made up. The emphasis is on repetition, so there is no feeling that things are moving too quickly. The idea is that you just relax, rather than straining to follow a fast-moving coaching CD. It really does work - once you have listed to the CD a few times, you will find you are remembering whole phrases.

Fun, flirtatious and easy to learn!, 27 May 2008
I have listened to Volume 2 (on my iPod whilst cycling into work) 3 times now and am already finding myself coming out with the phrases either in my head or when talking to the rest of my family.

The couple are very flirtatious, which also works as it helps to take your mind off trying too hard and the lady's accent and voice is beautiful, add into that the soft rymthical tunes behind the voices and you have an excellent product I would highly recommend.

Moving to France to live is a challenge to say the least. As a family we have bought almost every type of course available however this one is by far our favourite.

Good Rapid French- better with an iPod!, 13 Feb 2007
Bought Rapid French Vol.1 a year ago and had listenend to the product sitting at home in front of the CD player. Gave up with it after two weeks as the effort of taking an hour off from my schedule wasn't worth it for me.

Gave the product another try after buying an iPod and since then I have found it worked much better- the background music and the rhythmic repititions of English phrases and the French translation immediately whilst set to 'techno' music seemed to burn into my head well- perhaps too well as I developed sinusitis for the first ten days. Was worth it in the end!

Rapid French Vol.1 (and an iPod!) has been the easiest and most effective way of listening and learning basic French- its effortless and I can now listen to French radio podcasts and pick out some words and get the general gist of what they're saying.

Only complaint is that 200 words are a bit basic, but will remedy that when I get Vol. 2!



Good introduction to La France!, 25 Oct 2008
Really hard to review any foreign language learning package as success here is dependent on...
1. Your ability (some are apt at languages - others struggle!)
2. Desire to plough through the course after the memories of that beautiful summer holiday start to fade!

That said, this is an OK package for the money - somewhere between tourist French and the begining of an attempt to learn for real - certainly a big step up from a simple phrase book - the short "bite sized chunk" approach based on situation learning, contains clear, concise and relevant pockets of the language - certanly enough to get you through most tourist situations and certainly helpful to those that find any new language a struggle.

Great cd set!, 21 Aug 2008
This is a fun and enjoyable cd set that is easy to follow. The example spoken and written phrases are exactly what you want to hear and see when you are new to a language.I liked the fact that is all seems modern and not at all like the old fashioned text that we learned in school.

I downloaded the discs to my Mp3 and made much more prgress than I expected leading up to our visit to France. Highly recommended!


A good introduction to the language, 05 Aug 2008
Having no knowledge of French (having learnt German at school) but with a keen interest to start learning, this course was an ideal way for me to get stuck in. The lessons revolve around keywords introduced in turn, which are then used in the subsequent conversations; then you have to try and remember them. The fact that they are used in dialogue within a context does make the words easier to remember. Each lesson is only 10 minutes or so long, which is particularly helpful for people with a short attention and motivation span (like me)! As a CD course, it is of course possible to transfer the tracks onto your mp3, so that you can revise your knowledge on the go - and the succinct and compact booklet helps as well.

The downsides are that it is perhaps a little too basic; for those already with at least schoolboy/girl level French, it will leave you wanting. A thorough completion of the course will probably get you to a good level of holiday French with some basic phrases, but if you are going to do some serious learning, I'd advise going for a traditional textbook and audio course as the booklet is a little too concise for that purpose. Similarly, if you are looking to improve your written communication or reading, this is also not suitable as it is predominantly a casual speaking course.

This audio course does what it saids on the tin - it eases you slowly and easily into the basics of spoken French, as the first step towards learning the language. If this course compels you to start studying French seriously, then all the better!

Not double dutch, 25 Jul 2008
Sometimes titles like these can equal hard graft. Listening and re-listening. Whilst there is by its very nature an element of this -this hand holding exercise works rather nicely and begins at a nice easy level. My french was years ago intermediate and this has worked as a nice refresher -it has eased me back into what I hope will be end up being a reasonable grasp of the language.

Good but limited., 21 Jul 2008
Having learnt French from the age of 11 to 15 and forgetting it all by the age of 30 I wanted to brush up on my basics, I figured the easiest way would be to put this onto my iPhone and make it more usable than being limited to being near a CD player. I found that the booklet itself that comes with the three discs to be as useful as the discs but is easy to misplace due to its small size.

I feel that this is ok as a refresher course but probably quite good for complete beginners. Having already learnt these basic phrases I found that the CD's really weren't what I was expecting and similar things are now available straight onto iPhone / MP3 Players.

If you are completely new to the French language this is a good place to start out, you will hear good French accents and pick up the basics in hours, although there are plenty of other ways to learn the same basics the price tag is great.


Fills out some gaps once you're more fluent, 11 Dec 2007
I commented on a previous review, then realised I hadn't reviewed this myself, despite giving 5 stars to both the Advanced course and 4 to the Foundation course. The reason I forgot was that I DID look over this BEFORE I used the Advanced course, having bought them together, and this being shorter. Wait, in my opinion. This Language Builder is where Thomas goes over many useful and common words and phrases VERY quickly, so there's a lot in the 2 hours. Using the booklet helps a lot, as you can read what you're hearing and visualise it.

A problem I'm seeing in some reviews is that some seem to have missed the Advanced course, which does cover past and future tenses very well. The lack of emphasis on 'tu' against 'vous' is due to the method here, in that Thomas tries to get you to hear similarities in spoken French for simplicity, and points out how the 'tu' form almost always follows the sound of the third person, so can be quickly deduced for speaking. For better grammar/ written French, you DO need more.

I decided to wait until I finished the Advanced course, then gain more from this once I had more confidence. If you're not confident enough, the speed will overwhelm you, and it needs to be paused and revised well, in sensible chunks. NEVER try it all at one sitting!

5 stars again, since I just think Thomas had the best method for efficiently mastering spoken language. Pity he's no longer with us to further his material! A great man and a genius - I must read the story of his life in the French Resistance. See my other reviews on the other courses.

Ça vaut la peine de le faire, mais...., 24 Apr 2007
This language building CD is great as long as you are not under the delusion that you will attain anything other than some very useful expressions. These tools are only effective as an aid to more conventional teaching / speaking environments, they are obviously not sufficient on their own. One problem I have with Michel Thomas is that he only gives you the formal 'Vous' structures, which is fine if you are taking to strangers but less useful when talking in informal contexts - in which case you would have to find out how to conjugate into the second person as it is not given here. I am currently living in France, with my bilingual fiancée, and she has expressed doubt at some of the expressions given which she feels are a little old-fashioned and not idiomatic enough. Therefore you may find in France that although these CDs give you some good structures to start a conversation, you will be baffled by the responses. Thomas touches some of the collocations in speech but nothing will prepare you for the speed of modern spoken French. Absolute immersion is obviously the key but it depends on what level you want to attain. For adding to your repertoire of vocabulary and expressions this is a fantastic tool although I would second a former reviewer's criticism that this doesn't begin to tackle the past tense.

Michel is Marvellous, 05 Jan 2006
I have just read a review from one of your customers who does not rate the Michel Thomas Language Builder as very good at all. I think it is just the opposite and has helped me enormously. I have lived in France now for just over one year, am in my 60s, and all my French friends tell me that I have improved enormously over the past few months - due, I believe, to the Michel Thomas Language Builder which has built on my previous knowledge of the language. To me he is like Alistair Cooke the "Letter from America" genius explaining everything very slowly and succinctly so that it makes good sense to idiots like me !! Thank you.

WARNING!!, 09 Jul 2004
Firstly, let me say I am a huge fan of the Michel Thomas method, and found his 8-hr French course an absolute joy. This Language Builder, however, is not what you might be expecting. The 8-hr course is lacking in two basic things - simple vocabulary (bread, apple, up, down, one, two, etc) and the past tense. It is touched on very swiftly towards the end of the final tape, but only with can/could, want/wanted and must/had to. I was hoping that the Language Builder would continue with more of the same teaching method and fill in these two missing areas. Unfortunately not - it is simply Michel reading out a phrase book, and very quickly at that. Without your finger on the pause button, it is very difficult to follow - which makes it impossible to use doing the housework, or driving the car. Michel's method in the 8-hr course is completely ignored, there is no variety of examples, and you need to listen over and over, doing exactly what you are not supposed to - memorising and learning by rote. I'm not saying it's a bad course - but it's nothing like the 8-hr tapes. If you think it's going to be, be prepared for a disappointment.

worked for me, 11 Jun 2004
The bloke's a genius. This is a fast and furious follow up to the 8 cd course which refreshes and adds to what you've done so far. I then went to france and impressed all my french friends and relatives with my new found language skills!!! Don't hesitate to get this.

Two Words : Inspirational and moving, 07 Nov 2008
I needn't say a lot - the book itself speaks volumes.

Dawn is a true icon, a role model to all women and through this book she allows you access to her personal life whilst maintaining modesty, dignity and her infectious good nature.

I saw in Dawn and her experiences my own mum and someone I want to become when I have my own family.

Every page I had tears in my eyes from either tears of joy, of laughter or of pure sadness but never pity. She shares her personal up's and down's; her life is there for you to read.

Dawn is and will always be an inspiration to all. Her personality shines through every word and every time you put the book down you're left with a swelling heart full of admiration and respect for a woman so strong, so loving and so honest.

I now have two hero's in my life; my mum and Dawn French.

Full recommendations and full marks for this, the masterpiece of memoirs for one of England's best loved and appreciated celebrities in the true sense.

Absolutely Fabulous , 26 Oct 2008
It might be a cliche but I really couldn't put this book down. It's written in a very easy to read style with short letters taking you through Dawn's life. There is a lot unwritten and she at times seems guarded but I enjoyed every single page. Definitely a laugh out loud book but still some very personal, sad times. The book takes you on a journey and it's one that I can thoroughly recommend. A+++

Queen of comedy, 24 Oct 2008
It's said that a good review is detailed and specific. I've never been 'normal' and followed rules, so here is my view of Dawn's book 'Dear Fatty'.

I just 'snagged' boyfriend's credit card to buy my daughter a copy to enjoy as well. Great, fantastic, down to earth, one of us - That's what I think of Dawn. Just when I thought I couldn't get more entertained, she wrote this book. Luv it!!!!


Collection of Tails: Read, Learn and Colour

Dawn French: The Unauthorized Biography

Dear Fatty, 22 Oct 2008
I went into Waterstones with the intent of not buying another book to my already large group of currently awaiting books to be read. But within 3 seconds of announcing this to my daughter I held the book that was looking right at me and was there at the counter paying my money. I totally enjoyed the book, it shows Dawn as the truely rounded person she is (sorry for the pun Dawn). I liked the way she wrote it, letters to everyone and it was actually a good idea considering she had never written a book before. Madonna lost out as she couldn't possible compete with the comedy diva's of French and Saunders we have in Britain. That's probably why she always turned you down. Your talent shines through and so does the love you have for your family and friends. It would of been nice if you had told others about the time you took Alison by surprise and turned up at her concert at the NEC in Birmingham with a custard pie. I didn't know she could swear so much but it had to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. Maybe next time eh? Thank you for letting us into your world and sharing it with us. Good luck to Dawn, Len and Billie.

Real Life, 21 Oct 2008
Dear Fatty has made me smile, made me laugh, made me cry and made me reflect on my own life. It was a great way for Dawn to "talk to" her friends and family and to share her life story (to date) with everyone. I loved the way it was written and the fact that I can almost hear her speaking. Great book!

Fantastic way to learn., 03 Oct 2008
I bought this originally for myself as I am studying French, German and Spanish (for fun would you believe) but it is so easy to learn that my 7 year old has it on her iPod and we are starting to have conversations.
(I also speak to her in German at times and due to how easy these CD's are, she is able to have limited chats in that too.)

There are some tunes in the background which phrases are laid over in time, and you hear them and lock them in your mind along with the tune. The guys voice is almost hypnotic and the woman who speaks with him is clear and easy to understand making it ultra easy to repeat and learn.

She will often make the odd comment about language rules, but the CD doesn't bombard you with nouns, verbs, conjucating and all the other stuff that only serves to addle your brain when trying to learn a language. It has a little booklet in with the cover so you may refer if your a bit unsure or if you want to know how to spell anything.

I wouldn't try and learn any other way now, as this has been quick and easy and even better, hard to forget and my 7 year old has picked it up brilliantly. A great addition to her French lessons at school.

Great for kids and adults and well worth trying if you've struggled to absorb languages before. (available in many other languages too)

A great intro for the scared, 26 Jul 2008
I couldn't do languages at school, wasn't bad at other things, but with languages I always had a kind of block in the brain. But having a partner and his family who spoke French made me try to learn as an adult, and this has truly helped me. I'm not going to tell you that I'm suddenly fluent, but listening to this CD made me realise that I could do it. I learnt the whole CD after several listenings and felt a real achivement, and it spurred me on to learn more (I went onto Michel Thomas who is great). I'm actually enjoying language learning now which I didn't before, and it was because this CD made French accessible to me, if not providing a huge range of vocab. You could go straight to Michel Thomas from nothing, but this did a great job of giving me a little and boosting my confidence first. I listen in my car on the way to work and that requires no effort at all re reading or computer work. Get the second CD too, it's very good, though again quite scary at first!

The easy & enjoyable way to learn a language for holiday use, 13 Jul 2008
As someone who has studied languages to degree level and also taught foreign languages in secondary school, it would be fair to say that I am generally sceptical of DIY langauage teaching CDs - and often with good cause. However, Earworms CDs are an absolutely invaluable learning resource. They will equip you, with minimal effort on your part, with a basic understanding of the language building blocks - which coupled with vocab covering the usual holiday scenarios, such as ordering drinks, food, buying things, counting, etc, will enable you to begin to start to extrapolate from what you have heard on the CD and, with the help of a dictionary, build your own sentences to meet your specific needs. Some grammar is explained - just enough to help with exactly what I've just said above - but not too much to be overwhelming.

I would thoroughly recommend these CDs to anyone who wants just 'holiday' language, or to anyone who is wishing to study the language in greater depth but would like a gentle introduction first.

The learning process is stress-free and fun. These CDs are so easy to listen to, as the background tracks are non-intrusive, rhythmical, and really do help to nudge the words and phrases into your memory. Everything is repeated several times, with one presenter speaking English and the other saying the same things in the target language. Everything is delivered in time to the music, which aids recollection later, there is good use of humour now and then, and all phrases are broken down so that you can see exactly how they have been made up. The emphasis is on repetition, so there is no feeling that things are moving too quickly. The idea is that you just relax, rather than straining to follow a fast-moving coaching CD. It really does work - once you have listed to the CD a few times, you will find you are remembering whole phrases.

Fun, flirtatious and easy to learn!, 27 May 2008
I have listened to Volume 2 (on my iPod whilst cycling into work) 3 times now and am already finding myself coming out with the phrases either in my head or when talking to the rest of my family.

The couple are very flirtatious, which also works as it helps to take your mind off trying too hard and the lady's accent and voice is beautiful, add into that the soft rymthical tunes behind the voices and you have an excellent product I would highly recommend.

Moving to France to live is a challenge to say the least. As a family we have bought almost every type of course available however this one is by far our favourite.

Good Rapid French- better with an iPod!, 13 Feb 2007
Bought Rapid French Vol.1 a year ago and had listenend to the product sitting at home in front of the CD player. Gave up with it after two weeks as the effort of taking an hour off from my schedule wasn't worth it for me.

Gave the product another try after buying an iPod and since then I have found it worked much better- the background music and the rhythmic repititions of English phrases and the French translation immediately whilst set to 'techno' music seemed to burn into my head well- perhaps too well as I developed sinusitis for the first ten days. Was worth it in the end!

Rapid French Vol.1 (and an iPod!) has been the easiest and most effective way of listening and learning basic French- its effortless and I can now listen to French radio podcasts and pick out some words and get the general gist of what they're saying.

Only complaint is that 200 words are a bit basic, but will remedy that when I get Vol. 2!



Good introduction to La France!, 25 Oct 2008
Really hard to review any foreign language learning package as success here is dependent on...
1. Your ability (some are apt at languages - others struggle!)
2. Desire to plough through the course after the memories of that beautiful summer holiday start to fade!

That said, this is an OK package for the money - somewhere between tourist French and the begining of an attempt to learn for real - certainly a big step up from a simple phrase book - the short "bite sized chunk" approach based on situation learning, contains clear, concise and relevant pockets of the language - certanly enough to get you through most tourist situations and certainly helpful to those that find any new language a struggle.

Great cd set!, 21 Aug 2008
This is a fun and enjoyable cd set that is easy to follow. The example spoken and written phrases are exactly what you want to hear and see when you are new to a language.I liked the fact that is all seems modern and not at all like the old fashioned text that we learned in school.

I downloaded the discs to my Mp3 and made much more prgress than I expected leading up to our visit to France. Highly recommended!


A good introduction to the language, 05 Aug 2008
Having no knowledge of French (having learnt German at school) but with a keen interest to start learning, this course was an ideal way for me to get stuck in. The lessons revolve around keywords introduced in turn, which are then used in the subsequent conversations; then you have to try and remember them. The fact that they are used in dialogue within a context does make the words easier to remember. Each lesson is only 10 minutes or so long, which is particularly helpful for people with a short attention and motivation span (like me)! As a CD course, it is of course possible to transfer the tracks onto your mp3, so that you can revise your knowledge on the go - and the succinct and compact booklet helps as well.

The downsides are that it is perhaps a little too basic; for those already with at least schoolboy/girl level French, it will leave you wanting. A thorough completion of the course will probably get you to a good level of holiday French with some basic phrases, but if you are going to do some serious learning, I'd advise going for a traditional textbook and audio course as the booklet is a little too concise for that purpose. Similarly, if you are looking to improve your written communication or reading, this is also not suitable as it is predominantly a casual speaking course.

This audio course does what it saids on the tin - it eases you slowly and easily into the basics of spoken French, as the first step towards learning the language. If this course compels you to start studying French seriously, then all the better!

Not double dutch, 25 Jul 2008
Sometimes titles like these can equal hard graft. Listening and re-listening. Whilst there is by its very nature an element of this -this hand holding exercise works rather nicely and begins at a nice easy level. My french was years ago intermediate and this has worked as a nice refresher -it has eased me back into what I hope will be end up being a reasonable grasp of the language.

Good but limited., 21 Jul 2008
Having learnt French from the age of 11 to 15 and forgetting it all by the age of 30 I wanted to brush up on my basics, I figured the easiest way would be to put this onto my iPhone and make it more usable than being limited to being near a CD player. I found that the booklet itself that comes with the three discs to be as useful as the discs but is easy to misplace due to its small size.

I feel that this is ok as a refresher course but probably quite good for complete beginners. Having already learnt these basic phrases I found that the CD's really weren't what I was expecting and similar things are now available straight onto iPhone / MP3 Players.

If you are completely new to the French language this is a good place to start out, you will hear good French accents and pick up the basics in hours, although there are plenty of other ways to learn the same basics the price tag is great.


Fills out some gaps once you're more fluent, 11 Dec 2007
I commented on a previous review, then realised I hadn't reviewed this myself, despite giving 5 stars to both the Advanced course and 4 to the Foundation course. The reason I forgot was that I DID look over this BEFORE I used the Advanced course, having bought them together, and this being shorter. Wait, in my opinion. This Language Builder is where Thomas goes over many useful and common words and phrases VERY quickly, so there's a lot in the 2 hours. Using the booklet helps a lot, as you can read what you're hearing and visualise it.

A problem I'm seeing in some reviews is that some seem to have missed the Advanced course, which does cover past and future tenses very well. The lack of emphasis on 'tu' against 'vous' is due to the method here, in that Thomas tries to get you to hear similarities in spoken French for simplicity, and points out how the 'tu' form almost always follows the sound of the third person, so can be quickly deduced for speaking. For better grammar/ written French, you DO need more.

I decided to wait until I finished the Advanced course, then gain more from this once I had more confidence. If you're not confident enough, the speed will overwhelm you, and it needs to be paused and revised well, in sensible chunks. NEVER try it all at one sitting!

5 stars again, since I just think Thomas had the best method for efficiently mastering spoken language. Pity he's no longer with us to further his material! A great man and a genius - I must read the story of his life in the French Resistance. See my other reviews on the other courses.

Ça vaut la peine de le faire, mais...., 24 Apr 2007
This language building CD is great as long as you are not under the delusion that you will attain anything other than some very useful expressions. These tools are only effective as an aid to more conventional teaching / speaking environments, they are obviously not sufficient on their own. One problem I have with Michel Thomas is that he only gives you the formal 'Vous' structures, which is fine if you are taking to strangers but less useful when talking in informal contexts - in which case you would have to find out how to conjugate into the second person as it is not given here. I am currently living in France, with my bilingual fiancée, and she has expressed doubt at some of the expressions given which she feels are a little old-fashioned and not idiomatic enough. Therefore you may find in France that although these CDs give you some good structures to start a conversation, you will be baffled by the responses. Thomas touches some of the collocations in speech but nothing will prepare you for the speed of modern spoken French. Absolute immersion is obviously the key but it depends on what level you want to attain. For adding to your repertoire of vocabulary and expressions this is a fantastic tool although I would second a former reviewer's criticism that this doesn't begin to tackle the past tense.

Michel is Marvellous, 05 Jan 2006
I have just read a review from one of your customers who does not rate the Michel Thomas Language Builder as very good at all. I think it is just the opposite and has helped me enormously. I have lived in France now for just over one year, am in my 60s, and all my French friends tell me that I have improved enormously over the past few months - due, I believe, to the Michel Thomas Language Builder which has built on my previous knowledge of the language. To me he is like Alistair Cooke the "Letter from America" genius explaining everything very slowly and succinctly so that it makes good sense to idiots like me !! Thank you.

WARNING!!, 09 Jul 2004
Firstly, let me say I am a huge fan of the Michel Thomas method, and found his 8-hr French course an absolute joy. This Language Builder, however, is not what you might be expecting. The 8-hr course is lacking in two basic things - simple vocabulary (bread, apple, up, down, one, two, etc) and the past tense. It is touched on very swiftly towards the end of the final tape, but only with can/could, want/wanted and must/had to. I was hoping that the Language Builder would continue with more of the same teaching method and fill in these two missing areas. Unfortunately not - it is simply Michel reading out a phrase book, and very quickly at that. Without your finger on the pause button, it is very difficult to follow - which makes it impossible to use doing the housework, or driving the car. Michel's method in the 8-hr course is completely ignored, there is no variety of examples, and you need to listen over and over, doing exactly what you are not supposed to - memorising and learning by rote. I'm not saying it's a bad course - but it's nothing like the 8-hr tapes. If you think it's going to be, be prepared for a disappointment.

worked for me, 11 Jun 2004
The bloke's a genius. This is a fast and furious follow up to the 8 cd course which refreshes and adds to what you've done so far. I then went to france and impressed all my french friends and relatives with my new found language skills!!! Don't hesitate to get this.

Very easy and encouraging., 29 Sep 2008
I bought this to learn with my son to keep him interested and this was a very good start. We listen to the CD sometimes only twice a week but he learns alot. I recommend you take their advice to stop the lesson when the children start to get bored in order to keep them interested and wanting to learn more. It is nice to see my son take the initiative playing the CD, read the guide book or looking for new French words himself.
The more my son learns he keeps repeating he cannot wait to travel to France.

Excellent resource, 17 Jan 2007
This book makes the basics of French easy to grasp. When my 7yr old was about to start at another school that teaches French, I bought this to give him an interest. Just once or twice a week on the way from school and he is able to understand basic sentences, and answer simple questions, giving him confidence in his new school. The songs are catchy and easy to remember. He seems to prefer this to Muzzy which I also bought.

One of the best I've seen., 24 Mar 1999
Our family has a small library of French materials for children and this is the one my children enjoy using the most. The songs are catchy and understandable (many we have are hard for me to understand what they are singing and I have had 6 years of French language). There is a good mix of activities and games that reinforce what they are learning.

Two Words : Inspirational and moving, 07 Nov 2008
I needn't say a lot - the book itself speaks volumes.

Dawn is a true icon, a role model to all women and through this book she allows you access to her personal life whilst maintaining modesty, dignity and her infectious good nature.

I saw in Dawn and her experiences my own mum and someone I want to become when I have my own family.

Every page I had tears in my eyes from either tears of joy, of laughter or of pure sadness but never pity. She shares her personal up's and down's; her life is there for you to read.

Dawn is and will always be an inspiration to all. Her personality shines through every word and every time you put the book down you're left with a swelling heart full of admiration and respect for a woman so strong, so loving and so honest.

I now have two hero's in my life; my mum and Dawn French.

Full recommendations and full marks for this, the masterpiece of memoirs for one of England's best loved and appreciated celebrities in the true sense.

Absolutely Fabulous , 26 Oct 2008
It might be a cliche but I really couldn't put this book down. It's written in a very easy to read style with short letters taking you through Dawn's life. There is a lot unwritten and she at times seems guarded but I enjoyed every single page. Definitely a laugh out loud book but still some very personal, sad times. The book takes you on a journey and it's one that I can thoroughly recommend. A+++

Queen of comedy, 24 Oct 2008
It's said that a good review is detailed and specific. I've never been 'normal' and followed rules, so here is my view of Dawn's book 'Dear Fatty'.

I just 'snagged' boyfriend's credit card to buy my daughter a copy to enjoy as well. Great, fantastic, down to earth, one of us - That's what I think of Dawn. Just when I thought I couldn't get more entertained, she wrote this book. Luv it!!!!


Collection of Tails: Read, Learn and Colour

Dawn French: The Unauthorized Biography

Dear Fatty, 22 Oct 2008
I went into Waterstones with the intent of not buying another book to my already large group of currently awaiting books to be read. But within 3 seconds of announcing this to my daughter I held the book that was looking right at me and was there at the counter paying my money. I totally enjoyed the book, it shows Dawn as the truely rounded person she is (sorry for the pun Dawn). I liked the way she wrote it, letters to everyone and it was actually a good idea considering she had never written a book before. Madonna lost out as she couldn't possible compete with the comedy diva's of French and Saunders we have in Britain. That's probably why she always turned you down. Your talent shines through and so does the love you have for your family and friends. It would of been nice if you had told others about the time you took Alison by surprise and turned up at her concert at the NEC in Birmingham with a custard pie. I didn't know she could swear so much but it had to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. Maybe next time eh? Thank you for letting us into your world and sharing it with us. Good luck to Dawn, Len and Billie.

Real Life, 21 Oct 2008
Dear Fatty has made me smile, made me laugh, made me cry and made me reflect on my own life. It was a great way for Dawn to "talk to" her friends and family and to share her life story (to date) with everyone. I loved the way it was written and the fact that I can almost hear her speaking. Great book!

Fantastic way to learn., 03 Oct 2008
I bought this originally for myself as I am studying French, German and Spanish (for fun would you believe) but it is so easy to learn that my 7 year old has it on her iPod and we are starting to have conversations.
(I also speak to her in German at times and due to how easy these CD's are, she is able to have limited chats in that too.)

There are some tunes in the background which phrases are laid over in time, and you hear them and lock them in your mind along with the tune. The guys voice is almost hypnotic and the woman who speaks with him is clear and easy to understand making it ultra easy to repeat and learn.

She will often make the odd comment about language rules, but the CD doesn't bombard you with nouns, verbs, conjucating and all the other stuff that only serves to addle your brain when trying to learn a language. It has a little booklet in with the cover so you may refer if your a bit unsure or if you want to know how to spell anything.

I wouldn't try and learn any other way now, as this has been quick and easy and even better, hard to forget and my 7 year old has picked it up brilliantly. A great addition to her French lessons at school.

Great for kids and adults and well worth trying if you've struggled to absorb languages before. (available in many other languages too)

A great intro for the scared, 26 Jul 2008
I couldn't do languages at school, wasn't bad at other things, but with languages I always had a kind of block in the brain. But having a partner and his family who spoke French made me try to learn as an adult, and this has truly helped me. I'm not going to tell you that I'm suddenly fluent, but listening to this CD made me realise that I could do it. I learnt the whole CD after several listenings and felt a real achivement, and it spurred me on to learn more (I went onto Michel Thomas who is great). I'm actually enjoying language learning now which I didn't before, and it was because this CD made French accessible to me, if not providing a huge range of vocab. You could go straight to Michel Thomas from nothing, but this did a great job of giving me a little and boosting my confidence first. I listen in my car on the way to work and that requires no effort at all re reading or computer work. Get the second CD too, it's very good, though again quite scary at first!

The easy & enjoyable way to learn a language for holiday use, 13 Jul 2008
As someone who has studied languages to degree level and also taught foreign languages in secondary school, it would be fair to say that I am generally sceptical of DIY langauage teaching CDs - and often with good cause. However, Earworms CDs are an absolutely invaluable learning resource. They will equip you, with minimal effort on your part, with a basic understanding of the language building blocks - which coupled with vocab covering the usual holiday scenarios, such as ordering drinks, food, buying things, counting, etc, will enable you to begin to start to extrapolate from what you have heard on the CD and, with the help of a dictionary, build your own sentences to meet your specific needs. Some grammar is explained - just enough to help with exactly what I've just said above - but not too much to be overwhelming.

I would thoroughly recommend these CDs to anyone who wants just 'holiday' language, or to anyone who is wishing to study the language in greater depth but would like a gentle introduction first.

The learning process is stress-free and fun. These CDs are so easy to listen to, as the background tracks are non-intrusive, rhythmical, and really do help to nudge the words and phrases into your memory. Everything is repeated several times, with one presenter speaking English and the other saying the same things in the target language. Everything is delivered in time to the music, which aids recollection later, there is good use of humour now and then, and all phrases are broken down so that you can see exactly how they have been made up. The emphasis is on repetition, so there is no feeling that things are moving too quickly. The idea is that you just relax, rather than straining to follow a fast-moving coaching CD. It really does work - once you have listed to the CD a few times, you will find you are remembering whole phrases.

Fun, flirtatious and easy to learn!, 27 May 2008
I have listened to Volume 2 (on my iPod whilst cycling into work) 3 times now and am already finding myself coming out with the phrases either in my head or when talking to the rest of my family.

The couple are very flirtatious, which also works as it helps to take your mind off trying too hard and the lady's accent and voice is beautiful, add into that the soft rymthical tunes behind the voices and you have an excellent product I would highly recommend.

Moving to France to live is a challenge to say the least. As a family we have bought almost every type of course available however this one is by far our favourite.

Good Rapid French- better with an iPod!, 13 Feb 2007
Bought Rapid French Vol.1 a year ago and had listenend to the product sitting at home in front of the CD player. Gave up with it after two weeks as the effort of taking an hour off from my schedule wasn't worth it for me.

Gave the product another try after buying an iPod and since then I have found it worked much better- the background music and the rhythmic repititions of English phrases and the French translation immediately whilst set to 'techno' music seemed to burn into my head well- perhaps too well as I developed sinusitis for the first ten days. Was worth it in the end!

Rapid French Vol.1 (and an iPod!) has been the easiest and most effective way of listening and learning basic French- its effortless and I can now listen to French radio podcasts and pick out some words and get the general gist of what they're saying.

Only complaint is that 200 words are a bit basic, but will remedy that when I get Vol. 2!



Good introduction to La France!, 25 Oct 2008
Really hard to review any foreign language learning package as success here is dependent on...
1. Your ability (some are apt at languages - others struggle!)
2. Desire to plough through the course after the memories of that beautiful summer holiday start to fade!

That said, this is an OK package for the money - somewhere between tourist French and the begining of an attempt to learn for real - certainly a big step up from a simple phrase book - the short "bite sized chunk" approach based on situation learning, contains clear, concise and relevant pockets of the language - certanly enough to get you through most tourist situations and certainly helpful to those that find any new language a struggle.

Great cd set!, 21 Aug 2008
This is a fun and enjoyable cd set that is easy to follow. The example spoken and written phrases are exactly what you want to hear and see when you are new to a language.I liked the fact that is all seems modern and not at all like the old fashioned text that we learned in school.

I downloaded the discs to my Mp3 and made much more prgress than I expected leading up to our visit to France. Highly recommended!


A good introduction to the language, 05 Aug 2008
Having no knowledge of French (having learnt German at school) but with a keen interest to start learning, this course was an ideal way for me to get stuck in. The lessons revolve around keywords introduced in turn, which are then used in the subsequent conversations; then you have to try and remember them. The fact that they are used in dialogue within a context does make the words easier to remember. Each lesson is only 10 minutes or so long, which is particularly helpful for people with a short attention and motivation span (like me)! As a CD course, it is of course possible to transfer the tracks onto your mp3, so that you can revise your knowledge on the go - and the succinct and compact booklet helps as well.

The downsides are that it is perhaps a little too basic; for those already with at least schoolboy/girl level French, it will leave you wanting. A thorough completion of the course will probably get you to a good level of holiday French with some basic phrases, but if you are going to do some serious learning, I'd advise going for a traditional textbook and audio course as the booklet is a little too concise for that purpose. Similarly, if you are looking to improve your written communication or reading, this is also not suitable as it is predominantly a casual speaking course.

This audio course does what it saids on the tin - it eases you slowly and easily into the basics of spoken French, as the first step towards learning the language. If this course compels you to start studying French seriously, then all the better!

Not double dutch, 25 Jul 2008
Sometimes titles like these can equal hard graft. Listening and re-listening. Whilst there is by its very nature an element of this -this hand holding exercise works rather nicely and begins at a nice easy level. My french was years ago intermediate and this has worked as a nice refresher -it has eased me back into what I hope will be end up being a reasonable grasp of the language.

Good but limited., 21 Jul 2008
Having learnt French from the age of 11 to 15 and forgetting it all by the age of 30 I wanted to brush up on my basics, I figured the easiest way would be to put this onto my iPhone and make it more usable than being limited to being near a CD player. I found that the booklet itself that comes with the three discs to be as useful as the discs but is easy to misplace due to its small size.

I feel that this is ok as a refresher course but probably quite good for complete beginners. Having already learnt these basic phrases I found that the CD's really weren't what I was expecting and similar things are now available straight onto iPhone / MP3 Players.

If you are completely new to the French language this is a good place to start out, you will hear good French accents and pick up the basics in hours, although there are plenty of other ways to learn the same basics the price tag is great.


Fills out some gaps once you're more fluent, 11 Dec 2007
I commented on a previous review, then realised I hadn't reviewed this myself, despite giving 5 stars to both the Advanced course and 4 to the Foundation course. The reason I forgot was that I DID look over this BEFORE I used the Advanced course, having bought them together, and this being shorter. Wait, in my opinion. This Language Builder is where Thomas goes over many useful and common words and phrases VERY quickly, so there's a lot in the 2 hours. Using the booklet helps a lot, as you can read what you're hearing and visualise it.

A problem I'm seeing in some reviews is that some seem to have missed the Advanced course, which does cover past and future tenses very well. The lack of emphasis on 'tu' against 'vous' is due to the method here, in that Thomas tries to get you to hear similarities in spoken French for simplicity, and points out how the 'tu' form almost always follows the sound of the third person, so can be quickly deduced for speaking. For better grammar/ written French, you DO need more.

I decided to wait until I finished the Advanced course, then gain more from this once I had more confidence. If you're not confident enough, the speed will overwhelm you, and it needs to be paused and revised well, in sensible chunks. NEVER try it all at one sitting!

5 stars again, since I just think Thomas had the best method for efficiently mastering spoken language. Pity he's no longer with us to further his material! A great man and a genius - I must read the story of his life in the French Resistance. See my other reviews on the other courses.

Ça vaut la peine de le faire, mais...., 24 Apr 2007
This language building CD is great as long as you are not under the delusion that you will attain anything other than some very useful expressions. These tools are only effective as an aid to more conventional teaching / speaking environments, they are obviously not sufficient on their own. One problem I have with Michel Thomas is that he only gives you the formal 'Vous' structures, which is fine if you are taking to strangers but less useful when talking in informal contexts - in which case you would have to find out how to conjugate into the second person as it is not given here. I am currently living in France, with my bilingual fiancée, and she has expressed doubt at some of the expressions given which she feels are a little old-fashioned and not idiomatic enough. Therefore you may find in France that although these CDs give you some good structures to start a conversation, you will be baffled by the responses. Thomas touches some of the collocations in speech but nothing will prepare you for the speed of modern spoken French. Absolute immersion is obviously the key but it depends on what level you want to attain. For adding to your repertoire of vocabulary and expressions this is a fantastic tool although I would second a former reviewer's criticism that this doesn't begin to tackle the past tense.

Michel is Marvellous, 05 Jan 2006
I have just read a review from one of your customers who does not rate the Michel Thomas Language Builder as very good at all. I think it is just the opposite and has helped me enormously. I have lived in France now for just over one year, am in my 60s, and all my French friends tell me that I have improved enormously over the past few months - due, I believe, to the Michel Thomas Language Builder which has built on my previous knowledge of the language. To me he is like Alistair Cooke the "Letter from America" genius explaining everything very slowly and succinctly so that it makes good sense to idiots like me !! Thank you.

WARNING!!, 09 Jul 2004
Firstly, let me say I am a huge fan of the Michel Thomas method, and found his 8-hr French course an absolute joy. This Language Builder, however, is not what you might be expecting. The 8-hr course is lacking in two basic things - simple vocabulary (bread, apple, up, down, one, two, etc) and the past tense. It is touched on very swiftly towards the end of the final tape, but only with can/could, want/wanted and must/had to. I was hoping that the Language Builder would continue with more of the same teaching method and fill in these two missing areas. Unfortunately not - it is simply Michel reading out a phrase book, and very quickly at that. Without your finger on the pause button, it is very difficult to follow - which makes it impossible to use doing the housework, or driving the car. Michel's method in the 8-hr course is completely ignored, there is no variety of examples, and you need to listen over and over, doing exactly what you are not supposed to - memorising and learning by rote. I'm not saying it's a bad course - but it's nothing like the 8-hr tapes. If you think it's going to be, be prepared for a disappointment.

worked for me, 11 Jun 2004
The bloke's a genius. This is a fast and furious follow up to the 8 cd course which refreshes and adds to what you've done so far. I then went to france and impressed all my french friends and relatives with my new found language skills!!! Don't hesitate to get this.

Very easy and encouraging., 29 Sep 2008
I bought this to learn with my son to keep him interested and this was a very good start. We listen to the CD sometimes only twice a week but he learns alot. I recommend you take their advice to stop the lesson when the children start to get bored in order to keep them interested and wanting to learn more. It is nice to see my son take the initiative playing the CD, read the guide book or looking for new French words himself.
The more my son learns he keeps repeating he cannot wait to travel to France.

Excellent resource, 17 Jan 2007
This book makes the basics of French easy to grasp. When my 7yr old was about to start at another school that teaches French, I bought this to give him an interest. Just once or twice a week on the way from school and he is able to understand basic sentences, and answer simple questions, giving him confidence in his new school. The songs are catchy and easy to remember. He seems to prefer this to Muzzy which I also bought.

One of the best I've seen., 24 Mar 1999
Our family has a small library of French materials for children and this is the one my children enjoy using the most. The songs are catchy and understandable (many we have are hard for me to understand what they are singing and I have had 6 years of French language). There is a good mix of activities and games that reinforce what they are learning.

excellent, 22 Oct 2008
A fun and interesting way to pick up the basics. One CD goes along with the book, and the other you can take out with you in the car or when out and about. The mind-maps really add to the learning experience, and help the vocab to 'stick' better than other more traditional methods, I've found. I last learned French at school quite a few years ago, and this really helped to bring back the knowledge. CDs aid in the pronounciation, but there's also a very useful pronounciation guide to help you out. Highly recommended.

An easy way to learn, 16 Oct 2008
I am always dubious about language courses which promise to have you speaking and understanding a new language in such a short time, with out putting in hours of work.

However I found with this course even just reading through the accompanying booklet, I was able to quickly understand, pronounce and remember phrases and words. The course content and teaching style is totally different to courses I have tried (and failed to complete!) in the past. This course uses easy to remember 'catch phrases' to facilitate your learning and memory.

I am still working through this course and I have found it more useful than a years worth of language lessons.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to explore another language in an uncomplicated way.

Unique and interesting learning tool, 18 Sep 2008
I fully praise this product for differing from the over populated language learning tools market. While the market has many examples of good books and CDs, they are yet to be combined in such a way as this.

The only fault I could really mention is that with the CD refering to the books a lot, it wouldn't be a viable purchase for learning in the car or on the move, for example. You'll need the time to put in to learning your chosen language, but should you put the time in it will pay off.

A much needed confidence boost!!, 22 Aug 2008
This pack has really helped me get to grips with French.

I was taking a short course, but I was struggling as we were just reading phrases out of a textbook. I was unsure about the pronunciation when I practiced alone. Result? I was very shy in front of everyone else & quickly became embarrassed and stuttered all of the time. I eventually gave up on the course...




That's why I love this pack. As well as a clearly laid out 207 page book, you'll also receive 2 CDs. The first CD goes with the book, so you can learn the correct pronunciation of the phrases.

The second CD is for when you've become a bit more confident & isn't used with the book. This is great as you can do the housework whilst you're learning. You can also take on car journeys & put those traffic jams to good use!!

The phases themselves are chosen out to learn before you go on vacation. The book is separated into 10 of the most popular holiday activities; visiting cafes, shops, museums, restaurants, taxi journeys, the tourist office, the market, what time is it & goodbye!!




This pack is only a beginner's guide, but my sister is also using it to learn the correct pronunciations of phrases & improve her confidence for her exams.


pretty good for beginner, 24 Jul 2008
Overall i think this product is aimed at the real beginner going on a trip to France with a chance to try out the language. Which is no bad thing at all. My French is moderate so i found the pack a bit basic. Some nice ideas and different ways to get ideas and phrases across, audio examples are very useful. Recommended for those who don't take kindly to just reading the text and are unable to translate what they read to the sounds/accent of the language.

Two Words : Inspirational and moving, 07 Nov 2008
I needn't say a lot - the book itself