Fluent Forever Pronunciation Trainers - opinions?

[Adrianslont]

I'm thinking of buying one of Gabriel Wyner's Pronunciation Trainers - the French one to be exact. I was wondering if anyone on the forum had used the trainers - anyone of them - and what they thought of them.

I know that I could study French phonology with the FSI course or other courses but I actually like using Anki to study. I like that it makes me do some study each day and as I improve, how it spaces the practice. And how it combines the sound and text into one screen on my phone which fits neatly in my pocket. So, I don't really want to hear that FSI is free and better. I'm quite willing to pay the bucks if the Wyner product is reasonably good.

Strangely I have found very little in the way of reviews. So, can anyone share their experiences?

[rdearman]

I'm thinking of buying one of Gabriel Wyner's Pronunciation Trainers - the French one to be exact. I was wondering if anyone on the forum had used the trainers - anyone of them - and what they thought of them.

I know that I could study French phonology with the FSI course or other courses but I actually like using Anki to study. I like that it makes me do some study each day and as I improve, how it spaces the practice. And how it combines the sound and text into one screen on my phone which fits neatly in my pocket. So, I don't really want to hear that FSI is free and better. I'm quite willing to pay the bucks if the Wyner product is reasonably good.

Strangely I have found very little in the way of reviews. So, can anyone share their experiences?

I don't have any advice for you, since I haven't used that course. However your question did make me curious if anyone had chopped up the FSI French phonology course into ANKI cards?

[Adrianslont]

I'm thinking of buying one of Gabriel Wyner's Pronunciation Trainers - the French one to be exact. I was wondering if anyone on the forum had used the trainers - anyone of them - and what they thought of them.

I know that I could study French phonology with the FSI course or other courses but I actually like using Anki to study. I like that it makes me do some study each day and as I improve, how it spaces the practice. And how it combines the sound and text into one screen on my phone which fits neatly in my pocket. So, I don't really want to hear that FSI is free and better. I'm quite willing to pay the bucks if the Wyner product is reasonably good.

Strangely I have found very little in the way of reviews. So, can anyone share their experiences?

I don't have any advice for you, since I haven't used that course. However your question did make me curious if anyone had chopped up the FSI French phonology course into ANKI cards?

And your thought made me curious! I can't see any FSI French Phonolgy on the anki shared decks site. Some FSI but not the phonology course in particular. I know I could make my own deck from the FSI recordings but I'd rather just pay Mr Wyner. Thanks for the thought.

[Tomás]

I have Gabe's Spanish trainer. It's a fine product, but I am not convinced that SRS adds any value to this particular part of the process. When I move to French I will probably use the FSI instead.

Also, Gabe's deck is more of a listening trainer than a pronunciation trainer. Search this site for info on pronunciation trainers.

[Adrianslont]

I have Gabe's Spanish trainer. It's a fine product, but I am not convinced that SRS adds any value to this particular part of the process. When I move to French I will probably use the FSI instead.

Also, Gabe's deck is more of a listening trainer than a pronunciation trainer. Search this site for info on pronunciation trainers.

Thanks Tomas. It's good to hear a firm recommendation.

I totally understand that it is working only on the listening part of pronunciation.

[smallwhite]

I totally understand that it is working only on the listening part of pronunciation.

If you don't mind me asking - what pronunciation-listening problem are you having that's so bad that you want to buy a tool to solve it? I don't remember anything in French that bad.

[Adrianslont]

I totally understand that it is working only on the listening part of pronunciation.

If you don't mind me asking - what pronunciation-listening problem are you having that's so bad that you want to buy a tool to solve it? I don't remember anything in French that bad.

I wouldn't say my French pronunciation is atrocious but it could be better. I'm aware that I'm not always making specifically French vowels and there are some minimal pairs I have trouble hearing.

I want to approach the issue systematically but don't want to go the full FSI phonology route or the other standard French pron courses. The Gabe Wyner approach using anki intrigues me and it's really not costly at 12$ US so I thought I would try it. I know FSI is free but other courses are way more expensive. I have a feeling it will sort out my issues quicker than the other courses, too. I almost just bought it last night but I thought I would solicit some expert opinions here first!

[Adrianslont]

If you don't mind me asking - what pronunciation-listening problem are you having that's so bad that you want to buy a tool to solve it? I don't remember anything in French that bad.

Smallwhite, I'm slightly bemused at your comment about "buying a tool". I know you like to use books and I guess you buy the occasional one - isn't a book a tool? To help you "solve" the "problem" of learning a language?

[smallwhite]

If you don't mind me asking - what pronunciation-listening problem are you having that's so bad that you want to buy a tool to solve it? I don't remember anything in French that bad.

Smallwhite, I'm slightly bemused at your comment about "buying a tool". I know you like to use books and I guess you buy the occasional one - isn't a book a tool? To help you "solve" the "problem" of learning a language?

Well, first of all, I didn't know whether the Trainer is a book or an app or what, so I just called it a tool

I don't know why I said that the way I did Maybe I was contrasting buying a tool with just listening more / just giving it more time.

[Adrianslont]

If you don't mind me asking - what pronunciation-listening problem are you having that's so bad that you want to buy a tool to solve it? I don't remember anything in French that bad.

Smallwhite, I'm slightly bemused at your comment about "buying a tool". I know you like to use books and I guess you buy the occasional one - isn't a book a tool? To help you "solve" the "problem" of learning a language?

Well, first of all, I didn't know whether the Trainer is a book or an app or what, so I just called it a tool

I don't know why I said that the way I did Maybe I was contrasting buying a tool with just listening more / just giving it more time.

It's an anki deck with a focus on pronunciation/minimal pairs/spelling to sounds.

Now I understand the tool bit.