Complete French Learning Suite by Transparent Languages is a combination of five products aimed at the complete beginner.  The promise of the course is to quickly bring the beginner to the intermediate level.  It comes with features expected of any language course software.

The low price for the five products included in the package is such a sweet deal, making it impossible to pass up.

The five products included in this package are: French BYKI Deluxe, Learn French Now!, the Everyday French audio course, Lexicon Translation Dictionary and LinguaMatch Panoramic Phrasebook.

Learn French Now!

We've previously reviewed Learn French Now!, a software course which offers a 15,000 word vocabulary, including exercises and activities involving vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and pronunciation.  Like most of the major courseware programs it includes a speech recognition component to help you with your pronunciation.  The driving philosophy behind Learn French Now!, however, is immersion and this is provided with "Big Screen Video", a series of videos intended to immerse you in the sights and sounds of all things French, including individuals and groups speaking the language.  It's not just a video, however, as tools are provided so you can easily pause things and research, as when you're having trouble following a particular conversation.  This multimedia experience also includes interactive games and conversations, so you aren't just passively sitting there but also actively engaging in the experience.

French BYKI Deluxe

BYKI (Before You Know It) is also included in Learn French Now! and so we've encountered it as part of our previous review and were very impressed with it.  Essentially, it is flash card software designed to help you quickly memorize thousands of words and phrases from different categories.  You'll see and hear each word in action, with the program keeping track of how often you recognize words, and when you have difficulty with one particular word or phrase it repeats it more often until you've mastered it.  It's a simple process but extremely effective - there really isn't a quicker way to learn a large vocabulary.  Additionally, when you've mastered the included categories of words you can always visit the Transparent Languages site and download more.

Everywhere French Audio Course

The Everywhere French Audio Course comes with 35 French lessons across 5 audio CD's.  English instructors explain what you're about to learn, followed by native French speakers repeatedly pronouncing words, phrases and complete sentences.  All you have to do is repeat after the speaker until you get it right.   Because it's designed to be as hands-free as possible, it's ideal for your daily commute to work and perhaps even while you work.  It's a great complement to the software component of the course and lends itself well to an overall sense of immersion.

Lexicon Translation Dictionary

The Lexicon Translation Dictionary is not a book of the sort you can carry around.  It's software which translates 65,000 words and phrases to and from a variety of languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portugese.  Can you really learn a language without such a dictionary?  Definitely not, so this is a very thoughtful inclusion on the part of Transparent Languages.

LinguaMatch Panoramic Phrasebook

The Lingua Match Panoramic Phrasebook is a fascinating concept and once again not a book in the regular sense of the word.  It's software which allows you to move around and explore scenes in three dimensional worlds, learning French as you interact with objects and people within those worlds.  Click on an object to learn its name and hear its pronunciation in French.  Meet people and hear French conversation.  Not sure of a word meaning?  Simply switch between English and French.  In this way you'll learn 2000 words and 1200 phrases to do with everyday life experiences, all in a pseudo-immersive experience.
Criticisms

The only criticisms we have are the fact that there is no overall progress indicator or lesson plan.  Each product is separate, meaning your learning experience will be somewhat fragmented rather than part of an overiding course strategy.  The speech-recognition software is also not highly accurate and has some minor bugs which need to be worked out, such as misidentifying words and phrases.  However, neither of these criticisms would stop us from recommending the the product.

What We Have Here: A French Mega-Course On Steroids

Learn French Now! is the only product which on its own can be called a full language course, but when you add four additional tools to the mix, each of which complements the course and is eminently useful for learning French, what you wind up with is a French course on steroids - that's precisely what Complete French Learning Suite is.  On its own, with only a 15,000 word vocabulary, Learn French Now! would be a weak offering.  With all of these additional products which comprise the Complete French Learning Suite you'll be armed to the teeth with everything you need to succeed.   And the low price for the whole lot certainly makes it an impossible deal to pass up.

Our Recommendation: Good, Many Useful Add-ons

Of all the courseware packages we've reviewed this one has the most tools bundled in, ensuring you'll have much to work with long after you've completed the course work.  Given all the extra addons it's hard to argue with the price point of this product.