4 stars (I don't know why the other reviews are so critical) - I bought this because it is needed for my Cultural Anthropology class and it's a pretty smooth read. It has a definate liberal bias but no more than any other college book I've had to buy, if anything it's a bit less liberal bias than some of the books I've had to suffer through. It's topics are very interesting and in most places the authors at least try to be neutral. The really good part of the book is not the part the instructors normally assign but the stuff in the yellow boxes which are almost like reading stories. 5 stars (A Good Introductory Text) - This is one of the better anthropology texts available today. It is very comprehensive, well-organized, and takes a very broad view of the human condition. The problem with textbooks is that they sometimes summarize issues as if they were settled questions, when, in reality, many of the problems involved are the subjects of complex debate. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since the majority of undergraduate students are not interested in primary sources that are very difficult to read and take a lot of work to understand. As an instructor I found the book to be very good as a basic resource that allowed me to teach my perspective of the discipline to students using supplementary materials and lectures. The major drawback is that it is so expensive, but not more so than other textbooks out there. Here is what one of my very good students said about the book, "I found it to be well-organized, thorough, and easy to understand. I have never taken a class in this subject before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but as far as I can tell it is a useful text. I had one other cultural anthropology class this term and I was able to use the textbook from your class as a reference from time to time. I chose anthropology as my minor, and so for further reference purposes I have kept the text from your class." Students who have strong politic... Wadsworth Publishing :: Social Science & Anthropology & General :: Sociology :: Social Science :: Ethnology :: Archaeology & Anthropology :: Anthropology - General :: Anthropology - Cult :: Cultural Anthropology - The Human Challenge (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
5 stars (Refund) - I realized after placing the order that I wasn't quite ready to buy the book and my money was refunded instantly. Great customer service and quick response time. 4 stars (Great for AP Human Geography) - Currently I am taking an AP Human Geography class in my high school and this is the book we were assigned to buy. This book has wonderful charts and pictures along with descriptions. This book goes into depth and doesn't only touch the surface. I recomend this book to AP Human Geography teachers and students! ... Prentice Hall :: Science & Geography :: Sociology :: Social Science :: Human Geography :: Earth Sciences - Geography :: James M Rubenstein :: :: The Cultural Landscape - An Introduction to Human Geography (8th Edition)
5 stars (Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory & Practice) - Sue & Sue have revised their book with wonderful results. This time they include a section "Clinical Implications" in each chapter, this adds to the information and helps with the teaching of this necessary subject. As usual Sue & Sue are thorough and thoughtful in their presentation. They also include the notion of Organizational Culture as a needed subject of study. I highly recommend this book for any clinican and professor who works in the field of psychology. Dr. Gabrielle M. Guedet, Ph.D., MFT 4 stars (Good Book, some problems with it.) - This was required reading for a class I was taking in multicultural issues. It was very interesting but it was hard to read parts of it because of the nature of confronting our biases that the book addresses. I did have some issues with the way the book approached discussing the role of white people in society. It was almost as if the authors wanted me to feel bad about being white. Overall it was very informative and gave really good examples and implications for clinical use. 1 stars (A Biased Look at Bias in America) - I must add my disappointment to many others who have already posted here. This book is required reading in my masters in counseling course, and I was hoping for something that would provide valuable guidelines to reach across cultures in counseling. Unfortunately, Sue & Sue make it quite clear that the only reaching across cultures to be done is by White Americans. Whites are painted as being responsible for all bias in our country while non-Whites are to be held responsible for nothing. Period. Just because these two authors (or any authors, for that matter) are considered the experts in their field does not mean they are necessarily correct. It is impossible for any human being to approach any subject without bias, yet overall Sue & Sue hold only Whites accountable for recognizing and correcting their biases. At the same time... Wiley :: Psychology & Psychiatry & Clinical Psychology :: Cultural studies :: Counselling :: Psychotherapy - Counseling :: Psychology :: Mental Health :: Ethnic Studies - :: Counseling the Culturally Diverse- Theory and Practice
3 stars (CLAD Text) - A well written text essential for acquiring CLAD credentialing. Myths are perpetuated which greatly reduces the credibility - there is only one "race", humans or Homo sapiens. Very few of us were born or came from the Caucasus Mountains of eastern Europe, yet 17th century artificial constructs of "race" and "Caucasian" are used. There is no discussion of how skin pigmentation is an ecotype adaptation, not a "race." Science, Scientific American, Discovery and other peer-reviewed journals have corrected "race" misconceptions repeatedly - yet the authors, with education backgrounds, appear to have not completed a review of current literature. There is no discussion of critical thinking (www.criticalthinking.org). Children of "color" are discussed, but there is no discussion of children of "pallor". The 3rd edition can be greatly improved by being current, i.e., people of pallor (so-called "white") are now the "minority" in many communities; a CD-ROM or DVD and online video streaming resources; correct use of the term "race." Inquiry is discussed under Science, but only the Natl Science Education Standards are acknowleged - TIMSS, Geography, Project 2061 (AAAS), GLOBE (www.globe.gov) 15,000+ schools in 100 countries on 7 continents and multiple other standards are ignored. The authors get it wrong regarding the language of Science, many students with nonEnglish backgrounds have an advantage over English speakers because of the Latin and Greek roots. Effective teaching uses "hands-on, minds-on" not "familiarize, memorize, regurgitate and forget." Effective K-12 and university instructors minimize lecturing and maximize opportunities to internalize knowledge across curricula. A wealth of current critical thinking, classroom management and teaching techniques will go a long way toward helping make this a credible, rather than a required text. 5 stars (Golden resource) - I almost felt like I was cheating on the CLAD test. This handbook was a wonderfu... Allyn - Bacon :: Education & Bilingual Education :: United States :: Study and teaching (Higher) :: Multicultural Education :: Language and education :: Language Experience Appr :: The Crosscultural- Language- and Academic Development Handbook- A Complete K-12 Reference Guide (2nd
5 stars (Fun Fun Fun!!!) - This product is amazing. After learning my husband was taking me to Mexico for our 25th anniversary, I was nervous about going into a foreign country without knowing Spanish. This game is amazing. It is the fastest way to learn a language without long drawn out grammar explanations. Afterall, I just wanted to learn the basics, phrases for restaurants, banks, airports, shopping etc. This game was so much fun, you couldn't tear me or my husband off the computer. We kept wanting to play because learning was so much fun. The phrases I learned contributed to a much more enjoyable trip and now I have enrolled at the local community college to further my Spanish. This product is perfect for any one travelling and wanting to learn the phrases and colloquial expression fast. ... Kutoka :: Learn learning :: Portuguese :: Spanish Espanol :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: Social Science (Studies) :: Culture (Cultural :: Eazyspeak Spanish Levels 1 and 2 (PC - Mac)
5 stars (Get this book if you can.) - The Quilt's of Gee's Bend exhibit was at the Corcoran in Washington DC earlier this year. I went 3 times with different people. Enjoyed each visit like it was the first! I saw the book then, but I am buying it now. It is informative and inspirational (my mother and I are working on our first quilt together and have others planned). The book has so many examples of the fine workmanship and talent and beauty that grew out of their necessity. Get this book! If you're luck enough to go to the exhibit - do it! - at least once! 5 stars (Read about this in Country Home magazine.) - I believe Country Home wrote an article about these woman and pictured them and some of the quilts. I found it fascinating! It made me thankful for what I've got and showed me that beauty is everywhere -- its just a matter of how you interpret the world around you. Erin 5 stars (more than a coffee table book) - The Quilts of Gee;s Bend is much more than a beautiful coffee table book. It is that, too, of course. The book is filled with social history of this small place near Selma, Alabama. I've been lucky enough to visit Gee's Bend and see the quilt-making process. The Whitney Museum exhibit must have been wonderful. Sunday Morning on CBS did a story on the exhibit. The quilters traveled to New York for the opening and entertained the guests with their singing. That's what Gee's Bend is like: A rich yet poor stop on the road where women made the best of what they had and turned out great art in the process. ... Tinwood Books :: Social Science :: Quilts & Quilting :: Multicultural Nonfiction :: Folk & Outsider Art :: Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General :: Art & Art Instr :: Gee-s Bend- The Women and Their Quilts
5 stars (An easy version of Photoshop for kids!) - This program is great. Bought for my 6 year old son who displays a lot of creativity but is already knowledgeable of the computer, so thought this would be a good program to utilize his skills. I found that click and create was similar to Photoshop which is amazing because he'll already be learning skills for when he's older. The navigation is easy and Mia, the character, is adorable. My son's favourite part is making the gift cards where he finds excuses to make cards all the time now for the littlest of occasions! Great product. ... Kutoka :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: Social Science (Studies) :: Culture (Cultural) :: Art (Arts) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Kids (Children :: Kids (Ch :: Click -amp- Create With Mia
4 stars (Beautiful Book) - This is a beautiful, coffee-table worthy book. The information is detailed and thorough. However, I am just starting the landscaping process, and was hoping for a book that I could study to decide WHAT I want to plant; possibly a book divided into categories. This book is organized entirely alphabetically. With this book, you must already know the plant and can then get any information about it you want. It will be useful once my landscaping is finished. 3 stars (Encyclopedia of Garden Plants) - This is an excellent book only if you know the name of your plants. If you are looking to find out what the name of a specific plant is, the book is just way to huge to go through page by page to find out its name. 4 stars (AHS A-Z of Plants) - An excellent work. Full of detailed photos and comprehensive and thorough information on most varieties you are likely to encounter. Easy to reference and locate responses to your gardening questions. Downside is the book is a little heavy and a little expensive. ... DK ADULT :: Gardening & Reference :: Reference :: Plants :: Ornamental :: Ornamental Plants :: Gardening&Plants :: Gardening & Horticulture :: Gardening :: Encyclopedias :: Christo :: American Horticultural Society A to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants
5 stars (Great reference book) - I have a chemical lawn/tree & shrub business, and I use it. The only negative I can see is that the Home Gardener's Problem Solver covers most of this book for $30. That said, I gave my techs the home gardener's version and kept this one for myself. 4 stars (Comprehensive except for lack of Organic control methods) - "The Ortho Problem Solver" is a wonderful reference book on pests, fungus', etc and controlling them with inorganic methods. Of course, Ortho is not known for organic pest control, but I still feel that maybe they should include this information considering that many that wish to control certain pests also live in wildlife areas--such as areas where there are birds, or are environmentalists or oriented towards this area when it comes to certain issues such as vegetables and fruit. Environmentally correct methods do often work. Some will do nothing about pests no matter what because they fear any interruption in the wildlife. I purchased the book because of the information it has in a variety of other areas--soil PH, lists of pests/fungus/other and photos of the damage they do, and overall general information. It is a very interesting and comprehensive reference book. It has a good layout with several sections. 5 stars (This book is the "missing link" to solving garden problems.) - Having just completed training in the Master Gardener program in our state, I found that I still needed a better visual reference to correctly identify garden problems. Recently, while shopping for a pesticide, I was able to pinpoint my exact problem because the store had prominently displayed a copy of "The Ortho Problem Solver" by Michael D. Smith! Its brilliant photographs and easy to understand narratives were surpassed only by its explicit and wonderfully cross-referenced index feature. I was unable to tear myself away - and kept calling my husband over to help me remember photos for later diagnosis at home. As a serious photogr... Meredith Books :: Gardening & Reference :: Reference :: Pest Control In Horticultural Crops :: Life Sciences - Horticulture :: Gardening&Plants :: Gardening & Horticulture :: Garde :: The Ortho Problem Solver- Sixth Edition (Ortho Problem Solver)
5 stars (Great Help For Growing magic Mushrooms) - My only interest in getting this book was growing magic mushrooms so this review will only be of interest to people wishing to grow mushroom species that produce psilocybin. I had found a free online grow guide and after reading it, I decided I would like to try growing mushrooms myself but I wasn't totally sure of what to do. This book cleared up all my questions about growing magic mushrooms because while the online growers guide is a very good explanation, I needed more photographs of the procedures described to help me fully understand what I had to do. This helped me produced a crop that was 100% successful on my first try. I would not recommend this book alone to someone with no previous experience unless they already had an understanding of how to grow magic mushrooms. If you want to grow but have no idea how, use a search engine to find 'magic mushroom growers guide' and read it first. If you still have questions then get this book. While it is geared towards growing on a large scale, it will help those who are interested in growing a small personal garden. If you want to grow on a larger scale later, everything you need to know is in this book. While it is not only about growing magic mushrooms (Psilocybe) I can not comment on using the procedures described for growing other species because I have no experience. 4 stars (The ABC's of mushroom cultivation!) - There's a very good reason that Paul Stamets is such a respected authority on mushrooms-- the man knows his stuff! Amateur mycologists are lucky to have a trustworthy source of information, especially one who doesn't shy away from controversy (witness the several pages devoted to Psilocybes in this book!). This is a comprehensive "how to" manual targeted at the amateur enthusiast. Stamets uses clinical and scientific terminology throughout most of the text, which can be frustrating if you don't speak his language, but which is also very precise. ... Agarikon Press :: Mushrooms :: Mushroom culture :: Horticultural Crops :: General :: Gardening&Plants :: Gardening & Horticulture :: J S Chilton :: Paul Stamets :: :: Mushroom Cultivator- A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home
5 stars (An old favorite remains the best of its kind!) - As a third grade teacher, I had this product in my classroom for years, until one day it inevitably got lost. I have been looking for a new copy for a while, and was glad to find it available on Amazon. It is, in my opinion, the best program of its type. The concept is very easy, children paint in a KID PIX type of format onto a white board, and that painting is then translated into music. If you draw at the top of the screen you will have a high note, at the bottom a low note. The longer you draw the same pitch horizontally the longer the note will be held. The simplicity makes it accessible to kids as young as kindergarten, but there's lots of features that make it riveting for older kids and adults as well. You have a wide variety of instrument to "draw" your music with, and there are lots of options that allow kids to experience their compositions in different ways. Hear your opus backwards or learn what it sounds like if it were flipped upside down. This is a program that people of all ages will enjoy (it was one of everyone's favorites on parent night). Sometimes simpler really is superior, and this program is a perfect example. ... Viva Media :: Sequencing :: Creation :: audio :: Music :: Social Science (Studies) :: Culture (Cultural) :: Art (Arts) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Kids (Children) :: Com :: Making Music- Create- Play- Experience-
5 stars (EXCELLENT! Look no where else for this bible of propagation) - Ive had this book for two days and I just adore it. For the advanced or intermediate gardener, this book does not "speak down" to you, yet supplies enough info for the average, curious or Home Depot crowd. There is so much information compiled in here -- great breakdown of species and methods -- conventional and traditional methods of propogation (that I use, and I like their write-ups on these more complicated - yet effective - methods). The artistic direction and layout of the book is fabulous. Highly illustrated with step-by-step techniques and photography. My only criticism is the way the individual plant species are layed out in the book, but that is just my preference. The book is arranged in species by annuals, trees, vines, etc -- I would have preferred to see the book arranged in the alphabetic by species or common names; however, there is a well thought out index in the back which makes the look up easy. A great book -- look no further. If I could marry a gardening book, this would be it!!! 5 stars (American Hort. Society Plant propagation) - This book is great. I borrowed it from my local library and had to have it for my own !!!! 5 stars (The mysteries of propagation have finally come together...) - I was in search of a good informative book for seed starting and stumbled upon this one. What a find!!! They give detailed instructions for hundreds of plants (including hardy and tropicals) defining exactly what propagating technique(s) works best for each. Softwood cuttings, hardwood cuttings, dividing, grafting (far more methods than I have ever seen in one book) and the various methods of gathering and seed-starting, whether your species prefers cold-stratifying, soaking, scarification or if it prefers to be direct-sown. This book has techniques for reproducing just one or hundreds of plants. I could go on and on but it all boils down to this; If you have any interest in multi... DK ADULT :: Gardening & Techniques :: Techniques :: Regional - General :: Plant propagation :: Horticultural Plant Propagation :: Gardening&Plants :: Gardening & Horticulture :: American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation- The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Pra
Plesk Plus for UNIX and Linux - This license is an Unlimited Domain all add-ons included license for Plesk on UNIX and Linux. Add-ons included with your purchase are the Plesk Power Pack for UNIX and Linux..... SWsoft :: plesk panel :: lesk discount :: Plesk Plus for UNIX Linux
5 stars (Sleek Tiger) - The finest OS to date. I was haapy with Paanthere, but Tiger is a steop above. 5 stars (From PC to Mac forever, this OS is amazing.) - I have used Windows for years and used a Mac at my work, I always liked the way the Mac handled graphics and also appreciated their ease of use. Mac OS X is so simple to use compared to Windows XP, it is by far the best OS I have ever used. I have not run into one single glitch, my powerbook has not crashed on me once. It had crashed on me a few times with OS 9, but this one seems to be a lot more stable. I like the dashboard also, you can quickly check the weather, stocks, dictionary or calendar all with a push of a button and built into the OS. You can also download many others for free from the Apple website. Itunes is a great application also and it is something I use all day long. Safari is far more superior in just about every-way compared to Microsoft Explorer, in fact it would take to long to list the benefits. I also liked the ability to run OS 9 in classic mode, so you can keep all your older software and still use them within OS X. If you are sick and tired of the Windows fatal exception errors or sending Windows error reports, then buy yourself an Apple and enjoy stress free living with OS X. 1 stars (Stick with Panther) - I get the spinning beachball and Microsoft Office application crashes about as often as I did in 10.1! I reformatted my hard disk and reinstalled Panther after trying the 10.4.1 and 10.4.2 updates. For my needs Panther (10.3.8+) is a much more robust and stable operating system. ... Apple Computer :: mac :: os :: x :: 10 :: 4 :: tiger :: [dvd] :: apple :: computer :: software :: operating :: sys :: macosx10 4tiger[dvd] 29 april :: 2005 :: Mac OS X 10 4 Tiger [DVD]
The Glg Toolkit is a RAD tool for developing dynamic data-driven C/C++ or 100% pure Java graphics and visual components: from simple animations to process control, satellite telemetry, mission control and other applications which require visualizing real-time data... BigNet Store :: RAD tool :: RAD tools :: Glg Toolkit- 2D Graph Widgets (Linux)
1 stars (stupid and ridiculous) - why? cause it chokes up PROCESSING and RAM that's why! its full of bugs and freezes frequently. [...] if you want stability get win2000. its ridiculous how they keep releasing new operating systems every year. XP = Xtra Problem. 5 stars (WindowsXPHomeSP2) - I had WindowsME, but something went wrong with my computer and it wasn't recognizing drivers for stuff so I got XP and that fixed all that because XP has all the drivers you need already included in it. 4 stars (No Surprises) - Upgraded from Win 98 on laptop with no problems except for conflict with wireless module. ... Microsoft Software :: microsoft :: windows :: xp :: home :: edition :: upgrade :: with :: service :: pack :: 2 :: microsoft :: software :: software :: operating :: sys :: microsoftwindowsxphomeeditionupgradewithservic :: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade with Service Pack 2
3 stars (SuSe and Digital Video Editing) - I'll be happy to be proven wrong by 10.0, but one area where 9.3 was very weak was Digital Video (DV) editing. There are and abundance of robust and stable commercial packages available for Windows for around $100. My favorite is Pure Motion's Edit Studio. The Suse trial version of MainActor crashed frequently and I could not get Broadcast 2000 to run at all other than in DV capture mode. Kino worked, but is low on features and not intuitive. Cinelerra looks powerful, but its specs demand high-powered hardware, and it scared me off. I understand that there are licensing issues with DRM, codecs etc, but DV has now become a mainstream activity on home PCs. I could easily migrate to Suse Linux, but I have to keep a Windows box around to edit DV and create DVDs. For out-of-the-box DV editing, Win boxes are way ahead on points - don't even consider Linux if you do DV exclusively. On the other hand, the KB III burning software distributed with Suse works flawlessly, and I was able to get freeware MPEG-II conversions running. The quality of the encodings when viewed with Xine was amazing. One very interesting DV tool in Linux is the Blender 3D graphics program, which includes many video post-processing features, and allows you to add special effects, graphical overlays, and animated titles. [However, Blender also runs fine on Win PCs.] If you don't mind hunting down and installing packages to mess around with, it is worth considering Linux for post-processing. Firewire support worked flawlessly up to a point, but I had to find packages to support DV capture from my Sony camcorder. I also had problems getting Suse to recognize and mount a large-capacity LaCie firewire drive, partitioned into NTFS and Fat-32 partitions. One other issue is file formats. I work with commercial vector graphics packages such as Adobe Illustrator and would like to see more robust import features on the Open Source side. I realize that Ado... SuSE Inc :: suse :: linux :: 10 :: 0 :: dvd :: suse :: inc :: software :: linux :: suselinux10 0(dvd) 01 october :: 200 :: SuSE Linux 10 0 (DVD)
5 stars (A complete business solution and Windows alternative !!!) - This Linux operating system coupled with the book "Linux Made Easy: The Official Guide to Xandros 3 for Everyday People" is just about all you will need! If you don't have any Linux experience or knowledge and want an EASY transition...Xandros 3.0 is the way to go. This is not a limited version. If your a home or business user looking for a quick, affordable and VERY FRIENDLY product...go with Xandros. Xandros has made the specific effort of trying to be just like Windows XP using the Linux kernel. It succeeds! If you want an easy, simple to use, full featured experience try Xandros 3.0 Business Edition. The business edition does supply you with Star Office 7 (the Linux/open source version of Microsoft's Office 2003)and CodeWeaver's CrossOver Office (a program that allows you to run many Windows programs in a Linux environment). You can also purchase these separately. CodeWeaver will be releasing version 5 in September and version 6 in December. I would wait and buy version 6, it is going to knock your socks off with rich features and compatibility!!! To sum it all up and keep this review short, simple and sweet - Xandros Business Desktop 3 is an excellent Linux distro to learn on, it is extremely easy to use, learn and install. It acts just like Windows XP, it automatically configures itself (right out of the box!!!) to communicate with an existing Windows network. I did not think it would be that easy until I tried navigating my business LAN and found it was already done for me!! HOORAY!!!! Xandros is soooooooo beginner/user friendly. You will feel right at home and it will only cost you $120 !!! Windows XP Pro costs $200. If you have 1 home machine, you save $80. If you have 10 office computers, you save $800! This product is also FAST, especially on older computers. I had 5 old Pentium 3 933 MHz machines running Windows 2000 Pro with 256 MB of ram and 20 GB hard drives purchased in... XANDROS :: xandros :: desktop :: os :: business :: edition :: xandros :: software :: linux :: xandrosdesktoposbusinessedition :: Xandros Desktop OS Business Edition
4 stars (A useful and fun programme) - After studying Russian, by myself, for about six months, I found that although my knowledge of the grammar and the vocabulary had progressed, my speaking and listening skills remained poor. I decided to buy Rosetta Stone Russian in order to learn how Russian words and sentences sounded. The programme was easy to install and easy to use. Best of all, I really enjoyed using it. The programme begins by showing four pictures and a word. The task is to pick the picture corresponding to the word. It is possible to choose whether the word is spoken or written, or both spoken and written. Gradually as you progress you meet simple phrases and eventually sentences and whole paragraphs. This method works really well as you are continually tested, while the whole learning experience feels more like a game than studying. While the listening and reading elements of the programme work well, I found it was less successful with regard to speaking and writing. The speaking part of the programme involves attempting to imitate a native speaker. The programme compares the sound you make with what the sound should be. I generally found it almost impossible to imitate the Russian speaker in such a way that the programme considered I had done so successfully. I therefore found this aspect of the programme more frustrating than useful. The writing part of the programme unfortunately requires using a very fiddly onscreen keyboard, which makes the whole process very slow and tedious. The key thing anyway with writing Russian is learning how to form the letters by hand and no computer programme can teach you to do this. I would suggest that someone beginning to use this programme should at least already know the Russian alphabet and ideally some of the grammar. Moreover to complete some of the exercises a dictionary is essential. There is no doubt that working through all the exercises is very useful. I found the programme especially good at helping ... Fairfield Language Technologies :: rosetta :: stone :: russian :: level :: 1 :: 2 :: win-mac :: personal :: edition :: fairfield :: language :: technologies :: software :: mac :: rosettastonerussianlevel1-2win-macpersonaleditio :: Rosetta Stone Russian Level 1 - 2 Win-Mac Personal Edition
5 stars (unlike any other!) - This program is amazing. We have an apartment in France, and for five years have been attempting to learn the language. This is a fun and different approach with which we have made more progress in a month, than past years of memorization and boring drills. 5 stars (Fantastic Program) - I have been meaning to learn French for quite some time and have picked up some books and audio tapes but got quickly frustrated and discouraged. However, after ordering this software I am starting to think that I may actually be able to learn French. As a little background I have never been good at languages and I was not very good at my foreign languages in school (could barely speak a word). I am an absolute beginner at French an was very nervous that my past performance in learning languages would prevent me from learning French. I was also a little nervous when I read some of the other reviews that said this might not be the best program for beginners, but I ordered it in the hopes that I could at least try something new. I am extremely happy with my purchase. The proram walks you through French in a very intuitive manner, and though there aren't any explanations it starts you out so slowly that you are easily able to figure out the meanings of what you are seeing on the screen. There is something to be said for learning a language by recognition and repetition rather than learning the grammer rules first. I do use my grammer book occasionally (I bought it before this) but only to satisfy my curiosity about certain thins like feminine and masculine articles, and singular and plural nouns... Honestly this is a fantastic program that teaches you how to speak and hear French with amazing success. You do learn the grammer rules, but you figure them out for yourself by comparing phrases and by building on earlier lessons. It really is similar to the way a child learns to talk (without ever having to know what a past participle is). Bottom lin... Fairfield Language Technologies :: rosetta :: stone :: french :: level :: 1 :: win-mac :: personal :: edition :: fairfield :: language :: technologies :: software :: mac :: rosettastonefrenchlevel1win-macpersonaledition :: Rosetta Stone French Level 1 Win-Mac Personal Edition