Synopses & Reviews
On these two 60 minute cassettes for beginners, frequently used words and phrases in French are translated into English repetitively, and it's all superimposed on mellow rock, disco type music, not rap music.
Rapanese can be used for jogging, aerobics or just when you want to listen to some great music and have a good laugh.
First the lyrics (each of eight lessons) are repeated slowly without music in both French and English, just like conventional language tapes. Then the lyrics are repeated with awesome music. We repeat the French and English words and phrases up to four times for the longer phrases. You do not get bored because your mind fixates on the music and you pick up the French. The way you pick up the words to your favorite song. Your Mind Becomes Bilingual.
The result
You may be in a French restaurant and hear "Excusez-moi". Right away you think "Excuse me". It becomes automatic. You actually think in English but speak in French (in the beginning).
We have also discovered that when you learn this way, (by cranking up the stereo and repeating along with the music). You have no accent. What happens is that the repetition develops the proper muscles in your mouth, enabling you to speak the language properly.
History of Rapanese
Rapanese was created by a French Canadian, ex-disc jockey, school teacher, Mike D'Amours. He started using Rapanese in his classroom of 25 students in 1989 to teach Japanese. By 1991 the Kelowna Secondary School, B.C. Canada, had to hire a second language instructor to cope with the five fold increase in demand. Since then Mike has been teaching French and Spanish, with even more amazing results. Who knows, maybe he'll get bored again andwant to teach German.