This is one of the best books on beginner’s French, although ‘quickly’ and ‘easily’ are not the right words to use – French is certainly not a quick and easy language to learn. Both Spanish and Italian are much easier.
There are only two books on Beginner’s French I recommend, this Made Simple-book and French Demystified: A Self – Teaching Guide.
If you want to learn at a slower pace and not so intensively then Demystified is a better choice, this Made Simple-book is more intense, which makes it more difficult for some people.
They are equally good in my opinion and I enjoyed working with both: Demystified feels more laid-back and not so stressful, but Made Simple has more reading passages and a larger variety of exercises.
This book is an updated version of the older French (Made Simple Books). You may ask yourself whether it’s worth the extra money to get this new edition rather than the old one…well, I have both of them and I say: Yes !
Why ?:
> the book is a standard-sized textbook and not pocket anymore
> fonts are larger, making the text easier to read
> updated modern vocabulary
> more excercises
> the grammar is more thoroughly explained
> more reading passages
> the pronunciation guide uses a simpler system based on American English
> the story takes place partly in the US and partly in France – the previous books took place in the UK and France
The prospective buyer should note that the first 2-3 chapters will explain the pronunciation to you, but in the following chapters only certain words and phrases that deviate from the standards are shown with a pronunciation guide.
All the dialogues in each chapter are part of a story that runs through the book: an American businessman in New York who wants to learn French and go to France for a visit, he is being taught by Frenchman living in New York.
As you might have guessed, you build up a basic business-vocabulary with words such as: ‘office, buyer, client, shipment…’
But, you also learn every-day words like: food and drinks, telling the time, words for traveling, talking about hobbies etc.
Each chapter is relatively short and you should be able to go through one in as little as 30 minutes, excercises included.
This book follows a very effective design that worked well for me:
i) shorter chapters
ii) relatively short vocabulary lists in each chapter
ii) slower and more gradual coverage of grammar
The combined effect of all these is that I learned in a truly gradual manner, and because I could go through a chapter in just 30 minutes it didn’t feel like a chore to study with this book.
By the way, expect 6-9 months to complete this book, because it is equivalent to a one-year course at college or uni.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t think that you are getting 8 different lessons. Each subsequent lesson spends about 70%-80% reviewing the previous lesson. The quality of the lessons are good though, but I wish I knew that the 8 lessons don’t teach much French at all. I would save the money and buy the full French 1 Language Program which has 16 CDs (the first 4 are very similar to this one).
The only French I spoke before purchasing these tapes was to say my name is Melodee and I don’t speak French. For those of us who know nothing of the language the repetition was great. I know how to ask for things such as food, drink, directions. I’m clever enough to apply the rules and make sentences using different combinations of the words I’ve learned. These tapes teach the way a child learns, completely through listening. Children are not taught I speak, you speak, he/she/it speaks. They simply listen and repeat. After listening to the tapes I went to other sources to read the actual words and was astonished at the differences in how I would say what I read and the actual pronunciation of the words. Seeing the words after learning how the French pronounce them gives you a clear idea of where the nasal sounds are. I’ve just purchased the lengthy version of French I and am very excited to get started. I’m only going to be in Paris for 5 days this visit but I want to have a few phrases under my belt. My current favorite is “I would like some wine, please.” A French woman I know said she is impressed with my pronunciation and understanding of basic French. J’aime Pimsleur!
As some one who studied french 10 years ago in high school and college and looking to brush up for a week in france, book learning was easy but HEARING, PRONUNCIATIOn and SPEAKING were the hard parts. I broke down and purchase this at a store because my local library had NO audio books that weren’t already checked out. The lessons are (8) 30-minute lessons. But the lessons are weird esp if you are using this to “brush up”. The first lesson was a few sentences of speech. You then spent the next half hour of that lesson repeating EACH syllable of each word in each SHORT conversation over and over again.. No wonder they can easily package (8) 30 minute lessons. The lessons are strangely presented. It explains in what context you might use a particular phrase. For example, if you wanted to ask someone if they spoke french, you’d want to use the phrase “Est ce vous parlez l’anglais? (Do you speak English?)” Well DUH!!!! The lessons seemed geared to making you memorize key phrases, which is a bit difficult when you can’t see the words that you’re pronouncing, which then makes it only memorizing sounds you hear. For example the first lesson is only 7 sentences long, about two people going back and forth if they understand french or english. Bits and pieces of each sentences are recylcled over and over again in the the other sentences of this same lesson. 27 minutes devoted to this first lesson. You also need a good EAR to hear the subtleties of the french nasal pronunciation. Now I’m just mad that I tore the darn plastic off and the store won’t let me return this garbage. Thank god I used a gift certificate that someone gave me as opposed to my own good money.
I can’t believe it! Remember the old saying? “You get what you pay for.”
Well guess what, the CD is nothing but a ONE hour lesson.
Comprenez-vous ?
Comprenez-vous que je parle de ?
Comprenez-vous un petit français ?
A great way to get a quick start to speak the language. It’s great to listen (and re-listen if needed) to the proper pronunciation and to the phrases that will help you immediately if you are in the country as I am.
I used this book for my review of French in preparation for a recent trip to Paris. I found it very well organized and thorough.
I took it to work with me each day on the train and was able to review a dialogue and chapter in a day or so over the course of about three months. It was very up to date, and covered the material logically and clearly. And the dialogues were consistently interesting and entertaining.
However, in spite of what the cover says, this is not a book for total beginners. I was fortunate that I already had a firm foundation in pronunciation, vocabulary and basic French grammar. But this book dives in quickly, and beginners would probably not find it so easy and should probably look elsewhere.
However, if you have already studied French in high school or college, and a quick review of the basics is what you are looking for, I am sure that you will find this book to be what you are looking for.
What I need now is a good review of Italian, for my yet to be planned trip to Rome and tour of Italy!
this book does just what the title say’s. it is for anyone who wants to learn french fast.
this is a well thought out language book. I found the pronounciations particularly helpful, and it is laid out really well (designed well) and the grammar is concise and easy to follow. I found this book a very beneficial part of my library of ‘learning french’ books. It’s one of my favourites.
This particular book is definitely not easy. It is for someone who knew a little French and needed a refresher course. It is not for someone who is attempting to learn the language for the first time, as it does not come with a CD. It is nice to see the pronunciation spelled out but it is not phonetic as in English, so makes it confusing. Good book for those who need a refresher.
This is one of the best books on beginner’s French, although ‘quickly’ and ‘easily’ are not the right words to use – French is certainly not a quick and easy language to learn. Both Spanish and Italian are much easier.
There are only two books on Beginner’s French I recommend, this Made Simple-book and French Demystified: A Self – Teaching Guide.
If you want to learn at a slower pace and not so intensively then Demystified is a better choice, this Made Simple-book is more intense, which makes it more difficult for some people.
They are equally good in my opinion and I enjoyed working with both: Demystified feels more laid-back and not so stressful, but Made Simple has more reading passages and a larger variety of exercises.
This book is an updated version of the older French (Made Simple Books). You may ask yourself whether it’s worth the extra money to get this new edition rather than the old one…well, I have both of them and I say: Yes !
Why ?:
> the book is a standard-sized textbook and not pocket anymore
> fonts are larger, making the text easier to read
> updated modern vocabulary
> more excercises
> the grammar is more thoroughly explained
> more reading passages
> the pronunciation guide uses a simpler system based on American English
> the story takes place partly in the US and partly in France – the previous books took place in the UK and France
The prospective buyer should note that the first 2-3 chapters will explain the pronunciation to you, but in the following chapters only certain words and phrases that deviate from the standards are shown with a pronunciation guide.
All the dialogues in each chapter are part of a story that runs through the book: an American businessman in New York who wants to learn French and go to France for a visit, he is being taught by Frenchman living in New York.
As you might have guessed, you build up a basic business-vocabulary with words such as: ‘office, buyer, client, shipment…’
But, you also learn every-day words like: food and drinks, telling the time, words for traveling, talking about hobbies etc.
Each chapter is relatively short and you should be able to go through one in as little as 30 minutes, excercises included.
This book follows a very effective design that worked well for me:
i) shorter chapters
ii) relatively short vocabulary lists in each chapter
ii) slower and more gradual coverage of grammar
The combined effect of all these is that I learned in a truly gradual manner, and because I could go through a chapter in just 30 minutes it didn’t feel like a chore to study with this book.
By the way, expect 6-9 months to complete this book, because it is equivalent to a one-year course at college or uni.
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Well, for me, it’s not about the camera – it’s about the range of lenses available. Nikon still has a hole in it’s range for something like the ??-120 F/4 walkabout lens, but other than that they have a great range. The thing I love about Nikon is the interface. The two scroll wheels on most bodies allow you to change shutter and aperture independently of each other without having to hold down any modifier buttons. Also, for relatively little extra money you can get a body that has most of the frequently used controls on the outside. Finally, Nikon’s CLS (lighting system) is miles and miles ahead of Canon’s. Unless you’re going to be doing a lot of manual flash work, I highly recommend it.
Essence of the ’80s
Boston Globe
In these pockets of defiance, Martin sees the roots of today’s progressive political and cultural currents, as well as some battles that are still being fought (for instance, the community organizing group ACORN, which arose out of 1980s …
Based on this books I read , there are two types of scientist
Great post and discussions,
I believe many of us who are confronted with the impact of a lack of shared definitions and rules know how badly this is needed.
Collibra is focussing on exactly this. Creating a business friendly glossary with definitions, examples, but also business facts and rules using OMG's new Semantics for Business Vocabulary and business Rules (SBVR) standard.
Because we can add the necessary formality, organisations can automatically generate technical data models (UML, XSD, …) out of the glossary. This provides a closed loop governance and transparency between the business and the technical implementations, which is in our view extremely important to achieve the required business benefits.
We also take into account different definitions by different communities of interest (the extremely important notion of context someone referred to).
As a front-end, we use the wiki-paradigm, which makes it extremely easy to involve all stakeholders, business and IT.
The cast for the thriller Over the Wall is starting to fill out. Kim Basinger, Nick Stahl and Freddy Rodriguez are all attached to star in the film, with Jennifer Morrison in advanced negotiations to join them. Variety reports that Steven Christopher Young will make his feature directorial debut on the flick, which is being produced by Young and Larry Meistrich. The love story takes place in the world of stock-car racing and tells the story of how a tragic accident rocks the lives of four people. Production is set to begin this summer in Ohio. The project is currently being shopped at Cannes.
Why Chinese is an Easy Language to Learn: People talk a lot about the difficulties of learning Chinese, but they…
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