Easy French Reader
McGraw-Hill - McGraw-Hill
Release date: 2003-10-01
Paperback
Author: R. de Roussy de Sales
Language Teaching & Learning (Other Than ELT), Foreign Language Study, Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books, Language, Foreign Language Study / French, French, French Language, Readers
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Easy French Reader
Date undefinedI give this 2 stars because the first part is good. They will list 30 to 40 words, with their translations, which are used in the short conversation stories that follow and it works well.
Then in Part 2 they got lazy and stupid. Part 2 is made up of much longer stories but suddenly the amount of words they list with translations goes down to as few as 15. Part 2 is about the history of France. By it's nature, it uses many words that you will rarely come across, and most aren't listed and translated with the story. There is a small dictionary in the back of the book where you can find some of these words but most are missing. Part two is also a dry and boring read because it covers the history of France which doesn't do anybody any good now. How about stories asking for directions or where a good restaurant is?
The authors apparently believe in some mystical power that if they teach you a few words, you will magically know all the words in French. For beginning French students, they should have used high usage common everyday words. Another stupid thing they did was give you exercises with questions and crossword puzzles but they don't provide the answers anywhere in the book.
This is just another example of a person or company out to make a buck. It almost appears like someone started the book with good intentions and then quit, so someone else stepped in and just slapped the rest of it together to get it done. You are better off getting a regular book written in French and using a dictionary to translate, because that is exactly what you will be doing with this one.
For those of you thinking it must be me because there are so many 5 star reviews, go read those 5 star reviews. Most of them say "Great Beginner Book", and then go on to say such things as "I just finished College French 101" or "good if you had French 101 or 102". How interesting. The only people saying it is a good beginner book are those people who aren't beginners.
Easy French Reader
Date undefinedThis is an excellent self-teaching French language guide - and a good value for the price. The book is divided into three sections. The first section is a typical boy-girl 'let's learn about our two cultures' storyline. Nothing exciting here. But the second section is more interesting and consists of twenty-two short biographical and historical sketches (from Vercingetorix, Clovis, and Charlemagne through the two world wars and accounts of more recent figures like Estaing, Mitterand, and Chirac). These little essays are sufficiently interesting and accessible to almost make the reader forget that this is primarily a language learning effort. The third section offers four short stories by Daudet, Theuriet, Zola, and Maupassant. It's an excellent selection. There is real patriotic emotion in Daudet's 'La Derniere Classe' and the familiar, razor sharp irony of Maupassant's 'La Parure'. Throughout the Reader helpful vocabulary translations appear in the margins.
Easy French Reader
Date undefinedI found this book well organized and written as a first reader. The concepts were introduced in a carefully thought out fashion with progression from easy to difficult.
