Au_Hasard Newbie United States Joined 5612 days ago 7 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Spanish, German
| Message 49 of 53 01 September 2010 at 4:53pm | IP Logged |
I second everything garyb said about Le Petit Prince, but I'm hesitant to caution against something on a board filled with so many overachievers. See what you can make of the first chapter. If it's too much then you'll just come back to it again later. There is also a scholastic edition of Le Petit Prince with an exhaustive vocabulary. Your library should have it, or it will be able to get it for you through its loan system. Scan off the the vocabulary and you're ready to go.
Also, garyb, you might look into Gallimard's subsidiary Gallimard Jeunesse (or browse their page at amazon.fr) to find more children's books. I enjoyed books like L'Oeil du loup and Catherine Certitude when I began reading in French.
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Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5947 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 50 of 53 01 September 2010 at 8:59pm | IP Logged |
I'll add that there is a really good free recording of Le petit prince available at logoslibrary Logoslibrary.eu - main page. Even if the vocabulary may be beyond you, I think listening to the audio while following along with the text represents a good invesment of time, particularly in terms of getting a handle on pronunication and rhythm.
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blauw Tetraglot Groupie Belgium Joined 5363 days ago 46 posts - 111 votes Speaks: English, Flemish*, French, Italian Studies: Russian
| Message 51 of 53 02 September 2010 at 5:38am | IP Logged |
I recommend "Julien Parme" by Florian Zeller as an excellent source of common expressions in spoken French. It's kind of a French version of "The Catcher in the Rye," both in content and in tone.
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Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6025 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds
| Message 52 of 53 02 September 2010 at 8:59pm | IP Logged |
Desacrator48 wrote:
Question to anyone who has read Le Petite Prince.
I bought this book a few weeks ago but I haven't opened it yet because I am still a beginner. I am halfway through French III on Pimsleur. After that I will move to Assimil.
At what point do you think I could read and understand well this children's book besides looking up the occasional word? Maybe after 6 months of study? I am currently on my 3rd with Pimsleur.
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Apart for the cool illustrations Le petit prince is not at all for children. The style is complicated and poetical. It's not the hardest thing, but don't expect it to be trivial. With 6 months of study I'd say you should be able to read it, more or less...
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NotKeepingTrack Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5158 days ago 19 posts - 23 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, German
| Message 53 of 53 21 October 2010 at 5:47am | IP Logged |
Oh, if this old post could have stayed in the past.
As if my Amazion wish list wasn't quite long enough... ;)
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