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Can anyone suggest a good French course?

 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
11 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
COF
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5837 days ago

262 posts - 354 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 1 of 11
13 December 2008 at 6:00pm | IP Logged 
Can anyone suggest a good French course, that has a good amount of vocabulary, and
doesn't try and avoid explaining grammar. For one of the most studied languages in the
world, there really is a lot of rubbish out there in terms of French material and the
majority of it seems to be aimed at the holiday, phrasebook market, for people who
aren't interested in actually learning the language, merely learning enough to get by
and stop learning once back from holiday.

Really, I'm looking for a pretty comprehensive course that will get me to a good
standard of French. I tried "Teach Yourself French" once and I must say that course is
awful, as the reviews on Amazon will also confirm.

Thanks
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josht
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6452 days ago

635 posts - 857 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch

 
 Message 2 of 11
13 December 2008 at 7:37pm | IP Logged 
Check out Assimil's New French with Ease; it's an excellent course. It gives grammar in notes throughout the course. If you want to tackle grammar more directly while working through Assimil, pick up the Ultimate French Practice and Review book. It's quite good as well.
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mgr.graham
Diglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 5979 days ago

15 posts - 32 votes
Speaks: English*, Latin
Studies: Spanish, Ancient Greek, Indonesian, Malay

 
 Message 3 of 11
13 December 2008 at 10:12pm | IP Logged 
The older 1970s Teach Yourself French (yellow and blue cover) is much better if you like the grammar/translation method. The sequel "Everyday French" is also quite good. It is full of extracts from classic French literature. Good luck!
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Alkeides
Senior Member
Bhutan
Joined 6154 days ago

636 posts - 644 votes 

 
 Message 4 of 11
14 December 2008 at 12:05pm | IP Logged 
French for Reading by Karl C. Sandberg

It won't teach you pronunciation, but by the end of the book you'll be reading Voltaire in the original. It's pretty thick but can be completed fairly quickly if you work intensely.
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tryna36
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 6075 days ago

56 posts - 58 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Spanish
Studies: Russian

 
 Message 5 of 11
15 December 2008 at 11:42am | IP Logged 
French In Action is a great program. The videos are free online at www.learner.org. I
would suggest getting the textbook and the workbooks. You can find the audio that
accompanies the workbooks online. I completed the entire course about 2 weeks ago, and
I am quite happy with my level. You can supplement this with a language exchange
partner, reading newspapers, listening to music, and watching movies.
1 person has voted this message useful



tpark
Tetraglot
Pro Member
Canada
Joined 7052 days ago

118 posts - 127 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Dutch, French
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 6 of 11
15 December 2008 at 11:50am | IP Logged 
The Michel Thomas French course explains a lot of the grammar very clearly. Assimil French with Ease is good, and you'll learn a lot from that course if you work through it. The French in Action course seems to be pretty good, but I really didn't use it as a primary learning resource - I looked at the videos and the book. The videos are good, but the book has all kinds of useful vocabulary in it. "Chez Nous" is the textbook that we used in our French class, and it describes a lot of the basic grammar. We had some special custom "Mount Royal Edition" that was poorly bound, so it fell apart after a year or so. The "french.about.com" site has detailed information on French grammar - Laura Lawless has done a great job, and her site also has other information about French culture, expressions and gestures.
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luckyboy1300
Diglot
Newbie
Philippines
Joined 6573 days ago

17 posts - 18 votes
Speaks: Tagalog*, English
Studies: Spanish, French, Japanese

 
 Message 7 of 11
16 December 2008 at 2:54am | IP Logged 
Nothing better than the "Holy Grail" of all French courses out there, just grab the whole FSI French basic course, the most comprehensive course you can find, and it's free. www.fsi-language-courses.com. You can also start with the french phonology if you're having trouble with pronunciation. You can also add French in Action into the mix since FSI can get boring and dull but hey, good medicine tastes bitter.
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zerothinking
Senior Member
Australia
Joined 6378 days ago

528 posts - 772 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 8 of 11
16 December 2008 at 7:55pm | IP Logged 
You should definitely get

Teach Yourself Instant French -

If you've never learned a language before, this would be a nice spring board into the
language. It's what I did and it set me on a path of loving the language.

Then get Assimil if you can afford it.


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