Teach Yourself Complete French - Learn to Speak French - Book and 2 Audio CDs
Brand New
: Book and 2 Audio CDs - 523 page book
Are you looking for a complete course in French which takes you effortlessly from beginner to confident speaker? Whether you are starting from scratch, or are just out of practice, Complete French will guarantee success! Now fully updated to make your language learning experience fun and interactive. You can still rely on the benefits of a top language teacher and our years of teaching experience, but now with added learning features within the course and online. The course is structured in 25 thematic units and the emphasis is placed on communication, so that you effortlessly progress from introducing yourself and dealing with everyday situations, to using the phone and talking about work. By the end of this course, you will be at Level B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages: Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
Learn effortlessly with full colour text, easy-to-read page design and interactive features:
NOT GOT MUCH TIME?
One and five-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.
AUTHOR INSIGHTS
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.
GRAMMAR TIPS
Easy-to-follow building blocks to give you a clear understanding.
USEFUL VOCABULARY
Easy to find and learn, to build a solid foundation for speaking.
DIALOGUES
Read and listen to everyday dialogues to help you speak and understand fast.
PRONUNCIATION
Don’t sound like a tourist! Perfect your pronunciation before you go.
TEST YOURSELF
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.
EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Extra online articles at: www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of the culture and history of France.
TRY THIS
Innovative exercises illustrate what you’ve learnt and how to use it.
The complete, fully interactive language learning package
* Pack contains book with new full-colour page design and fresh layout and CDs with fully downloadable audio content
* Interactive features include 1 and 5 minute summaries and author tips and insights
* Clear level delineation helps learners identify an achievable target; the course encompasses levels 1 to level 4 of the Common European Framework for Languages
Table of Contents:
Introduction
01 Salutations
02 Premiers contacts
03 On fait connaissance
04 Un voyage en bateau
05 On visite la vieille ville
06 Ou stationner?
07 L'hebergement
08 A l'hotel
09 Une si jolie petite ville!
10 Choisir un restaurant
11 La pluie et le beau temps!
12 Au restaurant
13 Sur la route
14 On cherche un appartement
15 Dans les grandes surfaces
16 A la maison du peuple
17 On cherche du travail
18 On prend le TGV
19 A l'hopital
20 On prend le metro
21 Si on gagnait le gros lot ...
22 Les greves
23 La vie de famille
24 Un repas familial
25 Si on achetait une maison?
Revision unit
Key to the exercises
Transcripts of listening exercises
Grammar summary
Verb tables
French-English vocabulary
English-French vocabulary
About the Author Gaëlle Graham:
Gaëlle Graham holds degrees from the Sorbonne and the University of Kent, and has over 25 years’ experience of teaching French in secondary schools and as a teacher trainer.
About the French Language
French is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and today by about 350 million people around the world as either a native or a second language, with significant populations in 54 countries. French is a descendant of the Latin of the Roman Empire, as are languages such as Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Romanian, and Portuguese. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.
It is an official language in 31 countries, most of which form what is called in French La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking nations. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organisations. Per the Constitution of France, French has been the official language since 1992 (although previous legal texts have made it official since 1539, see ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts). France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words.
In addition to French, there are also a variety of regional languages. France has signed the European Charter for Regional Languages but has not ratified it since that would go against the 1958 Constitution. The majority of French words derive from Vulgar Latin or were constructed from Latin or Greek roots. There are often pairs of words, one form being popular (noun) and the other one savant (adjective), both originating from Latin.
The last example, Saint-Étienne/Stéphanois, illustrates common practice for gentilics throughout France. In some examples there is a common word from "vulgar" Latin and a more savant word from classical Latin or even Greek. The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less recognisable than Italian words of Latin origin because as French developed into a separate language from Vulgar Latin, the unstressed final syllable of many words was dropped or elided into the following word. The French counting system is partially vigesimal: twenty (vingt) is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 80–99. The French word for eighty, for example, is quatre-vingts, which literally means "four twenties", and soixante-quinze (literally "sixty-fifteen") indicating 75. This reform arose after the French Revolution to unify the different counting system (mostly vigesimal near the coast, due to Celtic and Viking influence). This system is comparable to the archaic English use of score, as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70). Belgian French and Swiss French are different in this respect. In Belgium and Switzerland 70 and 90 are septante and nonante. In Switzerland, depending on the local dialect, 80 can be quatre-vingts (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura) or huitante (Vaud, Valais, Fribourg). Octante had been used in Switzerland in the past, but is now considered archaic. In Belgium, however, quatre-vingts is universally used.
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