Easy French Reader

Prior to this, I tried several random language-learning softwares (not including the infamous "Rosetta Stone") and had terrible luck with all of them. While they seemed to work off of the "immersion" principal, I felt completely overwhelmed by the difficulty of the lessons, which were boring and--even in more modern software--were filled with conservatively dressed families from the 80s. I struggled to the point of rather hating the software, and finally gave up on the programs I had tried after a few days... Per the recommendation of several friends, I picked out a French-English Dictionary, and a second book of French verbs and conjugations instead, in anticipation to be taking a class some time soon.This book, however, was more of an afterthought. I had seen it prior to finding the two reference books and thought it might be a good starting point. Now, after having all three books for a couple weeks, it's quickly become the best purchase of the three.It should be noted that I have little to no experience with French: I have never taken a French class, and as of a month ago my French was limited to "Omelette du fromage" ("Omelette with cheese") spoken with a VERY bad accent. Although I have a good friend that speaks French quite well, the only phrases I had really picked up from that person were "good night," "very good," and "thank you."I do, however, love to read.I LOVED this book. I typically read each chapter at least three times before moving on, but often much more. Usually I'll read it once in my head, then once aloud, in English, then finally aloud in French. Any time I sit down to read a shorter chapter, I try to follow this pattern. If I'm unsure how to pronounce a word, I ask my friend or do what I can to google it. If I'm unsure of a word, I look it up the dictionary in the back of the book (which is quite large, but doesn't include -every- word in the book), then in my dictionary, if I'm unable to find it.The stories are, for the most part, at least moderately interesting. Even with the simpler stories I've been through--if they seem a bit silly, they're easy to tease/joke about. My current favorite phrase is: "Pardon me, I'm going to make dinner. I'll be taking Julie, Marc, ET LA CHIEN!" XD Even these simple things have been helping to learn the vocab!I'm still only a couple chapters in because of my slow approach, but it's been working wonders. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone!

An excellent book for learning the history of France in a simple and to the point style.

The book is a very good introduction to French. It starts with fairly simple language gradually introducing more and more vocabulary and done as a series of conversations between an American and a French student. The second part of the book has quite a few brief summaries of important figures in French history starting right at the beginning and heading through the centuries and up to recent times. The final part of the book has four abbreviated versions of French stories by famous French authors. There is a French dictionary at the back but a full French dictionary as an aid would be an asset.My only negative comment would be that the DVD does not cover all of the material in the book - just selected items - but it does give you a guide to the pronunciation as you follow and is read at the normal rate of speech. Overall, the book is good value and with useful, interesting material. 4 Stars.

I am a foreign language teacher (self-employed) of homeschooled children as well as adults. I use the Easy French Reader and Easy Spanish Reader(both with audio cd) for students of all ages. The book is divided into three sections - first section is a series of stories about French (or Spanish)students - easy-to-read passages that gradually get harder. Second section presents reading passages about well-known political/religious people of the respective countries. The third section introduces students to passages from well-known literary works. Best news - if you purchase the version with audio cd(which I STRONGLY recommend), when you download the cd to your laptop or other electronic device, you will be able to see the pages on your screen while listening to the audio. So, the book is not necessary to tote along away from home. When teaching, I have my students follow along on my laptop screen while I look at the passages in the book.While these books are not effective as stand-alone teaching tools for learning French or Spanish, they are wonderful listening and reading comprehension tools to round out one's foreign language learning experience. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

I am an intermediate learner . Most reading material are either too easy or too hard . As Eddie Izzard would say , many basic texts are irrelevant to practical usage. where can one use 'le souris est sous la table et sur la table' . the hard ones make you reach for the grammar book all the time.The 'Easy french reader' starts with a really engaging and sometime funny conversation between French Marc and American Julie. Then it has a series of chapters on French history, which are very good in keeping your interest. Then comes the best part of the book . A selection of short stories which are so excellent , that they are worth the price of the book for me . Unfortunately I dont find many further books written by the Author Roussy De Sales. I wouldnt mind paying for them

Since I teach French, I was looking for a continuance for my students. I believe I have found it in this book. This is a Three Part Text for beginning students. It is great to use for students who have one semester of College French or a year of highschool French, since there is not grammar reference in it. The reading and vocabulary are very simple to begin with and the three part selection of the Text is super. It begins with introducing Marc who is French and Julie who is English in lessons 1-4. The subsequent chapters of the First part have dialogues in them as well as a brief introduction to daily life in France. The Second Part of the book gives a history of France through the term of President Jacques Chirac. The Third Part has three short stories by Alphonse Daudet-La Dernière Classe;Emile Zola- Le Grand Machu; and Guy de Maupassant- La Parure.

Una de las mejores formas de aprender, leyendo. Además tiene ejercicios sobre la lectura y “listening “. Perfecto

既に他言語でこのシリーズを使ったことがあります。フランス語版も思った通りシンプルで、飽きない長さの物語集がついて来ます。付属のＣＤ－ＲＯＭも便利です。テキスト全ては録音されていませんが、仏語の発音・アクセントは単純なので、初級レベルでも習得していれば、読本として役立ちます。これぐらいの語彙と文法の知識があれば、中級以上のフランス語力はつきます。何より外国語としてのフランス語を学ぶのに最適です。後は、ネットで興味あるフランス語の新聞やメディアの記事が読めれば良いのでは？学生時代に学んで忘れていたフランス語をこれから取り戻すつもりです！

Excellent choice to assist English language students in learning French. It's not at all boring and makes an enjoyable read.

I bought this because my son found listening and reading tests difficult, despite being able to write ok. I am really pleased with this book. It starts simply enough to be manageable for a Year 9 student, and progresses to GCSE level French by the 2nd section. The accompanying CD-ROM narrates all the first section (62 pages of stories and questions about Marc and Julie) and has an abridged version of one of the four short stories (Maupassant). It does not narrate any of the 2nd section, which deals with famous characters. Although it would be great if the entire book could be on the CD, I think he'll have had a good enough grounding in speaking and listening to be able to manage to pronounce the 2nd section sufficiently well once he gets there. Btw, my son found it useful to pronounce JUST the vowels at first, after listening carefully to the CD, as these can be really tricky to master; it might sound crazy, but it's quite fun... and works! (it's a technique used in training choirs).

I bought it for my son who is 8 years old, in french immersion. He likes it, reads it twice a week.