Customer Reviews

101 French Idioms

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked this one and the 101 Proverbs books. They have cute cartoons that help you remember the sayings effortlessly. I was amazed that when writing a french penpal that the words just came right out! Can't help but like a book that helps you learn a language without trying and in an entertaining manner. The short explanations under each saying are written in french so you get to practice reading short (10-15 lines) paragraphs and flexing your vocabulary muscle. Very good for beginners!

Though this book has some very interesting French phrases, it is defintiely not intended for the beginner. Only short dialogues are given for each phrase showing its "natural" usage. Also, no conjugations for the verbs are given. If one is unfamiliar with french grammar, etc. this book will be somewhat daunting. Still, for the intermediate to advanced learner, this book can help add those bits of langauge that help distinguish the native from the not-so-native.

This book really fulfills its purpose. I've already come across some of the expressions in 'real life' movies/books/conversation. It's not aimed at beginners looking for language basics. That said, all of the context examples are translated at the end of the book. (My friend found the context examples to be useful in and of themselves.) There are also two indexes: image (i.e. flowers) and alphabetical.

The only change I would have made would have been possibly adding quizzes, to make it more result-driven. Though in the translations at the end, the expression is in bold so you could test yourself. (For example, "Laurent is well-read" is in bold and you'd come up with "il a des lettres") And in a perfect world there would have been a CD to go along.

This is one of the least expensive french books on the market and it's both fun and informative.

This was very useful for people learning French, who may even be fluent but don't know or understand the cultural idioms. I understand French movies and conversations better now. This book fills a need not addressed in many French language texts or books. Hooray!

This is a great book for those who already have a good grasp on the French language and/or intermediate knowledge. It is an entertaining and easy read for those wanting to improve basic conversational French (each idiom has a short conversation as a definition of the French phrase). I have lots of other French language books and this one should be in everyone's collection. It's fun and easy to read - a book you can pick up time and time again.

The book uses cartoons to emphasize the text. It's always interesting to see what common words different cultures use to describe the human condition. Wastes a lot of space, though. Worth the price.

I found this book very useful for understanding everyday language.Idioms are not given at all or found very rarely in standard learning books or dictionaries but used widely in spoken language.The translation of french idioms into similar english ones is also wery helpful .

This is a great book to give to a high-school or middle-school student of French. Often it's hard for kids to understand that the language one speaks makes a difference in how one thinks. It's also hard for kids to understand that People In France Really Do Speak French All The Time. They have a hard time really knowing that you can think in another language. This little book is a funny and painless way to show you how a French person thinks about things. It has a French expression, a little cartoon showing the action, and an English translation. Perfect.
It's going in my daughter's stocking this xmas.

I can't believe this books seems to be out of print. It is a sheer delight for learning French idioms. The idioms are not only illustrated and the equivalent is offered in English, but the meaning of each idiom is further demonstrated through a mini-dialogue where the idiom is used and again the meaning of the idiom is repeated in non-idiomatic language - for example:

Une truie n'y retrouverait pas ses petits
(a sow wouldn't find her young in this place)
this place is a mess

A: Bernard, viens ici!
B: Oui, maman, où es-tu?
A: Dans ta chambre. Viens et regarde ! Tes livres sont sur le lit, tes jouets sur le sol, te vêtements ici et là. La radio est sur la chaise, le ballon sur le bureau, et il y a des papiers partout. Une truie n'y retrouverait pas ses petits !
B: D'accord, maman, j'avoue que ma chambre n'est pas trés bien rangées. Mais je te promets que je vais faire un effort.

At the end of the book are also provided translations of the French text if you need to check on the meaning of the words.

Buy this delightful book with its companion 101 FRENCH PROVERBS by the same authors. I find myself frequently coming back to these two books bought months ago. Each page features an idiomatic expression or proverb, an amusing illustation, and some sample conversational dialogue where the expressions might be used. The books are designed for casual reading and are in a similar format. One expression per page makes it easy to pick-up and put down as the opportunities arise. Each featured expression is translated literally and then more usefully for common speech on the pages where they appear. Translations of the short dialogue that demonstrate the idiom or proverb appear at the back of the books. My recommendation is to own both books but start with 'IDIOMS' only because the nature of proverbs is that they are sometimes a little less obvious (i.e., allegorical) and allow for different interpretations. For this reason, 'IDIOMS' is a good first choice. Becoming comfortable with idiomatic expressions is helpful in improving conversational skills. Another benefit is the delight of recognizing these expressions when they occur in print. Recently a Montreal French language newspaper reported on a European politician's difficulties. Faced with the most recent in a series of controversial issues it conceded that he has faced more serious situations....[But this could be]"le goutte d'eau qui fait deborder le vase" (literally, "the water drop that makes the vase overflow", or more recognizably, "the straw that breaks the camel's back").

This idiom appears on page 88 of 101 FRENCH IDIOMS