14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't be any better!, October 4, 2006
This review is from: The Big Blue Book of French Verbs (Book w/CD-ROM) (Big Book of Verbs Series) (Paperback)
I purchased this book a few weeks ago, primarily because it offered the most verbs (over 2700!) for the best price AND included software. Indeed, the included software is much better than I would've expected; I still haven't been able to take a crack at all of the exercises, and I've had it for weeks!
When I bought the book, I didn't pay attention to the authorship, as I was focusing mostly on getting the most bang for my buck (and this isn't the sort of book where readability is an issue), but after being pleasantly surprised by both the software and the book itself, I finally looked at the authors' names ("Whose book am I reading anyway?!") and was actually not very surprised to find this was yet another book by the Stillman/Gordon team, whose "Ultimate French Verb Review and Practice" I've also reviewed. Put me down as a new devoted fan of these two, as they're going a strong 2/2 with me. Excellent!
I'd also like to make a comment regarding the two-star review below, criticizing the apparent lack of diacritical marks in the software. Please disregard that review, as the software very clearly includes a "Character Panel" with all of the diacritical marks. This moveable box appears by default in the lower right hand corner of the window, but only in those exercises where they're actually needed (ie. in the type-in-the-answer exercises, but not multiple choice, drag-and-drop, matching, etc.). Perhaps the author never got around to any of those exercises, but then he wouldn't have ever had a need for the diacritical marks. Another possibility is that there's just something wrong with his computer or with his installation of Flash (the software operates through Macromedia Flash). Whatever the issue on his end is, the software clearly offers the user all of the necessary diacritical marks, but only in those exercises where they'd even be needed in the first place!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent Big Blue with CD-ROM!, August 12, 2006
This review is from: The Big Blue Book of French Verbs (Book w/CD-ROM) (Big Book of Verbs Series) (Paperback)
The Big Blue Book of French Verbs with CD-ROM deserves a blue ribbon! As a college French teacher, I value language learning materials that are clear, comprehensive, well-organized, and user-friendly, and this book tops the charts in all the categories. I already use "The Ultimate French Review and Practice" by the same authors, David M. Stillman and Ronni L. Gordon, with my intermediate and advanced students, along with their Big Blue Book of French Verbs. Now, the CD-ROM provides a rich resource of practice exercises in conjugating French verbs. There are a Diagnostic Test, a Review Test, and hundreds of exercises in between. It's so easy to use - there are options to do exercises by tense, shuffle the tenses, answers are easily selected through multiple choice, drag and drop, complete the sentence, and all the French diacritical marks are easily selected from the Character Panel. Now, my students can practice all the French verb forms outside of class. I noticed a marked improvement in my students' mastery of verb usage in just a few weeks of their using the Big Blue Book of French Verbs and CD-ROM. The "Practice the Top 50 Verbs" is particularly efficient for targeting high-frequency verbs and tackling challenging grammatical topics. As a reference and practice tool, the Big Blue Book of French Verbs with CD-ROM will be a staple of my syllabus for years to come.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome! Big Blue Book of French Verbs with CD-ROM, August 12, 2006
This review is from: The Big Blue Book of French Verbs (Book w/CD-ROM) (Big Book of Verbs Series) (Paperback)
The Big Blue Book of French Verbs with Interactive CD-ROM is a fantastic
resource and practice tool! I'm a college French major getting ready for a
semester abroad in Paris and needed a comprehensive review with lots of
practice, and now I've found it. The CD-ROM is a gold mine with hundreds of
exercises in different formats to practice conjugating verbs in all the French
tenses and forms. I can select "Shuffle All" for a variety of tenses or do
exercises in groups of each tense. The answer types include drag and drop,
select a verb form to complete a sentence, type in a verb form, and more.
There's a character panel so when I type a verb form I select the accent mark
or punctuation I need. The Diagnostic Test, with 50 multiple choice questions,
helped me quickly identify what I needed to focus on. After working through the
CD-ROM, I took the Review Test "How Much Have You Learned?" with 100 multiple
choice questions - and my progress was significant! In both the Diagnostic Test
and the Review Test, you can reset the test to take it again, bookmark your
progress, or jump to a specific question. You can check your answers easily
using the box at the lower right of the screen. The "Practice the Top 50 Verbs"
concentrates on the most important verbs in French, including tricky ones like
avoir and etre.
Using the CD-ROM, together with the Big Blue Book, is a great way to build
knowledge of French verb paradigms and build skills and confidence in using
them. At $19.95, I'm getting a lot of bang for my buck. Merci beaucoup to
authors David M. Stillman and Ronni L. Gordon!
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