French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture : The Capretz Method: Textbook [Hardcover]

Pierre Capretz (Author), Beatrice Abetti (Contributor), Marie Odile-Germain (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300058217 | ISBN-13: 978-0300058215 | Publication Date: August 31, 1994 | Edition: 2

clean cover with minor wear to cover and text

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French

Product Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 2 edition (August 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300058217
• ISBN-13: 978-0300058215
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > French
  • #81 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > French > Instruction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

125 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best language course in the world, January 15, 2001

By 

Bob (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture : The Capretz Method: Textbook (Hardcover)

I've tried a number of different language course in a number of different languages over the years, but this is far and away the best. It's an immersion course, which means the videos and the audio-tapes are completely in French. It helps at the start if you've done a little French before, but even if you haven't, the extra effort in the early sections pays off handsomely. The videos are an essential part of the whole package, though they seem to be fairly widely available on public TV. (Here in Australia, ABC TV shows them nationwide, continuously, as part of the Open Learning programme). I strongly recommend buying them if you can, otherwise you are going to have to tape all 52 programmes off-air - you need to watch them over and over for maximum benefit. Each episode consists of 10 minutes of the story (a charming and quirky American boy meets French girl in Paris soap opera)and twenty minutes of explanation by Professor Capretz, an equally charming and quirky instructor. The whole is interlaced with hundreds of brief extracts from French film and TV. You watch the video several times, then work through the audio tapes to improve your own speaking, pronunciation and comprehension, read the text, then do the exercises. It might sound repetitive (all language learning is), but the story does hold your interest right to the end. I did it as a two year course with Open Learning in Australia, through the University of New England, and was sorry when it ended. This is a good way to do it, but it will work fine for a self-learning course. It's fairly costly, with textbook, workbooks, study guide and audiotapes, not to mention the videos, but you won't find a better course for learning to speak French or understand it from radio, film or TV. The reading side has been strengthened in the second edition, but to get to be a fluent reader you will need extra reading outside the course.

One of my teachers ( a French national) criticised the course for cultural bias (a little upperclass and American) and he has a point, but for a rapid and enjoyable path to fluency, this course can't be beaten.

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best French course, November 2, 2002

By 

Salil Phadnis (Chandler, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture : The Capretz Method: Textbook (Hardcover)

I have tried several self teaching french course books, audio tapes, etc. None of them comes close to French in Action. My french language skills have jumped several levels after I started studying this course. After having finished about half of this course, I was able to get by quite well in French during a recent trip to France. This course teaches you French and France, its culture and its people like no other.

Although all the video tapes, audio tapes, workbooks seems like a very expensive deal, there are ways to do it cheaply. The video section is broadcast year round on PBS channels, as well as available online at the learner website. I skipped the audio tapes since most of the excercises in the workbooks can be done without audio tapes and furthermore if you watch each video several times you have already understood the conversation. Then all that is needed is the textbook and the two workbooks. It can take a long time to complete the 52 lessons, but language learning is a long process. French in Action does make it very enjoyable.

I don't think this is a beginner level course, though. Its probably useful to do some other basic course for a couple of months before starting on this one.

61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best course available but you need all the books., December 22, 2005

By 

Thomas J. Gosse (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture : The Capretz Method: Textbook (Hardcover)

This is the best French language course you can find. If you want to use it for self study you do need to purchase the workbook, audio tapes, and study guide along with the textbook. The textbook is designed to be used with the PBS series, French in Action. The good news is the television series can be watched at http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html for free.

To get the best out of this course you need the workbook, and the workbook needs the audio cd's. The material on the cd's is different than the audio on the television program in that it includes exercises on pronunciation, listening and observations on grammar.

To make sense out of all this material you need the study guide. It's the road map to the course and explains how to use the other material. This is especially true if you are using this as a home or self study course.