Intermediate French For Dummies [Paperback]

Laura K. Lawless (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470187689 | ISBN-13: 978-0470187685 | Publication Date: March 4, 2008 | Edition: 1

Planning a trip to a French-speaking country? Starting a business with a French connection? Looking to ace your next French test? Intermediate French For Dummies is the book for you. It offers all the help you need to improve your writing skills and become a better French speaker, listener, and reader, as well.

This friendly, hands-on workbook gives you practical examples and useful exercises so you can practice how native speakers use the language. From vocabulary and numbers to juggling tenses, you’ll get a clear understanding of the nuances of French style and usage that will have you writing better in no time. Plus, you’ll find multiple charts that provide the conjugations for all types of French verbs. Discover how to:

• Use fundamental French grammar — from nouns, adjectives, and adverbs to pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions
• Select and conjugate the correct French verbs
• Understand the importance of grammatical gender in French
• Ask and respond to questions
• Use a bilingual dictionary correctly
• Get a handle on French negatives
• Know whether to use the infinitive or the present participle
• Add descriptive flair to your writing
• Sort out pronominal verbs
• Avoid the most common French writing mistakes

Complete with plenty of room to practice you skills with exercises right in the workbook Intermediate French For Dummies helps you get your French writing up to speed toute suite!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...exercises to help you learn...perfect if you want to brush up on your language." (France Magazine, April 2009)

From the Back Cover

Plenty of room to practice skills with exercises right in the workbook

From letters to e-mails to postcards, write in French with confidence

Looking to enhance your French writing skills? This friendly, hands-on workbook gives you practical examples and useful exercises so you can practice how native speakers use the language. From vocabulary and numbers to juggling tenses, you'll get a clear understanding of the nuances of French style and usage that will have you writing in no time. Plus, you'll find multiple charts that provide the conjugations for all types of French verbs.

Discover how to:

• Use fundamental French grammar — from nouns, adjectives, and adverbs to pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions

• Select the correct French verbs

• Understand the importance of grammatical gender in French

• Avoid the most common writing mistakes in French

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470187689
• ISBN-13: 978-0470187685
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura is the author of seven books (four French and three Spanish). She also teaches French, Spanish, and English on the internet, and has a website of vegetarian recipes and info. She has lived in Morocco and Costa Rica, and currently resides in the south of France.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I needed, August 23, 2009

By 

Stewart Walton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intermediate French For Dummies (Paperback)

Ten years ago I was headed to France on business, and picked up a teach-yourself-French book ('Idiot's Guide'). I learned some phrases, some pronunciation, some grammar, and some vocabulary. Then last year when I got serious about learning the language, I found Laura Lawless and her 'Intermediate French for Dummies'. What a revelation. It was over my head, as a beginning speaker, but I liked the logical layout of the book, and I felt I was really making progress. This is a grammar self-study guide par excellence. No culture tips, no map of France, no cartoons of Parisian bistros. And no pronunciation guides. But you will find clear explanations of the parts of speech (which are different in French than English, a fact which surprised me), the difference between reflexive and pronomial verbs, and the devious usages of pronouns and prepositions. And a guide to using bilingual dictionaries.

The chapters are self-contained, in that they can be studied in any order, and do not depend on each other to any great extent. There are self-tests at the end of every chapter, and while not exhaustive, they illustrate the subject of the lesson, and are a good reinforcement of the material.

The author has a very easy writing style, breezy but not chatty, authoritative but not dry. She's been a guide at About.com since 1999, for their French Language section, and on that site she has assembled an impressive self-study curriculum and community of Francophones. She has expanded the lessons in this book to a very detailed level, and has a number of native speakers who host on the forums and help answer the knottiest questions. There are forums for beginners, intermediates, and advanced speakers, as well as a section for teachers of French. The extensive quizzes are especially good. I believe that the experience on the website helped shape this book, with clear examples and an adult to adult tone.

Notwithstanding the excellent web presence, I still refer to this book because it is so handy (meaning I can handle it and write notes to myself in it) and because it is so easy to navigate. I have gone through it once, filling in the exercises in pencil, and I'm about to go back with an eraser to clean them up, and then fill them in again. Repetition and repetition is how I learn, but first someone has to explain it clearly, like Laura does in this book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intermediate French for Dummies, October 30, 2008

By 

Gary W. Layman (Delaware) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intermediate French For Dummies (Paperback)

I am learning French through self-study. As my knowledge expands, and I obtain a greater comprehension of the French Language, I have a need for a slightly more challanging book. Intermediate French for Dummies helped to provide an avenue to enable me to continue my learning. I like all of the presentations by Laura. She writes as though she was sitting next to you and the explainations are simple and easy to understand. As I advance my knowledge I hope that she continues to produce similar books to learn from.

Gary

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intermediate French for Dummies, December 3, 2009

By 

Donald A. Nitkin (Clinton Township., MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intermediate French For Dummies (Paperback)

I have been following Laura for years. I subscribe to her newsletter at [...]. Her web site is absolutely the best I have ever seen. I buy all her books. She writes as if there is a teacher at your side. The book can be read from the beginning to the end or you can also go directly to a subject of interest to you. Exercises reinforce what you have learned.She is an incredibly organized person and her writing reflects it.