Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet French Phrasebook: and Audio CD

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this book as a gift before going to Paris for a month and after taking one quarter of French at school. This book is so useful in very many situations! With my basic skills in pronunciation and grammar, this book carried me through at restaurants, metro stations, going out, etc. The two-way dictionary is also great because I had French people look up words they didn't know in English. There's also a funny romance section that I don't know if you would ever use, but it's a great read and my French friends love it as well. Overall I would recommend this phrasebook if you're going to France for a short trip and as long as you learn some basic pronunciation you should be fine!

Right now i am currently studying French independently before i begin a French I class in school. And so far, I find this book to be very useful in using common phrases, as well as having facts about the grammar. And what's great is how this book tells the pronunciation of all the words in its dictionary, and for some reason that is something that many dictionaries lack, considering that the French language has the most difficulty in pronunciation! I wish French dictionaries were that convient. All in all, if you want to learn French phrases, or trying to have a little bit of knowledge about the French language before being taught, or you are already a French speaker and just want to brush up, this book is excellent! Highly recommended.

I was in Paris and with the phonetic pronunciation of phases the Parisians would understand us completely. I was so surprised!!! This book was very helpful and I would recommend it to anybody who needs to get around in France. I just bought the Italian version for my next trip!!!!

I moved to France on short notice, and consequentially did not speak much French when I got there. I generally find the Lonely Planet books to be good, and this one was no exception. Just realize that while the book does in fact provide many useful words, phrases and sentences, it is limited to the basics. If you are looking for a phrasebook, I highly recommend this one.

As another travel note, before you set off on your trip, the plastic foldout maps of major cities are one of the best purchases you can make. They are typically far easier to use than the ones you can find at tourist information booths in your destination city, and should only put you out a few dollars.

Used this guide guring 2 trips to Montreal to see the Formula One races. Through six months of studying this book for 10 minutes per day,- and practicing out loud by myself- I was amazed at the new world that this knowlege opened up for me-how friendly everyone was- and how people would "go the extra mile" because I showed the respect for their culture by learning a bit of their lingo.

Although not a guide book, I bought this book as part of a large order from Amazon that included many local and national French travel guide books, maps, and language dictionaries and translators. Choose one of your favorite guide books to take with you on your trip, and include this book as well, a very helpful language guide with a good layout of pronunciation and dictionary of common everyday words and phrases you will need while in France. Easy to understand and use, this book is recommnded for all non-French speaking Americans traveling to France. Buy this book several weeks or more ahead of time, and you can study and memorize many helpful phrases to get a head start. After Rosetta Stone French version three, levels 1,2, and 3, this is the next best thing, and a whole lot cheaper.

I went to France not knowing any French except what I learned from songs, and somehow I didn't think knowing how to say "fish" and "will you go to bed with me?" would be good enough. This book was really great for a lot of different situations and was way more useful than my friend who claimed to know French from 3 years of high school. The pronunciations were particularly useful, although be careful if you get a "telecarte" as they might sell you minutes on a cell phone you don't have, not a telephone card.

I put this CD in the player thinking it would say words in English then translate them to French. Unless I'm missing something, the CD is just a man speaking French. I have no clue what he's saying because, duh, I don't know the French language. Could the book and CD somehow be made to work together rather than separately?

This book is very compact and basically organized, however, for my week in France I really only needed to know about 10 key phrases. I wasn't able to use the book to talk to anyone, (no one has patience for that) I just used the book to master a few phrases leaving about 90% of the book unused. This book might have come in handy in a pinch if I had to communicate a lot with someone in French, but I didn't have to.
One more thing: it is imperetive that travelors learn key phrases in the language of the people were you are visiting. It will make your trip a lot smoother and frankly could help you avoid conflict. Learn to say "excuse me", "water", "Thank You", "Where", "WC/Toilet" and so forth.

I took this phrasebook along on a recent trip to France and found it useful. It was small enough to fit in my pants pocket, making it convenient for easy reference when needed.
Most French people do speak english, but I did not want to be presumptuous by assuming that everyone would know my language. I was in their country after all. This book was good for learning a few key words and phrases to help me get by. The dictionary portion was ok. Not surprisingly, it did not have all of the French words that I tried to look up, but it did have enough to be useful. I would recommend this book.