Mastering French, Level 1 (with Audio CDs) [Paperback]

M. Cossard (Author), R. Salazar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764175998 | ISBN-13: 978-0764175992 | Publication Date: April 2003 | Edition: 2nd

The new edition of this intensive language-immersion course has been updated with new references, and up-to-date vocabulary and idioms. The program package consists of a textbook and a set of 12 compact discs. This comprehensive language program is the same as the one used by the U.S. Government to teach French to personnel in the diplomatic service and other internationally related government agencies. Students who complete the course successfully will have much more than a few foreign phrases at their disposal, but will possess a solid understanding of a new language. The program is ideal for classroom instruction but is also designed so that serious individuals who want to become fluent in French can teach themselves. This course teaches every aspect of the language: vocabulary, grammar, conversing, reading, writing, and listening comprehension.

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; 2nd edition (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764175998
• ISBN-13: 978-0764175992
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 10 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,066,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Towards conversational fluency, November 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mastering French, Level 1 (with Audio CDs) (Paperback)

My goal was to re-learn French after a 15 year lapse in order to prepare for a trip to Brussels and Paris. I quickly realized that I had to tune my ear and pronounciation. I could not do this with grammar books so I turned to this set as an aural aid and have been quite pleased.

The concepts are taught through dialogue, grammar lessons, and drills. The speakers speak at conversational speed and thus you are geared to understanding how the French language is actually spoken. This was a difficult initial hurdle for me, but after a while, my ear began to hear the words (e.g. "Je ne sais" pas is prounounced more like "zhoon say pa") and I began to understand and be understood. Also, the accompanying book is very useful.

The drills can be monotonous, but I found them very helpful. After participating in the sections, one undoubtedly has learned the concepts.

The specific grammar lessons are very rudimentary. They focus on only the present tense of a few irregular verbs (être, avoir, aller, faire) and the -er verbs, definite articles, indefinite articles, partive, and maybe a few other concepts; HOWEVER, the drills and dialogues cover much more and provide the most value.

In my opinion, this set is really only useful for someone like me who has previously studied French and needs to re-tool. I do not see how this could serve as ones first introduction to the language.

Some things that I did not like:
1. The primary male speaker is sometimes hard to comprehend
2. In an effort to change all occurences of "franc" with "euro" a female speaker overdubs the original in a VERY abrupt manner.
3. The CD was obviously cut from a cassette since I can very clearly hear what was playing on the other side of the cassette.
4. There are a few times when they sprinkle in future tense or imparfait without explaining at all. If one did not know these concepts, one would be lost.
5. There is no mention anywhere about the "tu" familiar form of any verb.

Overall though, I have been happy listening to this on my way to and from work.

*****I will add that one thing I did not realize when I purchased this rather expensive set is that you can get it all TOTALLY FREE from the government's Foreign Service Institute's web site: [...] This is the same EXACT material, audio and text.*****

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good learning system, October 15, 2004

By 

Chartran (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mastering French, Level 1 (with Audio CDs) (Paperback)

I had very few problems with this book and CD set. I started it, having never spoken a word of French in my life in part because I want to achieve fluency but also because I want to be able read some French texts. I have now completed all the exercises in the "Part I" and am partway through the companion "Part II," which unfortunately is only available on cassette. I have found all the lessons to be very helpful. Each unit introduces several grammatical components, as well as some new vocabulary to give you some thoroughness. Units have several phases - there are generally two conversations, which introduce the reader to conversational-pace material, a sequence of learning and practice drills, and a series of questions you are expected to answer orally - all in French. There are also quizzes at the end of each unit with answers in the back to give you a sense of how your are progressing. I thought the whole thing was sort of complex and time consuming, like it says, but well worth the trouble - my French seems to be coming along quite well. I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I think it could be made a little more interesting with slight changes in the material. All in all, though, it's well worth it.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part one of the best course for learning French, November 28, 2005

By 

Nigel (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mastering French, Level 1 (with Audio CDs) (Paperback)

The FSI (original name) language courses are very good ways of learning another language. Instead of trying to be all fancy, this course simply presents French in a simple way that really helps you learn. If you complete all four levels of this course you can expect to have a very high speaking ability.

The learning method may be new to some people. There's a lot of audio so vocal practice is very thorough. It's basically up to you to decide when you want to move to the next lesson. In a sense you "over-learn" material, however this only helps you to learn things better.

For beginners I recommend doing Michel Thomas's French Course first. A lot of the information in that prepares you to use Mastering French.

This course if more for the serious learner. If you are just planing to learn basic knowledge of the language to get by, I recommend something like Pimsleur. If you really want to be proficient in the language then this course is for you.