Reading French in Arts and Science, 4th Edition [Paperback]

Edward M. Stack (Author), E. M. Stack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2005 | ISBN-10: 0395359686 | ISBN-13: 978-0395359686 | Edition: 4th

The Fourth Edition of "Reading French in the Arts and Sciences offers a systematic approach to comprehending and translating texts in the humanities and technical disciplines, focusing on the grammar needed for this task. It begins with short passages on familiar themes and gradually increases the difficulty level to more technical and literary topics.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH); 4th edition (May 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395359686
• ISBN-13: 978-0395359686
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #262,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable, February 12, 2006

By 

Yggdrasil (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading French in Arts and Science, 4th Edition (Paperback)

I am writing this review from the viewpoint of someone who already speaks French and wanted to learn how to translate. The sad fact is that skill in the former does not necessarily promise skill in the latter. Stack asks: are you accurately translating ALL of the ideas in the original text into the next language? Does the result sound like natural English as written by a native speaker? His lessons in French grammar as well as translation exercises make this book a definite keeper (and while I already spoke French before I picked up this book, it was recommended to me by an engineer who had minimal French under his belt and merely wanted to be able to understand some written French that kept cropping up on the job).

Amazon lists this book's language as being English, and while this is true for instructions, half of it is in French including some very long passages.

The book starts out, however, explaining French structure: cognates, noun gender, definite and indefinite articles, irregularities, adjectives, adverbs, personal pronouns, personal pronouns as subjects, and moving right up into the different verb tenses. Included with every lesson (which is itself about a dozen pages, easily doable one per week) is a list of new vocabulary. Readings are from a variety of sources, from technical writing to Pascal and Descartes. There are translation exercises that stress keeping the original French's intent and ideas when turning it into English.

What I particularly loved about the book was the footnotes, especially when a new word could have multiple meanings (which could of course change the entire meaning of the sentence). Additionally, I, like many other learners to French, was taught the language almost solely through literature and poetry. Stack's book is therefore a welcoming addition for learning mathematics and the sciences through this language. There are also tests in the back (along with a French word index) for further understanding of each lesson, a boon for extra classwork or the self-studying student.

Will you be fluent in French by the end? No. This book is for gaining profiency in WRITTEN French. However, this is a good supplement for someone who is learning to speak the language as well, or for someone like myself who wants to learn translation. What really helped me in honing my translation skills was the way Stack focuses on NUANCE: the multiple meanings of a word, the differences between sentence structure between the French and the English (thus teaching the reader how to make a French phrase, even when translated into English, sound like it was originally written by a native English speaker), the emphasis on transitional words and unique French phrases (i.e. letter closings).

In particular, Stack stresses the importance of vocabularly, citing that a greater knowledge of words helps to accurately translate subtle differences (i.e. "slap" sounds harsher than "hit"). To that end, Stack introduces a LOT of vocabulary that you won't have learned in French 1, if you have any formal introduction to French at all. This is a primer on French in the arts and sciences, so there are lots of welcome vocabularly lists pertaining to things like physics, probability, geometry, linguistics, and references to Greek mythology (which come in useful for the excerpts from Voltaire).

Really, I can't laud this text enough.

This book is a little expensive (I also purchased my copy at my university's bookstore). Amazon's is definitely the better price than your local university's. Either way, it's one of the welcome additions to my translating bookshelf.

If you are beginning to gain a working knowledge of written French, you should also purchase, in addition to "Reading French in Arts and Science", a good bilingual dictionary (the vocabularly list at the back of Stack's book is good but nowhere near comprehensive).

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best study tool ever, March 22, 2009

By 

D. Lamendola "Bag lover" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Reading French in Arts and Science, 4th Edition (Paperback)

I used this book to study for a French reading comprehension exam required for my Master's degree and it was invaluable. Because of this book, I passed the exam even though it had been almost a decade since I took a French class. It is incredibly helpful.

27 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little dry in content, but I learned how to read French!, February 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Reading French in Arts and Science, 4th Edition (Paperback)

I used this book as a textbook for an undergraduate course in Reading French. Not speaking, just reading. Since I already knew Spanish and was familiar with Portuguese, it was not hard for me to understand the language. However, my speaking ability is still non-existent. I just cannot wrap my mouth around French pronunciation.

The practices are grouped together very clearly. The vocabulary focuses on technical terms. Therefore, metaphors and literary complexity is not a problem here. Sometimes I wondered if I would ever have the need to describe a steam engine to anyone in French! Our class divided into groups to go over the exercises which were at just the right level for beginners. Several, like me, already knew Spanish. One spoke Italian. One spoke Portuguese, and one spoke German. Others knew English only. We combined our skills to use this book and learned how to read French.