17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
not so great, August 21, 2010
This review is from: Schaum's Outline of French Vocabulary, 3ed (Schaum's Outline Series) (Paperback)
I am usually a staunch proponent of the Schaum's We-Ain't-Here-To-Be-Your-Friend method, but I have to say this is one of the more disappointing books in my impressive collection of Schaum's outlines.
GOOD:
1. It gives you a ton of vocabulary: each chapter is broken down by subject.
2. All the answers to the exercises are in the back . . . not just the odd! Perfect for self-studiers.
BAD:
1. The exercises are poorly done! They could have been much better. Instead, most of them are along the lines of "J'ai un ___________________." And you're supposed to know what to put there? Many of them, upon careful examination, were solvable, but the lion's share of your attention, I submit, will be spent in deduction and logical elimination -- not so much vocabulary mastery. (Good practice for a IQ test, though.)
2. Although there is a complete glossary at the back, there is no master list of words in each chapter at the end of each chapter.
3. As the words are introduced in each chapter, the genders are not given. Thus for the ones ending in -e (and others) you have to flip back to the glossary to get this information!
4. Book awfully lazy about explaining the differences between words with closely similar definitions.
5. The book's choice of vocabulary is kind of unfortunate. Basically it's a pocket guide to tourist French, writ large. Chapter after chapter sees us "At the Mechanic's," "At the Hairdresser's," "At the Restaurant," etc. There is not really any effort to compile common phrases in French that are not specific to such shops. If you're about to go to a French-speaking country, that's fine -- although working through this book would represent a ton of effort for just a simple vacation. Instead what this is going to mean for most students is that they won't be prepared for French 201, where you begin reading stories and literature: no, instead all of the vocabulary herein is of a practical bent and will not do much for you if you plan on continuing in university French, where you'll soon come up against literary French.
It needs a partial re-do, preferably from some former student who has had to hump these miles.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You will need this book, May 1, 2009
This review is from: Schaum's Outline of French Vocabulary, 3ed (Schaum's Outline Series) (Paperback)
I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Schaum's Outlines were the foundation for my becoming fluent in Spanish (they were my high school Spanish textbooks 20 yrs ago). I am fluent in Spanish, currently living in Latin America. I am now being reassigned to France and have 6 months to master French -- I immediately went on Amazon and ordered this book and some others. The Schaum's series are the best, clearest and most comprehensive with thousands of exercises. This is the first time I've ever made the effort to recommend a book! 5 stars.
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