Teach Yourself French in 24 Hours [Paperback]

William Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2002

Learn French in 1 day!

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. William (Bill) Griffin is a Professor of French at Appalachian State University located in Boone, North Carolina. He completed his Ph.D. in French at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after studying at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; l'Université de Lyon, France; and Appalachian State University. Dr. Griffin started teaching at Boone, North Carolina, in 1978, in the Interdisciplinary Studies residential college program (Watauga College). In 1990 he moved to the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, where he served as Chairperson from 1990 to 1996. Since 1996 he has taught French at all levels and regularly directs a summer study abroad program to Angers, France. Dr. Griffin and his wife, Diane, reside in Boone, deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 442 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (June 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028641736
• ISBN-13: 978-0028641737
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,217,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff, June 29, 2001

By 

Little Monk (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself French in 24 Hours (Paperback)

I have been actively learning french for almost a year now and have over 60 french texts on my shelf, some published in france. The thing that really stands out in this book is that the author seems to know the confusions the english speaking learners regularly run into, such as the difference between c'est and il est. I have not come across a book in my entire collection that explains this, but this book has one section devoted to just that. I also like the way things are arranged - each lesson is designed to be finished within an hour, and there is a test at the end of each section to reinforce your learning. With some texts you could spend a lot of time in one chapter and quickly give up due to the lack of sense of accomplishment. With this if you religiously devote an hour a day to it, you could really finish it within 24 days. I personally think this book is one of the more exceptional grammar texts out there, especially if you have not been exposed to french grammar at all. But obviously to master a language, you need to supplement your study with lots of different kinds of materials - audio tapes, video, story book, play, etc. One book can never be enough. But if you want to get a good head start with french grammar, this is a really good one to go with.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Basics, June 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Teach Yourself French in 24 Hours (Paperback)

This book introduces French grammar and vocabulary in 24 lessons, claiming each lesson can be read in one hour's time. Perhaps, but learning will definitely take more than one hour.

The good things: if you are into lists of things, this book is for you. It has lists of intransitive verbs, common reflexive verbs, common adverbs, to name just a few. If you like plenty of examples, it has them. It provides a guide for pronunciation and Web sites for the alphabet and for practicing some difficult sounds.

The bad things: Some translations into English are incorrect. In the passe compose chapter, the list of verbs that use "etre" as an auxiliary verb is not complete. If you like plenty of reading and writing exercises, you'll have to get a supplemental book. No audio.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One more "almost-good" French book, February 2, 2008

By 

Jon Zuck "frimmin" (Norfolk, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself French in 24 Hours (Paperback)

Now, this isn't a bad book on its own merits: Dr. Griffin introduces grammar functionally, how to speak in the present, what are the most common irregular verbs, how to form negations, and so on. This approach was used brilliantly in one of the best language books I've ever seen, "Easy Spanish Step-By-Step (Step By Step)," and all explanations are as crystal-clear as they are brief. Now even under the best of circumstances this approach won't work for someone looking for quick tourist-survival phrases, or who's trying to get a grip on the pronunciation, but handled well, it's a great way to learn how the language works and to begin expressing relatively complex thoughts very quickly.

Furthermore, unlike most, the author is up-to-date on modern colloquial French, such as the fact that virtually everyone says "on" instead of "nous" for "we," which the majority of French books either ignore or gloss over. He also acknowledges that "ne" is generally omitted in spoken French, another important truth that most materials prefer to ignore, causing their learners to sound like a dorky Mr. Data to French ears: "Zhuh nuh say pah."

With those strong points, what's missing? Simply some actual instruction! There are no readings at all! No sample letters, no headlines, nor short texts of any kind. It gets worse, though: there are no exercises! No "translate the following sentences in French," no "use the following verbs to describe Jean's day," no exercises, period! This lack reduces the book to being an simplified reference book rather than a useful learning text.

Whereas Easy Spanish Step-By-Step (Step By Step) had entertaining readings and copious exercises to drive the lessons home, this book only presents a pathetic "quiz" of ten multiple-choice questions at the end of each chapter. To put it bluntly, you test yourself on your ability to remember a couple of key points for 50 minutes.

A less serious gripe I've got is that the book feels like it's mostly whitespace. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but the margins and leading are SO generous that what takes 460 pages to present here would likely take around 300 in a book by most other publishers. At times the material feels too scattered, blown across several widely-spaced pages instead of being presented concisely in more compact and easily-digestible lists and paragraphs.

Why is it that compared to Spanish books, French books seem so bad? I've been looking for the French equivalent to the superb Spanish book I've mentioned earlier, but it doesn't yet exist.