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French: How to Speak and Write It
by Joseph Lemaitre
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Dover Publications (1962-06-01)
ISBN: 0486202682
EAN: 9780486202686
Dewy Decimal #: 448.3
Paperback: 416 pages
SKU: 38289
Condition: Collectable Very Goo
Comments: THE SOFTBACK BOOK! THE UNABRIDGED 1ST EDITION. DOVER, 1962. SOFTCOVER BOOK AND PAGES ARE FINE! WITH TERIFIC PHOTOGRAPHS AND ILLUSTRATIONS! Rapid shipping w/FREE tracking. GREAT PACKAGING . Air Mail. GR.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Probably the most delightful, useful, and comprehensive elementary book available for learning spoken and written French, either with or without a teacher. Working on the principle that a person learns more quickly by example then by rule, Lemaître has assembled colloquial French conversations on a variety of subjects, as well as grammar, vocabulary, and idiom studies. Index.
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Customer Reviews
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I wouldn't say "old," just "timeless."
Rating  (4)
Date: 2000-06-28
22 out of 23 customers found this reveiw helpful
I agree with the previous reviewer's observation that the "overly formal" usage and illustrations are a bit dated. A French friend agreed; when I showed this text my friend, originally from Bordeaux, she grinned a little and said, "We don't speak French like this anymore."However, I feel that this book helps beginners with transliteration more than any traveler's phrase book. This book describes how French is pronounced more graphically and emphatically than any other similar book I've seen or read. At the end of each unit is a brief review so that you can apply what you've learned to other scenarios. So, without even trying, you actually learn something about French grammar! I applaud the authors for writing arguably the first book on building grammar skils and memorizing vocabulary through the use of typical travel scenarios and French-to-English transliteration. If you're looking for something more modern, than I'd suggest "Berlitz Essential French," which I feel is also good at transliteration. Otherwise, this old inexpensive text from Dover books will work just fine.
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Delightful but dated
Rating  (3)
Date: 2000-04-02
13 out of 14 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book dates back to the early 60's and many of the illustrations and photos look even older. It is a very delightful work even with such dated material as the cutaway illustration of a passenger steamship. That in fact gives it some of its charm. It presents a dated French lanugage which is overly formal. Children, for example, address their parent's as "vous". Still it employs a high frequency vocabulary and builds up a useful vocabulary. I certainly would not prescribe it as a primary text but it is nostalgic look at the French and France of a bygone era.
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