French Language Learners discussion

Reading a book in french outside the group and have a review? Feel free to drop the review or review link in this thread. It will be a great way to learn about new and interesting reads.

Easy French Step-By-Step

I have set out to complete all of the beginner French books on my shelf. I finished this one and here are my thoughts.

The grammatical concepts were not easy to understand nor reproduce. The grammar lessons are all over the place you have beginner, intermediate and advanced all in one. Which is horrible, and can be daunting and discouraging.

The practice sessions were confusing. Sometimes I had no idea what the author was asking me to write or rather how many grammar concepts they wanted to see within a sentence. I had to actually look at the answers to understand the structure of what was required.

The author presented the exceptions and nuances for each grammatical concept but not in a concise easy to understand manner. Along those lines the author would presented several concepts and save the exercises for later. I think the exercises should have been under each concept and exception for better retention and a clear outline of what you are being asked to produce.

The author focuses on pretty intermediate-advanced subjects. Lots of emphasis on advanced pronouns and prepositions. Had this been done in a manner that facilitated understanding and mastery, I wouldn't have an issue but that's is not what you get with this book.

I have read the critique about the pronunciation guide. I personally do not think you can learn pronunciation by reading, so I read over the section but honestly ignore it.

The only thing I truly got out of this book was, pinpointing where my grammar problem areas were. I would have liked to actually master those grammar concepts instead of pinpointing them. Thus the book receives 2 stars.

I like the idea of this group. I jumped straight in to reading novels in French about 15 months ago based on a little decades-old school french. I'm pretty fluent in Spanish and have read a lot in that language so reading in a new language is a familiar path to me to an extent. I use a Kindle or free reader phone apps to read epubs with the help of dictionary and translation tools.

I tried Duolingo for a couple of weeks but got bored. Reading novels was a stimulating and effective way of improving my Spanish so I thought I'd give it a try in French and I've enjoyed it overall.

I've done no grammar to speak of and had no speaking practice so that's something to address a bit now. I've started going to a weekly French conversation Meetup in my town (Canberra).

You can see what I've read on my profile I suppose but I've knocked off 28 novels now, an interesting experience. Below are the novels I read, with a little bit of commentary about them.

I've just started another book by Marc Levy and like the other two in the list below I find it a relaxing read, there's something clear and easy about his style that I can't put my finger on but I recommend for intermediate readers.

I'd be interested to hear recommendations (from the point of view of intermediate readers)!

Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Not bad as an entry read, plenty of repetition in terms of activity and location
Perhaps a bit long as a first read

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Good fun, not too long

Creance de sang - Michael Connelly
Too long for me, and I find detective novels somewhat boring

Le voleur d’ombres - Marc Levy
Fantastic read, delightful light humour

Les enfants de la liberte - Marc Levy
Good read, serious stuff

Le tatoueur d'Auschwitz - Heather Morris
Easy compelling read, serious content obviously

Demain - Guillaume Musso
Very easy read, lots of conversation, american context
Plot is absolutely bananas, ridiculous

Papillon - Henri Charriere
Unsurprisingly repetitive, not endearing towards the full-of-himself lead character

L’Etranger - Albert Camus
Serious read but well written and short

Les Lions du Panshir - Ken Follet
Alright I suppose to pass the time

Le prix - Cyril Gely
Really good read, short

L’Histoire sans fin - Michael Ende
Too long for me, but ok

La Femme de menage - Freida McFadden
Not really a fan, easy read

Le Murder Club de jeudi - Richard Osman
Surprisingly arduous read I think because of the translation of a lot of British idioms. Detective stuff not really my cup of tea anyway.

La brillante destinée d'Elizabeth Zott - Bonnie Garmus
Outstanding, brilliant from the first page, such an easy read

V2 - Robert Harris
Pretty good read

Le Chant du rossignol - Kristin Hannah
Emotional read mainly in the last 10%

L’Arc de Triomphe - Erich Maria Remarque
Drags a bit, repetitive but overall a good read of pre-ww2 Paris

Lonesome Dove, Ep 1 - Larry McMurtry
Lovely book, very long but ambles along beautifully

Lonesome Dove, Ep 2 - Larry McMurtry
Great read, exciting and busy sequel to Ep 1

The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien [audio]
Good to listen to, missed the odd passage but overall knowing the story already means I was never lost

Une education - Tara Westover
Interesting shocking upbringing, ok read

Rendezvous avec Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
Not bad

La Fraternite de l’anneau - J.R. R. Tolkien [audio]
Very doable if like me you know the story well. I miss some passages but I usually know what’s going on generally so I don’t worry about that.

Eleanor Oliphant va très bien - Gail Honeyman
So so read for me

La lettre qui allait changer le destin d'Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
Ok but spoilt by having seen the movie a while back

Éducation européenne - Romain Gary
Good, interesting read, had a lightness about it

L'Assassineuse - Sarah J Maas
Dragged a bit, got more interesting about 80% in but that was too long to wait!

Dave wrote: "I like the idea of this group. I jumped straight in to reading novels in French about 15 months ago based on a little decades-old school french. I'm pretty fluent in Spanish and have read a lot in ..."

What about the Harry potter series?