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LEARNING FRENCH: SOME RESOURCES

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Power Glide French Course

101 French Idioms: Understanding French Language and Culture Through Popular Phrases by Jean-Marie Cassagne. Passport Books, 1995. This humorous volume of cartoons showing the meaning of French idioms is illustrated by Lucques Nesset-Raidon. The book is divided into nine sections of common, everyday idioms: Speaking About the Body;  Our Animal Friends; Return to Nature; Eating in Style; Life Day by Day; Odds and Ends; Walking Around Town; The Blue Planet; and That's Life. These all show what the French say, and what they really mean.

On each page of text there is a cartoon with the French idiom at the top, a literal English translation under the cartoon, and what the idiom really means in English under that. In the wide bottom margin is a story or dialogue in French showing how the idiom is used in context. Translations of the dialogues and a list of idioms by key words are at the back of the book. 133 pages. BTH-1983. $7.16-D

101 French Proverbs: Understanding French Language and Culture Through Common Sayings by Jean-Marie Cassagne. Passport Books, 1998. This humorous volume of cartoons showing the meaning of common French proverbs and sayings is illustrated by Lucques Nesset-Raidon.

The book is divided into nine sections by subject: Our Animal Friends; Animals in the Wild; Occupations; Eating in Style; Life Day by Day; People;  The Blue Planet; Time Flies; and Words to Live By.

On each page of text there is a cartoon with the French proverb at the top, a literal English translation under the cartoon, and what the saying really means in English under that. In the wide bottom margin is a story or dialogue in French showing how the proverb is used in context. Translations of the dialogues and an index of all the proverbs are at the back of the book. 152 pages. BTH-1984. $7.16-D

Beginner's French Dictionary. A digest-size thematic wordbook by Usborne for those who are junior age and up. Everything important for daily life and travel is here. In the back are found grammar notes, a phrase explainer, and an English-French index to the words used in the book so that the reader can find the French word he is looking for. Cat. #1466, $9.86-D

Beginning French for the Utterly Confused by A. Sebastián Mercado. McGraw-Hill, 2003. This book is aimed at the beginning French student, but those further along can also benefit.  The author explains French vocabulary, grammar, and common phrases and expressions in an easy-to-use format that gets a beginner off to comfortable start. You will develop your ear and accent and get a feel for sentence structure and conversational techniques. A set of user-friendly icons help you navigate through the book and determine which parts of it you really need. They let you know if you need to read a chapter, offer practical steps to help you get going, and indicate quick tips, end-of-chapter summations, and self-tests. The lay-out is clear and appealing to the eye -- not busy and intimidating. 227 pages. BTH-1986. $15.26-D

Correspondence in French. Numerous sample letters provide models for writers to use in creating their own correspondence. Gives instruction in writing both business and social letters. Be aware, though, that this book is written in French.
Cat. # BTH-1391, $8.95*. Out of print. Supply limited to stock on hand.

Drive-In French for Kids: Songs and Games for On-the-Go Children, a 45-minute audiocassette, accompanied by lyric booklet which contains the words of the songs in both French and English.  The song titles are Hello and Good-bye Song; My Name Song; The Numbers Song; Frère Jacques; The Pizza Song; Ten Little Children; My School Song; The Counting Song; My Family Song; Days of the Week Song; The Sleeping Song; Months of the Year Song; The Colorful Song; My Clothing Song; The Birthday Song; The Animal Song; The Halloween Song; Where are You Going;? The Seasons Song; The Weather Song; Sleep, Tight, Colin; and Planting Cabbages Song. These songs are easy to understand and to sing along with. Children are given key phrases to listen for in each song, and there are also simple games and activities. Great for car trips. BTH-1392. $8.96-D

Easy French Crossword Puzzles. These are designed to sharpen vocabulary and spelling skills for students at all levels. Clear instructions and answer keys are provided. Cat. #BTH-1387, $4.46-D

Easy French Grammar Puzzles by R. deRoussy deSales. Passport Books, 1986. These 30 crossword puzzles will help you learn or review your French grammar. They cover a wide variety of topic related to basic grammatical structures, and will also expand your knowledge of the French language and culture. All the clues are in elementary French, so you will not have to resort to English while working through the book. Words that go beyond the basic level are explained in a glossary. Answers are provided at the back of the book. 63 pages. #BTH-1985, $5.39-D

Easy French Reader: A Three Part Text for Beginning Students, Second Edition, by R. de Roussy de Sales.  McGraw-Hill. 228 pages. Features short, contemporary readings or dialogues, historical selections, and simple literary adaptation -- all geared to building confidence in a foreign language. Even students with little experience in French can begin reading almost immediately. Unfamiliar words can be found in margin glossaries. Students can build comprehension and reading skills with the provided exercises. Answers are provided. Cat. BTH-1393.  $9.86-D

Flashcard French, Usborne. This set of 50 flash cards help children learn simple French vocabulary. Each card has a word and picture on one side, and just the word alone on the other. These can be used to play games, for self-testing, or as reminders you can prop up as reminders. Cat.#EDC-37082. $8.06-D.                                             Click on image to enlarge it.

French à la Cartoon,  by Dr. Albert H. Small, Editor. Passport Books, 1989. These 101 hilarious cartoons will help you understand the everyday language the French really speak! The cartoons are drawn by some of France's most popular artists whose work has regularly appeared in French national magazines and newspapers. Under the French caption for each cartoon appears a list of key words for understanding the caption with their English translations, and under that is the everyday English translation of the caption itself. The cartoons are worth reading for their humor even if you don't know any French, since they are translated. English / French and French / English glossaries appear at the end of the book. 120 pages. BTH- 1987. $7.16-D

French Activity Book / CD Set, Twin Sisters, ©1994, 2001. For children ages 5-12. It includes a 24-page activity book and music CD which teach over 100 words in French. The words and phrases are taught using simple rhythms. After students repeat each new word, it is incorporated into a happy, melodious song. Song titles include The Alphabet Song; Numbers to Twenty; Learning Colors; The Days of the Week; Name the Animals; The Hello Song; Let's Eat; My Family is Special; Five-Day Weather Forecast. BTH-1888. $12.59-D

French for Beginners. This humorously illustrated, colorful hardcover book for beginning language students who are at least third grade, makes language learning easy and fun. It guides its users through a series of everyday situations and provides a thorough foundation in basic, practical French. It clearly explains grammar and pronunciation, and uses puzzles to make learning enjoyable. BTH-1890. $12.95* .
 Out of print. Only one left.

French for Children.  Designed for children 3-9, it is a solid beginning language course. It's colorful 80-page book teaches children basic language functions. Two 60-minute CDs feature songs along with many activities that tell children what to do in the workbook. Cute, catchy songs and the humorous, serial adventures of SuperCat are sure to captivate the imagination and foster language acquisition. There is also a CD that explains to parents/teachers how they can best help their children with the course. Together children and parents can master basic language skills, including making introductions, counting from 1 to 20, and describing objects.

This is a good course and is much more than "listen and repeat" for elementary children It's a very good course and the perfect package for parents and teachers who want to familiarize three- to nine-year olds with foreign languages and cultures. Cat. #BTH-1388, $26.96-D

French Now! Level 1, Fourth Edition by Christopher and Theodore Kendris. Barron's. 2007. 580 pages text and 40 pages answer key in one volume.  This comprehensive worktext is for beginning high school or college courses. It emphasizes the use of written and spoken French in everyday situations. There are a variety of interesting exercises in each lesson to help students become proficient in speaking, listening, reading, and writing: entertaining stories, dialogues, word games, songs, photos of French landmarks, humorous illustrations, and more. Ideal for classroom or self instruction. The Appendix includes definitions of basic grammatical terms, French verb conjugation tables, a French-English Glossary and an English-French Glossary. There is a Teacher's Manual with Answers at the end of the book. Available with or without three audio CD's.
    French Now Level 1 text only: BTH-4075. $17.09-D
    French Now Level 1 text with 3 audio CD's and script for them. BTH-4076 $26.99-D

French Picture Word Book by Hayward Cirker and Barbara Steadman. Dover coloring book, 1993. This is a coloring book with a difference -- everything in the pictures to color is labeled with its name in French. There is an alphabetical word list in the back. One can learn over 500 common French words from the pictures. 33 pages. BTH-1902. $3.59-D

French Step by Step,  by Charles Berlitz. Trade paper. A unique, short-cut method to learn and speak French fluently by one of the world's master language teachers. List price, 8.50. Now just 4.53-B.May have slight damage to cover or page corner tips.

French Thesaurus for Children: Le Livre des Synonymes et Antonymes by Joan Greisman, Harriet Wittels Trans. by Yvonne Touzet-Rall. From Barron's. Approximately 2,000 words presented in French, with English definitions give boys and girls beginning to study French and expanded vocabulary in a hurry. Where appropriate, synonyms and antonyms are also given. This book is organized to reflect current classroom needs for elementary and middle-school levels (Ages: 8-12). Paperback / 128 Pages / 6 x 8 / Cat. # BTH-1889, $6.26-D

French Word Games and Puzzles by Sister Chantel. Dover. These 45 games and puzzles will be an ideal supplement for a school or self-study course in French. There are crosswords, search-a-word games on various themes, scrambled words, incomplete words, and more. The puzzles are designed to help build basic French vocabulary. They should be ideal for first year students. Vocabulary list and answers are included. BTH-1934. $4.46-D

Getting to Know France and French. A simple, delightfully illustrated guide to France for children eight and up. Discover French towns, countryside, and famous places. Find out about the French people and their way of life. Learn useful, everyday French words and phrases. Softcover book only, $7.16-D. Book and cassette tape set, BTH-1894. $17.06-D

Goodbye USA -- Bonjour la France, a Language Learning Adventure by Anne E. Bovaird. Barron's 1993. Tom, from Chicago, is staying with his cousin Pierre in Paris. He teaches him to play baseball. Pierre teaches Tom to speak some French. And they both get a bit carried away with the flowers in the Paris park where they are playing and wind up facing a policeman. The story is in English with lots of French phrases to learn in context. There is a guide to pronunciation at the back. Unpaginated. Young readers will be introduced to 60 French words. BTH-1900. Out of Print. One left. $10.95*

Goodbye USA -- Bonjour la France, Volume Two, a Language Learning Adventure by Anne E. Bovaird. Barron's 1993. Tom, from Chicago, is visiting his cousin Pierre in Paris again. Thsi time they go to the market together, where Pierre teaches Tom to count his francs adn buy food. After lunch they do some sight-seeing and that leads to another adventure as Tom suffers from a bit of culture shock.  The story is in English with lots of French phrases to learn in context. There is a guide to pronunciation at the back. Unpaginated. Young readers will be introduced to116 French words and learn to speak in sentences. BTH-1901. Out of Print. One left. $10.95*

Harry Learns French by Sue Finnie and Libby Mitchell. This introduction to French for elementary children takes them to France on vacation as Harry spends a week with  Léa and her family. They celebrate a French National Holiday on July 14 with a picnic,  do errands around the town, go to the beach, visit a farm, enjoy a costume party, and more. Much of the story is in English, with French words and phrases in bold type. Each two page spread has a different colorful scene with conversations and objects labeled as appropriate and a small fold-out phrasebook for the meanings of bold-faced words on that scene. An accompanying CD-Rom for Mac or Windows 95 and 98 shows the identical scenes that appear in the book so that children can hear the spoken French. The CD-Rom also contains four interesting games. BTH-5653. $8.96-D

Hide and Speak French by Catherine Bruzzone and Susan Martineau. French Advisor, Claudine Bharadia. This unique book helps children develop French vocabulary while having fun. Each double-page spread features a colorful scene of interest to elementary children: a farm, classroom, jungle, human body, family, colors, food, and eight more themes. Each theme contains nine key words and picture prompts, an easy guide to pronouncing the key words, simple phrases using key words, and a humorous full-color picture illustrating each theme.

 Opposite each of these pictures, on the facing page, are two columns. One contains pictures. The other has the words that go with the pictures -- in French. Students use the wipe-clean flap at the back of the book to fold over and cover either the words or pictures. If one covers the words, one tries to write the French word (or speak it) that goes with the picture. If the picture is covered, one tries to remember what the words mean and speaks them aloud. This method helps students learn 130 key French words. BTH-1895. $7.16-D

Happy Birthday! Bon Anniversaire! An I Can Read French Language Learning Story Book. Hardcover. A colorful bilingual birthday party story for children ages 3+. Includes helpful notes for teachers and parents, an attractive picture dictionary with key words, and a complete, simplified guide to  pronouncing the French. BTH-1896. $6.25-D Out of print. Supply limited to stock on hand.

Hurry Up Molly Dépêche-Tol, Molly. An I Can Read French Language Learning Story Book. Hardcover. A bedtime story for children ages 3+. Includes helpful notes for teachers and parents, an attractive picture dictionary with key words, and a complete, simplified guide to  pronouncing the French. BTH-1898. $6.25-D Out of print. Supply limited to stock on hand.

I Can Read and Speak in French: The Simple Picture Method for Kids to Learn French Immediately by Maurice Hazan. McGraw-Hill, 2005. Hardcover with CD. This French course for children ages 4-9 will have them reading, understanding and speaking sentences from the very first lesson. The course combines dramatic action, pictures, sounds, symbols and learning activities. It contains colorful illustrated stories that will introduce them to 50 words; activities to help them re-create story sentences and make new ones of their own; flash cards and stickers that make sentence and story creation fun and easy; and lively storybook narration on the audio CD (included) that provides correct pronunciation and step-by-step guidance so they can work with little or no help from adults. Unpaginated but looks to be about 50 pages. Oversize format. BTH-1988. $14.36-D

Je T'aimerai Toujours by Robert Munsch. Firefly, Ontario, 1989. Translated from the English by Robert Paquin. Illustrated by Sheila McGraw. This bestselling children's story about a mother's continuing love has been translated into many languages. It is a great Mother's Day gift, or Grandparent's Day gift. It brings tears to the eyes of mature readers, especially those caring for their own aging parents. BTH-1999. $4.46-D

Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. BTH-2000. $6.30

Learn French: An Usborne Introduction, including full-color book and 110 minute cassette. This package provides a thorough grounding in up-to-date French, going beyond the essential, everyday phrases to help learners really learn to communicate on the things that interest them. Using a cartoon strip format, the book uses an adventure story to build knowledge of French, introducing more detailed and complex grammar in a step-by-step fashion. Students will find test-yourself quizzes and puzzles throughout the book so that they can practice their skills along with solving steps in the adventure. There are plenty of learning tips, a comprehensive pronunciation guide, a systematic grammar section, and a French-English word list. For ages 11 and up. BTH-1891. $19.95* Out of Print. One left.

Learn French Together: An Activity Kit for Kids and Grown-Ups,  a Living Language Book. This kit includes an activity book which has 16 games and activities; a 60-minute cassette with French words, phrases, songs, rhymes, and more; and 40 play and learn stickers. The songs and games focus on things that one usually sees while driving. No previous knowledge of French is necessary to enjoy this tape and book. BTH-1892. $14.95* Out of print. Only one left.

Let's Learn French Coloring Book by Anne-Françoise Pattis. McGraw-Hill, 1986. This book introduces non-French-speaking children ages 3-6 to everyday French vocabulary the same way French children build vocabulary in their native tongue. Children learn eighty everyday words as they color -- names of the seasons, animals, body parts, articles of clothing, and more. The lessons are arranged in alphabetical order from l'alphabet to le zèbre. There is more than one page for some letters, but except for the last page, which is a review, there is but one noun phrase, with a picture to color, on each page lesson. A glossary provides the phonetic pronunciation for each word. BTH-1989. $4.46-D

Let's Sing and Learn in French CD Edition by Matt Maxwell. McGraw-Hill, 1983. The twelve original songs in this songbook teach basic French vocabulary and expressions in an exciting way. Students will associate new words with easy-to-remember rhythms and beats. Included are the lyrics in French with the melody line and piano accompaniment and simple chords for guitar, a 25-minute CD with chlld singers who model the proper use of the French language. At the back of the book are the English lyrics for all the songs. For children 3-6, though I've known teachers use it for older children. 83 pages. BTH-1990. $8.99-D

Play and Learn French with 60-Minute Audio CD Ana Lomba and Marcela Summerville. McGraw-Hill, 2005. This book contains over 50 fun songs, games, and everyday activities to get elementary children immersed in the French language. Key-word illustrations help children retain important words and phrases. Comic strips at the top of lesson pages help children see the words in real-world contexts. Sidebars contain interesting cultural information about everyday life in France. There are English translations for all activities and a 60-minute CD with all of the book's songs, games, and expressions. Can be used with preschool children as well as those in higher elementary grades. 59 pages. BTH-1991. $14.36-D

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