French in Action: A Beginning Course in Language and Culture, Second Edition: Textbook, Part 2

by Pierre J. Capretz

Since it was first published, French in Action: A Beginning Course in Language and Culture -- The Capretz Method has been widely recognized in the field as a model for video-based foreign-language... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300072678
• ISBN13: 9780300072679
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 378 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.8" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

C'est vraiment excellent! BEST language book!

Used in combination with the audio materials, this course promises so much more than the usual (colors, numbers, basic greetings, etc.), and places a strong emphasis on pronunciation and idioms. You finish with a useful knowledge of French--the kind people actually speak. Comprehension is difficult at first because the speakers talk at a normal pace without overemphasizing the words, but it is this technique that leaves one able to know what people are saying without having them slow down. As for the method of delivery--it's fun! The textbook follows a narrative structure, specifically a story about Robert, an American student in France, and Mireille, a young and witty student at the famed Sorbonne in Paris. There is love, mystery, and lots of important cultural information on the way, as well as an underlying humor that made our class laugh quite often. I recommend it highly for use in a class, and if you are willing to dish out the cash, for independent study as well. It has everything you need to gain a firm grounding in French language, culture, and idioms. You can buy the textbook with both parts together or separately, but either way, you will want to know what happens with the story, so be ready to order both parts, one way or another.

Le cours de langues français le plus complet

"French in Action" is a complete, college-level language course intended for students who have aspirations of fluency. The course consists of five components: video tapes (or DVDs), audio tapes (or CDs), textbook, workbook and study guide. All the components work together and are necessary for the course to be effective. The course utilizes an immersion method, meaning that after the first couple of lessons, everything except the study guide is in French. In spite of its high profile and ready access on public television, I don't think it's a good course for beginners. It moves quickly and would probably be best for someone with previous study in the language. The course would be nearly ideal for a college-level student with at least a year of high school French under their belt. It's a full meal. There are 52 lessons divided into two, 26 lesson parts. Each part can be purchased separately, but any way you slice it, the entire course is a considerable investment in both time and money. Working about an hour per day, it's paced to be handled at the rate of about a lesson a week. At full speed, you might be able to finish it in a year. Because most of the lessons involve some kind of conversational practice, the course is best taken with a partner or the help of a tutor. Self-study students might be tempted to eliminate the conversational and writing exercises, but doing so would be a mistake. Those exercises constitute at least half of the value of the course. One of the real strengths of "French in Action' is that it puts an emphasis on the French language the way the French actually speak it, which is quite a bit different from the way American phrase books tend to teach it. Right from the start, you're listening to the language at full speed in all its idiomatic glory. If you're anything like me, you'll have the sense of always struggling to catch up. But, I like the fact that the early emphasis is on listening and getting a sense of the rhythm of the language. Younger students will probably like the fact that after the first several lessons, they will have learned at least a dozen ways to insult their friends. One of the weaknesses of the course is that the audio tapes really need to be used along with the workbook. Hence, it's difficult (though not impossible) to use them in the car during long commutes. Don't expect a standard presentation, because the material isn't handled anything like standard French textbooks. Tenses, for example, are introduced so matter-of-factly that the very first words you utter are in the future tense. And there is no emphasis at all on word-for-word translation. In fact, quite often you're listening to idiomatic phrases in which the individual words when analyzed don't make much sense, but the meaning of the entire phrase when spoken in context is perfectly clear. "French in Action" is a real grown-up language course for students with mature study skills and sufficient interest to get

A wonderful complete immersion in French when used properly

This video-audio-workbook course is incredible! I took three semesters of college level French many decades ago in a wonderful native speaker tutorial and found on my infrequent trips to France or Quebec that over the years, my quasi-fluency had faded away. I took an adult education program with a competant native speaker recently and found the traditional high school textbook, CD, testing regime inadequate. In all likelihood, Noelle. the High School student from Atlanta who did not like the book, probably was denied the whole package. In fact, the text relies on the PBS TV video or the free broadband video version (...)-AND the 52 Casette Tapes or CD's and workbooks I and II. In order of importance, I would rate the Audio or CD and workbooks I and II above the text and video. Granted, it is an expensive package (...)but it also the closest thing to an immersion program this side of the Atlantic. So, Yale University Press overcharges. But all textbooks are out of line. This package is a bargain amongst bargains. Incidentally, the two Study Guides do very little and may be skipped altogether. However, the rest of the package MUST BE USED TOGETHER as a whole. Capretz, recently retired from Yale, is a rare master teacher and this program precludes the need of an intermediate teacher.

The best french course out there

If you are learning French, don't hesitate, do this course. This will teach you more about the French language and about France than any other course out there. The TV episodes can be viewed direct from the learner website.