Teach Yourself Instant French

by Elisabeth Smith

Book Overview

The quickest way to learn a language just got easier. These easy courses teach only the words and phrases that really matter so learners can start speaking a new language right away and conversing... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071474102
• ISBN13: 9780071474108
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 126 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

The best French learning materials (book + CDs) out there!!!

French is the 3rd foreign language that I've learned (still learning). I have to say this book plus the accompanying CDs are the best materials out there for learning French. (I've tried a dozen to say at least.) The format of the book is well organized. The conversations and new words are those that you'll recognize on a daily basis. What I like most of this book is the "dis-emphasize" of the formal endings of the verbs and etc, and instead emphasize on the speaking of the language itself. It's a great relief for someone who's learning a new language, so that he/she would not be overwhelmed by the information overload. In this day and age, iPod is so ubiquitous. Learning a new language with iPod made it so much easier for me. I imported the whole CDs into my iPod and created playlists like "conversations" and "new words". So, I can either follow the order of the book, or just concentrate on one aspect of the learning at a time instead. Strongly recommend it to anyone who's aspired to learn this beautiful language. In the meantime, I would also suggest to take a look at "Hide this French CD" and "Play and Learn French", two totally different approaches.

Instant French- tres bon

I come from an Anglophone African country and had very little exposure to French until I started working for a bilingual international organization. The two official languages in my organization are French and English. All meetings, conferences and documentation have to be in both languages. When I started working for this organization, I needed a book that would enable me to speak and understand basic French. I often visit Francophone countries where some people hardly speak English including at the airport and in restaurants. This is where the book "Instant French" by Elisabeth Smith came handy. For instance, I had to visit Senegal during the first few weeks of my employment and so I needed something urgent to enable me to have an elementary knowledge of the language in the shortest possible time to be studied whilst also being busy preparing for my trip. I acquired a copy of the book together with the accompanying audio cassette. After spending about an hour a day studying the book and listening to the audio cassette, I acquired sufficient knowledge to order food, ask for directions, negotiate prices in the market and read road signs. I recommend the book for those who need to learn basic French in a hurry. One, however, needs to understand that this is very basic French. Mastering the contents of the book will not make one to be anywhere near being considering an expert in the language but it makes a very good beginning for those who need to have a go at studying this beautiful language.

Did the trick...

I have been learning french for around three years now and to be honest, i've hated every minute. I've been using this book for around four days now and learnt more than ever before. The truth was that I didn't want to learn how to talk about multi-coloured hamsters, I wanted to be able to go into a french conversation and be able to know what they were saying and be able to share my ideas. I'm going in for my french GCSE next year and although the book claims not to include grammar it provides the reader with varying speech perspectives allowing you to speak for yourself and for others eg. We are going now etc.I would definately approve this book and as it comes with a tape to improve pronunciation along with on-tape tests also covered in the book, you could learn french while in the car, jogging etc. I have to say, since I read this book I am tempted to buy, Instant Japanese...

Instant French (Teach Yourself)

This is excellent book for anyone who wants to learn French quickly. Although it's very basic, upon completion you should have a fairly good comprehension of French. The book is easy to understand and makes it simple for anyone to understand French, even if you have no prior knowledge to the language! At the end of the first week you'll be able recognize many basic words and it gets easier to understand as you go along. The only reason that I hesitate to give this five stars is because I think you're better off getting the version with the tape, that way you can improve your listening/speaking skills instead of just reading comprehension. But overall, vous parlerez francais parce que c'est livre est tres bon!

C'est libre est Tres BON !

I studied this book in the beg of JAN 2000. I have finished this book and all i can say is,,,ITS very good to excellent! ...after the end of the first week , you would be able to speak french..i wouldnt say in six weeks ,,more or so, I would say about 8 weeks...i devoted at least 1 hour a day to this course..sometimes 2...i have no previous knowledge in french and this book taught me to speak french after only 6 weeks..i would devote at least another week to review some words that i tend to forget...This book is excellent for a beginners course book...I am now currently studying the TEACH YOURSELF FRENCH book and audio..i would recommend this instant french book for anyone willing to learn a new language w/o the boredom of grammars nouns and tenses..