Dis-Moi! High School French Level 1 Student Editon 1993c

This book is an excellent teacher in the French language, I would reccomend it to anyone. It doesn't have any audio, but it teachers pronounciation like no other source I've seen. Yes, it is a little old, but you can buy slang books to catch up on that stuff. I personally don't see its age as a problem. In 8th grade I used this book, and once I moved up to high school, I used a brand-new book and had no trouble understanding it. I only noticed a difference in about 3 words and some differences in the Our Father, but that's it :). The book's format is very simple and comprehensive: 1. Short but thorough introduction, interesting to read. 2. 5 itty bitty chapters that prepare you for the real learning. 3. 15 Chapters: A. Short, entertaining and culturally informative, 1-page chapter introduction. B. Mots 1 (A set of vocabulary with illustrations for easy comprehension). C. Dialogue using the new vocabulary, next to the illustrations. C. Cultural foot-notes spread throughout the chapter. D. Pronounciation and small Grammar notes also spread throughout the chapter. E. A set of short and simple, but comprehensive excersizes for Mots 1. F. A section caleld Applications, with a dialogue (that gives new vocabulary), a questionnaire following the dialogue, a tiny, simple project, and lastly a pronounciation section. G. Mots 2, with a second set of vocabulary, illustrations and dialogue, pertaining to the same topic as Mots 1. All of the new vocabulary is related to Mots 1 and the chapter itself. H. Excersizes for Mots 2, though still incorporating Mots 1 vocabulary. I. A small activity and a study of words, which will make a student understand the language more (A mini-etymology lesson, basically). J. Very thoroughly explained, but set up so that it is easy to understand grammar, with grammar excercizes utilizing the vocabulary from Mots 1 and Mots 2. K. An activity L. A culturally informative and fun to read article with a questionnaire. M. More grammar with activities and excercizes. N. A revision section with a short activity following. O. A short test on the chapter. P. A list of all the newly learned vocabulary. 4. In the back, after all the chapters, is an appendix with verb charts, cardinal numbers, days of the week, months and time. 5. A French-English dictionary of all the words learned in the book, followed by an English-French dictionary of all the vocabulary learned. 6. Index. 7. A couple maps. 8. Acknowledgments 9. The end Okay, now I'll stop rambling and sum it up with the statement that this is an excellent course to learn French, though not recommended for the traveller just trying to stuff a couple phrases in their head while on the plane to France.

I am a French teacher and I have to say that this is the best textbook I have ever seen as far as material goes. Unfortunately, I would never use it because it is too outdated. I just wish that we could encourage the publishers to publish a new version!!

If one ignores the obviously dated photography, this book provides learners with facile explanations for using nouns, verbs, and tenses. The grammatical explanations are invaluable to someone with a poorer sense of more complex tenses. The vocabulary building sections expose readers to various situations and places. Great book.

As a teacher of french, I've seen many different books. I like this one because of the way the material is presented: in a clear, concise way. The pages are not overloaded with pictures and words, the exercises are on target. The grammatical explanations are to the point, complete while simple. The vocabulary is well presented with good summary at the end of each chapter. There are review pages at the end of each chapter, a verb conjugations part at the end as well as a dictionary. Although it is true that the cultural aspects might be somewhat outdated, I found it is quite difficult for textbooks to keep up with the rapidly changing cultures. It is therefore the teacher's responsibility to keep up with such changes in order to introduce them to the class. I usually use the cultural points in textbooks as introduction and go from there. All in all, I found this book well written, with a good progression in material.

I'm sorry, but this book was excellent. It may have a few outdated things like East and West Germany, but it is a great book. The way it teaches is very good and I learned a lot. So quit complaining. Au revoir!