| French
Language Books If you are looking
for books to teach yourself French from scratch, please
bear in mind that it is extremely difficult to achieve
this without a teacher. We would strongly recommend
you take at least a few lessons to get you started,
if not with us then at evening school or wherever suits
you best. We have heard so many stories of people who
tried to learn a language just from books and tapes
but soon gave up in frustration. A few lessons at the
beginning sets you on the right path. Once you have
grasped how the language works and how it sounds, you
can learn more and more by yourself.
If you live in or
near Manchester, you could start a one-to-one French
course with us tomorrow (or whenever you like). Click
here
to read about our flexible, customised courses.
These books, then, are recommended
as additional resources to accompany a course of lessons
and/or for more advanced study. |
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Beginner's French (Teach Yourself Languages)
by Catrine Carpenter
A good course to help you start
speaking and communicating.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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Beginner's
French (Teach Yourself Languages) (Audio CD)
by Catrine Carpenter The audio for the course.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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French
(Teach Yourself Languages)
by Gaelle Graham This one also starts from
the beginning. Up-to-date and comprehensive.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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French
(Teach Yourself Languages) (Audio CD)
by Gaelle Graham And the audio for this course.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Teach
Yourself Improve Your French (Book + CD Pack)
by Jean-Claude Arragon A good second-level
course.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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French
Grammar and Usage
by Roger Hawkins and Richard Towell
An excellent reference book for intermediate students.
Clear explanations and examples.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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Practising
French Grammar
by Roger Hawkins, Marie-Noelle Lamy and Richard Towell
A useful workbook to accompany French Grammar
and Usage.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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Harrap's
French Grammar Revision: Mille Et Un Points
by Neil Creighton A fantastic
little book that tells you, very concisely, everything
you need to know about French grammar. It's not designed
as a course in itself, just as a dip-in reference, but
it is amazingly useful.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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501
French Verbs
by Christopher Kendris Handy conjugations clearly
laid out.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Bescherelle
Complete Guide to Conjugating 12000 French Verbs (English
Edition)
An even more comprehensive book of conjugations.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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French
Verb Drills
by Richard de Roussy de Sales Sometimes
you just have to go over and over something until it
sticks… Handy to have a book to guide you through
this.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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La
Grammaire en Clair
by Paul Rogers and Jeremy Long An
excellent grammar book with lots of exercises (and the
answers at the back), illustrated with cartoons.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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101
French Idioms
by Jean-Marie Cassagne and Lucques Nesset- Raidon (Illustrator)
A very entertaining way to expand and improve
your French.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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101
French Proverbs
by Jean-Marie Cassagne and Lucques Nesset- Raidon (Illustrator)
Similar to the Idioms; another great book.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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Easy
French Crossword Puzzles
by Richard de Roussy de Sales Learn and practise
while having fun.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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It is very useful, when learning
any language, to read as much as possible in that language.
In my view, the most satisfactory way of doing this
is to read books adapted for students of the language,
the graded readers. We can enjoy the stories without
having to spend too much time looking up words in the
dictionary and we absorb vocabulary, phrases and structures
as we go along. I have learnt a great deal from easy-reading
books and highly recommend them as a learning tool,
as well as an interesting pastime.
The following one is a good example
and you can browse the others that are available on
Amazon by clicking here.
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Georgie, Director of JMJ Manchester |
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Easy
French Reader: A Three-part Text for Beginning Students
by Richard de Roussy de Sales Useful for learning
a bit of French history as well as the language.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Collins
Easy Learning French Grammar The key points
of French grammar explained simply, with lots of examples.
Very user-friendly.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Collins
Easy Learning French Dictionary A good, clear
reference dictionary that facilitates your learning
the vocabulary you need.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Collins
Robert French Dictionary An excellent, comprehensive,
up-to-date dictionary.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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French
Dictionary (Collins GEM) It is always useful
to have a pocket-sized dictionary.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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| Interested
in reading more about France?
Check out our books about and set in France.
Total beginner?
Have a look at our introduction
to the French language.
Back to Recommended Reading
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