Product Description

Go from being feckless to flawless at French in only 24 hours. So you're leaving for France in a few days and you don't speak a word of the language? What will you do if you get lost in Paris and have to ask for directions? Or your rental car acts up and you need a mechanic? Or your flight from Nice is delayed and you want to reschedule? Believe it or not, it isn't too late! With "Countdown to French", in just 24 hours you'll learn to speak like a native in all sorts of everyday situations. This unique and efficient countdown self-instruction is organized into 24 units, each designed to take no more than one hour to study.Beginning with an introduction to basic pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, the units move quickly to practical conversational skills for both vacation and business travelers. By the time you count down to 00:00 hours, you'll know how to: sound like a native, from syllable stress to nasal vowels; recognize and properly use nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; ask and answer any type of question, in person or on the phone; get help anywhere, from the auto shop to the post office to the dry cleaner's; cope with travel needs at the airport, hotel, or train station; and, conduct business effectively. Neither a daunting textbook nor a flimsy phrase book, this unique language system combines grammar and vocabulary instruction into manageable, highly effective 60-minute lessons. Once you've completed the lessons, you'll be ready try out your newly honed skills on the beaches of the Cote d'Azur. You'll be amazed at what a difference a day makes!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #422038 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Original language: English, French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From the Back Cover

Go from being feckless to flawless at French in only 24 hours

So you're leaving for France in a few days and you don't speak a word of the language? What will you do if you get lost in Paris and have to ask for directions? Or your rental car acts up and you need a mechanic? Or your flight from Nice is delayed and you want to reschedule? Believe it or not, it isn't too late! With Countdown to French, in just 24 hours you'll learn to speak like a native in all sorts of everyday situations.

This unique and efficient countdown self-instruction is organized into 24 units, each designed to take no more than one hour to study. Beginning with an introduction to basic pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, the units move quickly to practical conversational skills for both vacation and business travelers. By the time you count down to 00:00 hours, you'll know how to:

• Sound like a native, from syllable stress to nasal vowels
• Recognize and properly use nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
• Ask and answer any type of question, in person or on the phone
• Get help anywhere, from the auto shop to the post office to the dry cleaner's
• Cope with travel needs at the airport, hotel, or train station
• Conduct business effectively

Neither a daunting textbook nor a flimsy phrase book, this unique language system combines grammar and vocabulary instruction into manageable, highly effective 60-minute lessons. Once you've completed the lessons, you'll be ready try out your newly honed skills on the beaches of the Cote d'Azur. You'll be amazed at what a difference a day makes!

About the Author

Gail Stein is a dedicated language instructor who has taught in New York City public schools for more than 30 years. She has written numerous books on language self-instruction.

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction to French, which clearly teaches the essentials...
I bought this book when browsing through a copy at a bookstore, even though I am not a beginner at French. as the explanations of grammar were among the most user-friendly I had encountered.

Whilst I would perhaps go so far as to say that the book is worth buying solely for its ability to teach grammar in a mercifully simple way, the rest of this book teaches almost everything you could want to learn in a rather concise manner.

That being said, it should be common sense to many people that you cannot learn to communicate in just 24 hours of study (24 units taking 1 hour each, in theory). Whilst you can cover each unit in 1 hour, the memorisation of essential vocabulary and grammatical variations (ie future tense and past tense endings) will take much longer. The understanding can be achieved, but communication will take work.

However, don't let the above point put you off - this is still an outstanding introduction to French, and helps explain points that even advanced users will find helpful. If you want to learn the basics in a short space of time, this is simply invaluable.

I only hope that they could produce these '24 hour' books for other languages - highly recommended.