Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

ALLO ALLO, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY AS I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE, 01 Apr 2007
Bonjour a tous
No worries,You will not sound like Mr Rene if you decide to learn French with this great course.

Yes, "Facon de parler" is a great french textbook and will definitely give you a decent knowledge of French by the time you ve reach its last page. The course comes in 2 volumes.. bringing up from level zero up a decent GCSE level at the end.It comes with CDs and self study guide..i would definitely recomment that you get the whole package, specially if you re learning French on your own free time.

what to expect along the way ?
a clearly structured approach of the terryfing french gramnmar... (serious.. it does make it easy to understand)
Loads of words that can be used in everyday colloquial French giving you a knowledge of French that will be accurate and will sound close to what you will hear in the streets, when people are talking among themselves.

If you want to grab a decent knowledge of french without having that dreadful feeling of struggling for nothing over endless lists of verbs or God knows what kind of grammatical nightmares.. go for it .
buy the book and what comes with it and have a great time..
If you do have the chance, also, tune your radio on some french stations (france Inter, Europe 1, RTL )are all availables on LW, and even if you don t understand what is being said, this will Tremendously help you to grasp the specific french pronunciation.
But remember, la pratique aide a la perfection . practice makes perfect.

La langue francaise n est pas si difficile que cela..and that book REALLY does make the learning task easy and pleasant.

Amicales salutations a tous
et bonnes etudes

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

ALLO ALLO, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY AS I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE, 01 Apr 2007
Bonjour a tous
No worries,You will not sound like Mr Rene if you decide to learn French with this great course.

Yes, "Facon de parler" is a great french textbook and will definitely give you a decent knowledge of French by the time you ve reach its last page. The course comes in 2 volumes.. bringing up from level zero up a decent GCSE level at the end.It comes with CDs and self study guide..i would definitely recomment that you get the whole package, specially if you re learning French on your own free time.

what to expect along the way ?
a clearly structured approach of the terryfing french gramnmar... (serious.. it does make it easy to understand)
Loads of words that can be used in everyday colloquial French giving you a knowledge of French that will be accurate and will sound close to what you will hear in the streets, when people are talking among themselves.

If you want to grab a decent knowledge of french without having that dreadful feeling of struggling for nothing over endless lists of verbs or God knows what kind of grammatical nightmares.. go for it .
buy the book and what comes with it and have a great time..
If you do have the chance, also, tune your radio on some french stations (france Inter, Europe 1, RTL )are all availables on LW, and even if you don t understand what is being said, this will Tremendously help you to grasp the specific french pronunciation.
But remember, la pratique aide a la perfection . practice makes perfect.

La langue francaise n est pas si difficile que cela..and that book REALLY does make the learning task easy and pleasant.

Amicales salutations a tous
et bonnes etudes


serious business, 05 Oct 2008
this is huge big heavy dictionary with everything you need! in this case size matters for those who study languages, a smaller dictionary or a conscise version is insufficient. you will be pleased with what this dictinary offers and there is also a cd inside to aid you. it's the real deal.

Best dictionary you can get!, 13 Nov 2005
This is by far the best english-french dictionary you wil find. You will never want to replace it. Highly recommended!

A Typeface to Enjoy, 05 Nov 2001
Oxford have topped the French-English dictionary charts with this latest offering. At last, a publisher has given some thought to we ageing profs who have to use bi-lingual dictionaries in our work. The font of the typeface is actually readable. It must be a first.

Another great idea is a grey printed tab for each letter of the alphabet which acts as a fast way into the dictionary without cretaing a tear-point like the old cut-out thumb indices. An interesting by-product is that at a glance you can see which letter of the alphabet is the most common first letter for French words.

What else do I like? Ah, yes the panel inserts with greater background info on modal auxiliaries, meaurement, time etc.

What haven't they done? Still no translation into English of what the verb parts mean in the beautifully clear verb tables at the back. Then again I don't know a grammar book or a dictionary that has realised how useful this would be to learners. When will a publisher think of this? que il eut ete aime

Five out of five for Oxford Hachette.

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

ALLO ALLO, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY AS I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE, 01 Apr 2007
Bonjour a tous
No worries,You will not sound like Mr Rene if you decide to learn French with this great course.

Yes, "Facon de parler" is a great french textbook and will definitely give you a decent knowledge of French by the time you ve reach its last page. The course comes in 2 volumes.. bringing up from level zero up a decent GCSE level at the end.It comes with CDs and self study guide..i would definitely recomment that you get the whole package, specially if you re learning French on your own free time.

what to expect along the way ?
a clearly structured approach of the terryfing french gramnmar... (serious.. it does make it easy to understand)
Loads of words that can be used in everyday colloquial French giving you a knowledge of French that will be accurate and will sound close to what you will hear in the streets, when people are talking among themselves.

If you want to grab a decent knowledge of french without having that dreadful feeling of struggling for nothing over endless lists of verbs or God knows what kind of grammatical nightmares.. go for it .
buy the book and what comes with it and have a great time..
If you do have the chance, also, tune your radio on some french stations (france Inter, Europe 1, RTL )are all availables on LW, and even if you don t understand what is being said, this will Tremendously help you to grasp the specific french pronunciation.
But remember, la pratique aide a la perfection . practice makes perfect.

La langue francaise n est pas si difficile que cela..and that book REALLY does make the learning task easy and pleasant.

Amicales salutations a tous
et bonnes etudes


serious business, 05 Oct 2008
this is huge big heavy dictionary with everything you need! in this case size matters for those who study languages, a smaller dictionary or a conscise version is insufficient. you will be pleased with what this dictinary offers and there is also a cd inside to aid you. it's the real deal.

Best dictionary you can get!, 13 Nov 2005
This is by far the best english-french dictionary you wil find. You will never want to replace it. Highly recommended!

A Typeface to Enjoy, 05 Nov 2001
Oxford have topped the French-English dictionary charts with this latest offering. At last, a publisher has given some thought to we ageing profs who have to use bi-lingual dictionaries in our work. The font of the typeface is actually readable. It must be a first.

Another great idea is a grey printed tab for each letter of the alphabet which acts as a fast way into the dictionary without cretaing a tear-point like the old cut-out thumb indices. An interesting by-product is that at a glance you can see which letter of the alphabet is the most common first letter for French words.

What else do I like? Ah, yes the panel inserts with greater background info on modal auxiliaries, meaurement, time etc.

What haven't they done? Still no translation into English of what the verb parts mean in the beautifully clear verb tables at the back. Then again I don't know a grammar book or a dictionary that has realised how useful this would be to learners. When will a publisher think of this? que il eut ete aime

Five out of five for Oxford Hachette.

Helpful for beginners, 18 Nov 2006
I found this pack useful for the beginning of a french course. You can't listen to the CDs in the car though, you need to have the book in front of you, which I found frustrating. I wanted to listen on the way to work, so ended up getting free Podcasts to listen to - they were better than the CDs in this pack. Having said that, the book guides you through lots of different sections, such as food and travel, and the CDs have exercises on each section. In the book, there are transcripts of the CD interviews as well as paper based exercises and additional info like background details of France - although there are not many of these. The most useful thing I found about this course was the boxes in each section of the book called 'Info Langue' and 'Mot a Mot' and the verb info. I am now 3 months into leanring French and I need a more detailed book than this but it has defeinately really helped me.

Not very useful for complete beginners, 29 Mar 2006
I was attracted to buy this pack because of the excellent Spanish language pack (SUENOS) published by the BBC. To my disappointment, I find the French Experience pack not very useful for beginners! It doesn't explain much about the sentences and use of phrases. It is also hard to follow the audio tracks. The Spanish pack contains many interesting facts about the Spanish-speaking world but this is not the case in the French Experience pack.

OK but not as main study material, 13 Mar 2006
I have been studying French now for around six months and originally bought this to suplement the 1 hour a week French Class. I don't find it that great as a course in french. Basically it does not go into the language in enough depth, its OK as background and a supplement but you very quickly need verb tables and a broader text book if you are serious about the language. The CDs are useful as they are recorded interviews with French people so provide useful listening opportunities.

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

ALLO ALLO, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY AS I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE, 01 Apr 2007
Bonjour a tous
No worries,You will not sound like Mr Rene if you decide to learn French with this great course.

Yes, "Facon de parler" is a great french textbook and will definitely give you a decent knowledge of French by the time you ve reach its last page. The course comes in 2 volumes.. bringing up from level zero up a decent GCSE level at the end.It comes with CDs and self study guide..i would definitely recomment that you get the whole package, specially if you re learning French on your own free time.

what to expect along the way ?
a clearly structured approach of the terryfing french gramnmar... (serious.. it does make it easy to understand)
Loads of words that can be used in everyday colloquial French giving you a knowledge of French that will be accurate and will sound close to what you will hear in the streets, when people are talking among themselves.

If you want to grab a decent knowledge of french without having that dreadful feeling of struggling for nothing over endless lists of verbs or God knows what kind of grammatical nightmares.. go for it .
buy the book and what comes with it and have a great time..
If you do have the chance, also, tune your radio on some french stations (france Inter, Europe 1, RTL )are all availables on LW, and even if you don t understand what is being said, this will Tremendously help you to grasp the specific french pronunciation.
But remember, la pratique aide a la perfection . practice makes perfect.

La langue francaise n est pas si difficile que cela..and that book REALLY does make the learning task easy and pleasant.

Amicales salutations a tous
et bonnes etudes


serious business, 05 Oct 2008
this is huge big heavy dictionary with everything you need! in this case size matters for those who study languages, a smaller dictionary or a conscise version is insufficient. you will be pleased with what this dictinary offers and there is also a cd inside to aid you. it's the real deal.

Best dictionary you can get!, 13 Nov 2005
This is by far the best english-french dictionary you wil find. You will never want to replace it. Highly recommended!

A Typeface to Enjoy, 05 Nov 2001
Oxford have topped the French-English dictionary charts with this latest offering. At last, a publisher has given some thought to we ageing profs who have to use bi-lingual dictionaries in our work. The font of the typeface is actually readable. It must be a first.

Another great idea is a grey printed tab for each letter of the alphabet which acts as a fast way into the dictionary without cretaing a tear-point like the old cut-out thumb indices. An interesting by-product is that at a glance you can see which letter of the alphabet is the most common first letter for French words.

What else do I like? Ah, yes the panel inserts with greater background info on modal auxiliaries, meaurement, time etc.

What haven't they done? Still no translation into English of what the verb parts mean in the beautifully clear verb tables at the back. Then again I don't know a grammar book or a dictionary that has realised how useful this would be to learners. When will a publisher think of this? que il eut ete aime

Five out of five for Oxford Hachette.

Helpful for beginners, 18 Nov 2006
I found this pack useful for the beginning of a french course. You can't listen to the CDs in the car though, you need to have the book in front of you, which I found frustrating. I wanted to listen on the way to work, so ended up getting free Podcasts to listen to - they were better than the CDs in this pack. Having said that, the book guides you through lots of different sections, such as food and travel, and the CDs have exercises on each section. In the book, there are transcripts of the CD interviews as well as paper based exercises and additional info like background details of France - although there are not many of these. The most useful thing I found about this course was the boxes in each section of the book called 'Info Langue' and 'Mot a Mot' and the verb info. I am now 3 months into leanring French and I need a more detailed book than this but it has defeinately really helped me.

Not very useful for complete beginners, 29 Mar 2006
I was attracted to buy this pack because of the excellent Spanish language pack (SUENOS) published by the BBC. To my disappointment, I find the French Experience pack not very useful for beginners! It doesn't explain much about the sentences and use of phrases. It is also hard to follow the audio tracks. The Spanish pack contains many interesting facts about the Spanish-speaking world but this is not the case in the French Experience pack.

OK but not as main study material, 13 Mar 2006
I have been studying French now for around six months and originally bought this to suplement the 1 hour a week French Class. I don't find it that great as a course in french. Basically it does not go into the language in enough depth, its OK as background and a supplement but you very quickly need verb tables and a broader text book if you are serious about the language. The CDs are useful as they are recorded interviews with French people so provide useful listening opportunities.

it's okay, 31 Jul 2005
I've just started course 1 and I found the excercise book to be very similar to the excercises you get in a main book. I think I could get by without it, but it's allright if you have a few quid to spare.

Great for Post GCSE refresher, 18 Jan 2004
Read this at uni as part of a post gcse course. Its ok, and easy to use I found, without any help from the lecturer (as i didnt often go to the lectures at uni).

Recommend to use if you are just going on holiday and want to brush up your skills, or even before starting an A-Level in French,

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

ALLO ALLO, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY AS I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE, 01 Apr 2007
Bonjour a tous
No worries,You will not sound like Mr Rene if you decide to learn French with this great course.

Yes, "Facon de parler" is a great french textbook and will definitely give you a decent knowledge of French by the time you ve reach its last page. The course comes in 2 volumes.. bringing up from level zero up a decent GCSE level at the end.It comes with CDs and self study guide..i would definitely recomment that you get the whole package, specially if you re learning French on your own free time.

what to expect along the way ?
a clearly structured approach of the terryfing french gramnmar... (serious.. it does make it easy to understand)
Loads of words that can be used in everyday colloquial French giving you a knowledge of French that will be accurate and will sound close to what you will hear in the streets, when people are talking among themselves.

If you want to grab a decent knowledge of french without having that dreadful feeling of struggling for nothing over endless lists of verbs or God knows what kind of grammatical nightmares.. go for it .
buy the book and what comes with it and have a great time..
If you do have the chance, also, tune your radio on some french stations (france Inter, Europe 1, RTL )are all availables on LW, and even if you don t understand what is being said, this will Tremendously help you to grasp the specific french pronunciation.
But remember, la pratique aide a la perfection . practice makes perfect.

La langue francaise n est pas si difficile que cela..and that book REALLY does make the learning task easy and pleasant.

Amicales salutations a tous
et bonnes etudes


serious business, 05 Oct 2008
this is huge big heavy dictionary with everything you need! in this case size matters for those who study languages, a smaller dictionary or a conscise version is insufficient. you will be pleased with what this dictinary offers and there is also a cd inside to aid you. it's the real deal.

Best dictionary you can get!, 13 Nov 2005
This is by far the best english-french dictionary you wil find. You will never want to replace it. Highly recommended!

A Typeface to Enjoy, 05 Nov 2001
Oxford have topped the French-English dictionary charts with this latest offering. At last, a publisher has given some thought to we ageing profs who have to use bi-lingual dictionaries in our work. The font of the typeface is actually readable. It must be a first.

Another great idea is a grey printed tab for each letter of the alphabet which acts as a fast way into the dictionary without cretaing a tear-point like the old cut-out thumb indices. An interesting by-product is that at a glance you can see which letter of the alphabet is the most common first letter for French words.

What else do I like? Ah, yes the panel inserts with greater background info on modal auxiliaries, meaurement, time etc.

What haven't they done? Still no translation into English of what the verb parts mean in the beautifully clear verb tables at the back. Then again I don't know a grammar book or a dictionary that has realised how useful this would be to learners. When will a publisher think of this? que il eut ete aime

Five out of five for Oxford Hachette.

Helpful for beginners, 18 Nov 2006
I found this pack useful for the beginning of a french course. You can't listen to the CDs in the car though, you need to have the book in front of you, which I found frustrating. I wanted to listen on the way to work, so ended up getting free Podcasts to listen to - they were better than the CDs in this pack. Having said that, the book guides you through lots of different sections, such as food and travel, and the CDs have exercises on each section. In the book, there are transcripts of the CD interviews as well as paper based exercises and additional info like background details of France - although there are not many of these. The most useful thing I found about this course was the boxes in each section of the book called 'Info Langue' and 'Mot a Mot' and the verb info. I am now 3 months into leanring French and I need a more detailed book than this but it has defeinately really helped me.

Not very useful for complete beginners, 29 Mar 2006
I was attracted to buy this pack because of the excellent Spanish language pack (SUENOS) published by the BBC. To my disappointment, I find the French Experience pack not very useful for beginners! It doesn't explain much about the sentences and use of phrases. It is also hard to follow the audio tracks. The Spanish pack contains many interesting facts about the Spanish-speaking world but this is not the case in the French Experience pack.

OK but not as main study material, 13 Mar 2006
I have been studying French now for around six months and originally bought this to suplement the 1 hour a week French Class. I don't find it that great as a course in french. Basically it does not go into the language in enough depth, its OK as background and a supplement but you very quickly need verb tables and a broader text book if you are serious about the language. The CDs are useful as they are recorded interviews with French people so provide useful listening opportunities.

it's okay, 31 Jul 2005
I've just started course 1 and I found the excercise book to be very similar to the excercises you get in a main book. I think I could get by without it, but it's allright if you have a few quid to spare.

Great for Post GCSE refresher, 18 Jan 2004
Read this at uni as part of a post gcse course. Its ok, and easy to use I found, without any help from the lecturer (as i didnt often go to the lectures at uni).

Recommend to use if you are just going on holiday and want to brush up your skills, or even before starting an A-Level in French,

Essential, though dull, 18 Jul 2008
OK, so it is impossible to make a book like this interesting - at least for me. However, I have had this book for about six months, and I still find it's the first book I reach for when I get stuck. 82 verbs are given a whole page, with 16 tenses written out in full - which is plenty. Although the cover says that there are 12,000 verbs, only the 82 verbs are explained in detail, though these are the ones you'll want most frequently. After that you are referred to one conjugated in the same way as the one you are interested in. At first this niggled because I like to see the word on the page, but then the book would be huge if every single verb was written out. Please not that you need to know the French word you are looking for as this isn't a dictionary too, and although the French verb is translated, there isn't a translation the other way. If you want to know what to climb is, you need to look it up in a dictionary first, then look up the word. Also where there is a reflexive and non reflexive form, you may not get both. You'll need a teacher or some form of course as well as this book because where, for example, you get 'je suis monté' (I came up) and 'je les ai monté' (I brought them up), you aren't given both versions, and in fact in this case you are referred to AIMER anyway. I hope I haven't put you off with these little niggles. I do think this is a really excellent book, and as I am learning from Michel Thomas tapes rather than from a teacher (see Michel Thomas Foundation Course: French (Michel Thomas Series)), I found this book brilliant when it came to extending my knowledge or filling in the gaps. You'll also want a good dictionary. I can't recommend Collins Robert French Dictionary: French-English/English-French enough. Though expensive, it's got lots of useful phrases etc and if you are serious about learning French it is a must.

Les mots justes, 11 Jun 2008
Showing all the verb forms, and a guide to identifying which verbs fall within which form, this is a comprehensive reference book for conjugations.

You have to know the verb you're looking to conjugate,and you have to know the subtleties of use of the various tenses, so this book is mainly useful for the competent French speaker.

For someone making the transition from hoping to be understood to making an impression with your French, it is invaluable and endlessly useful.

Invaluable companion for good written French, 11 Jun 2008
Showing all the verb forms, and a guide to identifying which verbs fall withing which form, this is a comprehensive reference book for conjugations.

You have to know the verb you're looking to conjugate,and you have to know the subtleties of use of the various tenses, so this book is mainly useful for the competent French speaker.

For someone making the transition from hoping to be understood to making an impression with your French, it is invaluable and endlessly useful.

Good book but text is too small, 12 Nov 2007
The book is good BUT, if you have less than perfect eye-sight the book is hard work. The text is very small and a real strain on the eyes.

Biggest help ever!, 15 Jun 2006
I love this book, I've been struggling with conjugation in french for what feels like years. I recently realised that this was my biggest problem at school, because at the time, I really didn't understand why I wasn't getting it.

When you first open the book, it can be confusing for the beginner (I've been trying to learn french on and off for quite some time but I still consider myself a beginner). However, going through it initially page by page, it becomes really simple. The instructions are all in there for the different tables and this guides you in how to use the book. There is also a helpful french to english index section at the back of the book, though not comprehensive.

I cannot recommend this highly enough, it's just perfect to use in conjunction with whatever form of lessons you are taking (tutor, audio etc). In respect of this, you will find it useful for constant reference in finding the right forms for your sentences. Using this book has given me a clearer understanding of French grammer which is all important when learning another language.

Another note, is that the book is small and light enough to carry with you everywhere, not pocket small, but still a great size.

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

ALLO ALLO, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY AS I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE, 01 Apr 2007
Bonjour a tous
No worries,You will not sound like Mr Rene if you decide to learn French with this great course.

Yes, "Facon de parler" is a great french textbook and will definitely give you a decent knowledge of French by the time you ve reach its last page. The course comes in 2 volumes.. bringing up from level zero up a decent GCSE level at the end.It comes with CDs and self study guide..i would definitely recomment that you get the whole package, specially if you re learning French on your own free time.

what to expect along the way ?
a clearly structured approach of the terryfing french gramnmar... (serious.. it does make it easy to understand)
Loads of words that can be used in everyday colloquial French giving you a knowledge of French that will be accurate and will sound close to what you will hear in the streets, when people are talking among themselves.

If you want to grab a decent knowledge of french without having that dreadful feeling of struggling for nothing over endless lists of verbs or God knows what kind of grammatical nightmares.. go for it .
buy the book and what comes with it and have a great time..
If you do have the chance, also, tune your radio on some french stations (france Inter, Europe 1, RTL )are all availables on LW, and even if you don t understand what is being said, this will Tremendously help you to grasp the specific french pronunciation.
But remember, la pratique aide a la perfection . practice makes perfect.

La langue francaise n est pas si difficile que cela..and that book REALLY does make the learning task easy and pleasant.

Amicales salutations a tous
et bonnes etudes


serious business, 05 Oct 2008
this is huge big heavy dictionary with everything you need! in this case size matters for those who study languages, a smaller dictionary or a conscise version is insufficient. you will be pleased with what this dictinary offers and there is also a cd inside to aid you. it's the real deal.

Best dictionary you can get!, 13 Nov 2005
This is by far the best english-french dictionary you wil find. You will never want to replace it. Highly recommended!

A Typeface to Enjoy, 05 Nov 2001
Oxford have topped the French-English dictionary charts with this latest offering. At last, a publisher has given some thought to we ageing profs who have to use bi-lingual dictionaries in our work. The font of the typeface is actually readable. It must be a first.

Another great idea is a grey printed tab for each letter of the alphabet which acts as a fast way into the dictionary without cretaing a tear-point like the old cut-out thumb indices. An interesting by-product is that at a glance you can see which letter of the alphabet is the most common first letter for French words.

What else do I like? Ah, yes the panel inserts with greater background info on modal auxiliaries, meaurement, time etc.

What haven't they done? Still no translation into English of what the verb parts mean in the beautifully clear verb tables at the back. Then again I don't know a grammar book or a dictionary that has realised how useful this would be to learners. When will a publisher think of this? que il eut ete aime

Five out of five for Oxford Hachette.

Helpful for beginners, 18 Nov 2006
I found this pack useful for the beginning of a french course. You can't listen to the CDs in the car though, you need to have the book in front of you, which I found frustrating. I wanted to listen on the way to work, so ended up getting free Podcasts to listen to - they were better than the CDs in this pack. Having said that, the book guides you through lots of different sections, such as food and travel, and the CDs have exercises on each section. In the book, there are transcripts of the CD interviews as well as paper based exercises and additional info like background details of France - although there are not many of these. The most useful thing I found about this course was the boxes in each section of the book called 'Info Langue' and 'Mot a Mot' and the verb info. I am now 3 months into leanring French and I need a more detailed book than this but it has defeinately really helped me.

Not very useful for complete beginners, 29 Mar 2006
I was attracted to buy this pack because of the excellent Spanish language pack (SUENOS) published by the BBC. To my disappointment, I find the French Experience pack not very useful for beginners! It doesn't explain much about the sentences and use of phrases. It is also hard to follow the audio tracks. The Spanish pack contains many interesting facts about the Spanish-speaking world but this is not the case in the French Experience pack.

OK but not as main study material, 13 Mar 2006
I have been studying French now for around six months and originally bought this to suplement the 1 hour a week French Class. I don't find it that great as a course in french. Basically it does not go into the language in enough depth, its OK as background and a supplement but you very quickly need verb tables and a broader text book if you are serious about the language. The CDs are useful as they are recorded interviews with French people so provide useful listening opportunities.

it's okay, 31 Jul 2005
I've just started course 1 and I found the excercise book to be very similar to the excercises you get in a main book. I think I could get by without it, but it's allright if you have a few quid to spare.

Great for Post GCSE refresher, 18 Jan 2004
Read this at uni as part of a post gcse course. Its ok, and easy to use I found, without any help from the lecturer (as i didnt often go to the lectures at uni).

Recommend to use if you are just going on holiday and want to brush up your skills, or even before starting an A-Level in French,

Essential, though dull, 18 Jul 2008
OK, so it is impossible to make a book like this interesting - at least for me. However, I have had this book for about six months, and I still find it's the first book I reach for when I get stuck. 82 verbs are given a whole page, with 16 tenses written out in full - which is plenty. Although the cover says that there are 12,000 verbs, only the 82 verbs are explained in detail, though these are the ones you'll want most frequently. After that you are referred to one conjugated in the same way as the one you are interested in. At first this niggled because I like to see the word on the page, but then the book would be huge if every single verb was written out. Please not that you need to know the French word you are looking for as this isn't a dictionary too, and although the French verb is translated, there isn't a translation the other way. If you want to know what to climb is, you need to look it up in a dictionary first, then look up the word. Also where there is a reflexive and non reflexive form, you may not get both. You'll need a teacher or some form of course as well as this book because where, for example, you get 'je suis monté' (I came up) and 'je les ai monté' (I brought them up), you aren't given both versions, and in fact in this case you are referred to AIMER anyway. I hope I haven't put you off with these little niggles. I do think this is a really excellent book, and as I am learning from Michel Thomas tapes rather than from a teacher (see Michel Thomas Foundation Course: French (Michel Thomas Series)), I found this book brilliant when it came to extending my knowledge or filling in the gaps. You'll also want a good dictionary. I can't recommend Collins Robert French Dictionary: French-English/English-French enough. Though expensive, it's got lots of useful phrases etc and if you are serious about learning French it is a must.

Les mots justes, 11 Jun 2008
Showing all the verb forms, and a guide to identifying which verbs fall within which form, this is a comprehensive reference book for conjugations.

You have to know the verb you're looking to conjugate,and you have to know the subtleties of use of the various tenses, so this book is mainly useful for the competent French speaker.

For someone making the transition from hoping to be understood to making an impression with your French, it is invaluable and endlessly useful.

Invaluable companion for good written French, 11 Jun 2008
Showing all the verb forms, and a guide to identifying which verbs fall withing which form, this is a comprehensive reference book for conjugations.

You have to know the verb you're looking to conjugate,and you have to know the subtleties of use of the various tenses, so this book is mainly useful for the competent French speaker.

For someone making the transition from hoping to be understood to making an impression with your French, it is invaluable and endlessly useful.

Good book but text is too small, 12 Nov 2007
The book is good BUT, if you have less than perfect eye-sight the book is hard work. The text is very small and a real strain on the eyes.

Biggest help ever!, 15 Jun 2006
I love this book, I've been struggling with conjugation in french for what feels like years. I recently realised that this was my biggest problem at school, because at the time, I really didn't understand why I wasn't getting it.

When you first open the book, it can be confusing for the beginner (I've been trying to learn french on and off for quite some time but I still consider myself a beginner). However, going through it initially page by page, it becomes really simple. The instructions are all in there for the different tables and this guides you in how to use the book. There is also a helpful french to english index section at the back of the book, though not comprehensive.

I cannot recommend this highly enough, it's just perfect to use in conjunction with whatever form of lessons you are taking (tutor, audio etc). In respect of this, you will find it useful for constant reference in finding the right forms for your sentences. Using this book has given me a clearer understanding of French grammer which is all important when learning another language.

Another note, is that the book is small and light enough to carry with you everywhere, not pocket small, but still a great size.

A fantastic guide for GCSE french grammar, 09 Sep 2008
This book is perfect for anyone studying French at GCSE level or any intermediate learner. Key grammar points are simply explained and organised by the different parts of speech meaning it is easy to find what your looking for. If you are an advanced student, don't choose this book as you will already be familiar with most of the topics covered in this book, but if you're beginning in your studies this is an excellent reference book to get you started.

good resource, lacking detail, 12 Feb 2008
Unfortunately lacking the detail required for even 1st year University complete gramatical knowledge, but an excellent and clearly structured resource nonetheless.

Makes French grammar easy!, 29 Apr 2007
I've been living in France for eighteen months now, and this book has been a life-saver. It's extremely easy to use: organised by parts of speech (but with a glossary to explain terms used for those who don't know), each section has a wealth of examples included, so you're not just learning grammar rules, you're learning the actual language. "Key points" included at the end of each section reinforce the principles learned.

There's also an index of words used, so when you come across something like "en" and just can't figure out what it's doing in a sentence, you can easily look up all the things it *might* be doing. The authors show great sensitivity to common problems that English speakers have with the French language, and also to the differing registers of formality within French. Of course, no French grammar would be complete without tables of irregular verbs, and these are included too.

This is an extremely useful book which no beginning student of French should be without.

spanning the years, 04 Oct 2006
We went to France on our annual visit and in the chateau we rented there was this book . It is 30 years since I took French at school and considerably longer for my 82 year old father, and much more recent for my nephews who are currently studying the language.We all enjoyed this book, reviving long forgotten phrases and how to decline nouns and hints and tips from experienced French teachers on the finer points of the language. Excellent! so good was it that I bought a copy for each of us on our return.

Interesting, useful and funny, 15 Dec 2007
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', and they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student and the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.

101 French Idioms, 03 Jun 2007
I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school and college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!

Although it is both funny and witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal and figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs and hope to enjoy that, too.

Fun and useful!, 15 Mar 2006
I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader and it's everything they promised. It had me in fits of laughter and I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures and the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing and each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant and highly amused.

There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues and a list of the idioms in alphabetical order and by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog and find the idioms associated with that image.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.

A fun way to improve understanding of the French language, 07 Mar 2001
This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is given in a conversation to help understand what context it should be used in and these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding and teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.

Quality keeps on improving!, 18 Jun 2007
I have a copy of a previous edition of this 'easy learning' dictionary and a friend has the penultimate one to this latest copy. As such, I feel well-versed to comment...
This new release is excellent. My wife and I, both in our 50's, are learning the language and we find this dictionary more than just a resource for looking up the meaning of words. It is a big help to us with our verb tables, especially the tenses and gives good grammatical breakdowns on many aspects of the language.
Perhaps if there was more help with pronounciations, it could claim to be a language course in one book. But that aside, it is very, very, good value and we both love referring to it at every opportunity. Definitely five stars from us!

ALLO ALLO, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY AS I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE, 01 Apr 2007
Bonjour a tous
No worries,You will not sound like Mr Rene if you decide to learn French with this great course.

Yes, "Facon de parler" is a great french textbook and will definitely give you a decent knowledge of French by the time you ve reach its last page. The course comes in 2 volumes.. bringing up from level zero up a decent GCSE level at the end.It comes with CDs and self study guide..i would definitely recomment that you get the whole package, specially if you re learning French on your own free time.

what to expect along the way ?
a clearly structured approach of the terryfing french gramnmar... (serious.. it does make it easy to understand)
Loads of words that can be used in everyday colloquial French giving you a knowledge of French that will be accurate and will sound close to what you will hear in the streets, when people are talking among themselves.

If you want to grab a decent knowledge of french without having that dreadful feeling of struggling for nothing over endless lists of verbs or God knows what kind of grammatical nightmares.. go for it .
buy the book and what comes with it and have a great time..
If you do have the chance, also, tune your radio on some french stations (france Inter, Europe 1, RTL )are all availables on LW, and even if you don t understand what is being said, this will Tremendously help you to grasp the specific french pronunciation.
But remember, la pratique aide a la perfection . practice makes perfect.

La langue francaise n est pas si difficile que cela..and that book REALLY does make the learning task easy and pleasant.

Amicales salutations a tous
et bonnes etudes


serious business, 05 Oct 2008
this is huge big heavy dictionary with everything you need! in this case size matters for those who study languages, a smaller dictionary or a conscise version is insufficient. you will be pleased with what this dictinary offers and there is also a cd inside to aid you. it's the real deal.

Best dictionary you can get!, 13 Nov 2005
This is by far the best english-french dictionary you wil find. You will never want to replace it. Highly recommended!

A Typeface to Enjoy, 05 Nov 2001
Oxford have topped the French-English dictionary charts with this latest offering. At last, a publisher has given some thought to we ageing profs who have to use bi-lingual dictionaries in our work. The font of the typeface is actually readable. It must be a first.

Another great idea is a grey printed tab for each letter of the alphabet which acts as a fast way into the dictionary without cretaing a tear-point like the old cut-out thumb indices. An interesting by-product is that at a glance you can see which letter of the alphabet is the most common first letter for French words.

What else do I like? Ah, yes the panel inserts with greater background info on modal auxiliaries, meaurement, time etc.

What haven't they done? Still no translation into English of what the verb parts mean in the beautifully clear verb tables at the back. Then again I don't know a grammar book or a dictionary that has realised how useful this would be to learners. When will a publisher think of this? que il eut ete aime

Five out of five for Oxford Hachette.

Helpful for beginners, 18 Nov 2006
I found this pack useful for the beginning of a french course. You can't listen to the CDs in the car though, you need to have the book in front of you, which I found frustrating. I wanted to listen on the way to work, so ended up getting free Podcasts to listen to - they were better than the CDs in this pack. Having said that, the book guides you through lots of different sections, such as food and travel, and the CDs have exercises on each section. In the book, there are transc