High School Foreign Languages

Get up and running with French Easy French Step-by-Step proves that a solid grounding in grammar basics is the key to mastering a second language. You are quickly introduced to grammatical rules and concepts in order of importance, which you can build on as you progress through the book. You will also learn more than 300 verbs, chosen by their frequency of use. Numerous exercises and engaging readings help you quickly build your speaking and comprehension prowess.

Tweaked for quick, effective study, this Easy Outline packs exciting new learning tools that make mastering French fast, fun - and almost automatic.

A Reference Grammar of French is a lively, wide-ranging and original handbook on the structure of the French language. It includes new information on register, pronunciation, gender, number, foreign words (Latin, Arabic, English, Spanish, Italian), adjectives and past participles used as nouns, texting, word order, frequency of occurrence of words, and usage with all geographical names. Examples come not only from France, but also from Quebec, Belgium and Switzerland. Readers will appreciate the initial passages illustrating the grammatical features of a given chapter. Also included is a user-friendly introduction to the French language, from its Latin origins to modern times. A full glossary explains any terms that might confuse the less experienced reader, and the index leads the student through the detailed labyrinth of grammatical features. This handbook will be an invaluable resource for students and teachers who want to perfect their knowledge of all aspects of French grammar.

The new edition of Practising French Grammar offers a set of varied and accessible exercises for developing a deep practical awareness of French as it is spoken and written today. It can be used alone or as the ideal companion to the new edition of the widely acclaimed French Grammar and Usage by Roger Hawkins and Richard Towell. The new edition benefits from the addition of a glossary of grammatical terms and a variety of new and updated exercises designed to stimulate even the most grammar-shy student.

This collection of French short stories in translation expands our idea of French writing by including new stories by women writers and by authors of Francophone origin. Spanning the centuries from the late eighteenth to the late twentieth, the collection opens with a rumbustious tale from the Marquis de Sade, takes in the masters of the nineteenth century, from Stendhal and Balzac to Maupassant, and reaches to Quebec, Africa, and the French Caribbean in thetwentieth century. Women writers include relatively well known figures such as Renee Vivien, Colette, and Beauvoir, and newer writers such as Assia Djebar, Christiane Baroche, and Annie Saumont. The French short story is a rich and diverse medium, but all the stories selected share a common characteristic:they make exciting reading.

Now in its second edition, The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French reveals the hidden cultural dimension of contemporary French, as used in the press, going beyond the limited and purely lexical approach of traditional bilingual dictionaries. Even foreign learners of French who possess a good level of French often have difficulty in fully understanding French articles, not because of any linguistic shortcomings on their part but because of their inadequate knowledge of the cultural references. This cultural dictionary of French provides the reader with clear and concise explanations of the crucial cultural dimension behind the most frequently used words and phrases found in the contemporary French press. This vital background information, gathered here in this innovative and entertaining dictionary, will allow readers to go beyond a superficial understanding of the French press and the French language in general to see the hidden yet implied cultural significance that is so transparent to the native speaker. This fully revised second edition includes: a broad range of cultural references from the historical and literary to the popular and classical; an enhanced analysis of punning mechanisms used in the press; over 3,000 cultural references explained with updated examples; a three-level indicator of frequency; new and expanded chapters on the French of Quebec, institutional and academic references, and English borrowings in the areas of IT and medical science; over 600 online questions to test knowledge before and after reading. The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French is the ideal reference for all undergraduate and postgraduate students of French seeking to enhance their understanding of the French language. It will also be of interest to teachers, translators and Francophiles alike. French students in khâgne, Sciences-Po and schools of journalism will also find this book valuable and relevant for their studies. Test questions and solutions are available at www.routledge.com/9780367376758, in addition to three online chapters. These bonus chapters explore figurative expressions involving the names of animals, the language of the law and slang terms.