French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture, the Capretz Method: Part One
by Pierre Capretz
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List Price: $46.00
Our Price: $32.20
Your Save: $ 13.80 ( 30% )
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Manufacturer: Yale University Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 440
EAN: 9780300072655
ISBN: 0300072651
Label: Yale University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 1997-09-10
Publisher: Yale University Press
Studio: Yale University Press
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: an important piece of a wonderful course
Comment: Steven Sykes in a great review covered virtually everything I could hope to say about this textbook, so I'll just add a few comments.
You should be aware that this is not a textbook that you can use without other materials either to learn French or to review the language; it is useful only when used with the other components of French in Action. The textbook consists solely of transcripts of the main scenes you'll encounter in the videos, with a few supplemental reading materials, and some cartoons and photos that illustrate the vocabulary introduced in the chapter.
French in Action is a magnificent course, and you will, if you apply yourself diligently, learn to read, write, speak, and understand French with reasonable proficiency. The heart of the course is a series of 52 half hour video programs, available on DVD or (if you live in the US or Canada, free from the Annenberg website, just Google French in Action). Audio programs available on CD or cassette, written workbook exercises, and the textbook reinforce and build upon the grammar and vocabulary you first encounter in the videos. The reason to use all four components is that, by the end of each chapter, you will have seen (videos), heard (videos and audio programs), said (audio programs), read (textbook), and written (workbook) the words you are learning. By that time, the French you were meant to learn in that chapter has become a part of you.
There is a study guide for the course that you can skip entirely unless you are in a formal course that uses the end-of-chapter quizzes. Watch the video for each chapter first, then listen to the first track on the audio program for the chapter, then complete the workbook assignments in order (the workbook will point you to the appropriate sections of the audio programs and the textbook).
The genius behind French in Action is that you learn in a virtually 100% French environment from the very beginning, so you are not thinking in English, but in French, from the start. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but, if you stick with it, it will all start to make sense. I don't tend to gush over products, but this is the best course on any subject that I have ever followed.
One final piece of advice if you choose to learn French using this course. You can skip chapter one (video, audio, and workbook), it's just an all-English introduction to the structure of the course. With one exception, you learn nothing in chapter one that you will not figure out on your own by the end of chapter two. The only unique insight you'll need to know from chapter one is to pay attention to the gestures that the French speakers make in the video programs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very streamlined process
Comment: The entire process was simple, clear, and the delivery was within the estimated time frame.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pretty much a waste of money
Comment: Each chapter is only about 4 pages long and the workbook is generally more helpful than the text. My advice is to avoid buying the book because it's a waste of money and there is such little written that it hardly seems worth the cost. Spend your money on the French in Action workbook.
Customer Rating:
Summary: C'est vraiment excellent! BEST language book!
Comment: Used in combination with the audio materials, this course promises so much more than the usual (colors, numbers, basic greetings, etc.), and places a strong emphasis on pronunciation and idioms. You finish with a useful knowledge of French--the kind people actually speak. Comprehension is difficult at first because the speakers talk at a normal pace without overemphasizing the words, but it is this technique that leaves one able to know what people are saying without having them slow down.
As for the method of delivery--it's fun! The textbook follows a narrative structure, specifically a story about Robert, an American student in France, and Mireille, a young and witty student at the famed Sorbonne in Paris. There is love, mystery, and lots of important cultural information on the way, as well as an underlying humor that made our class laugh quite often. I recommend it highly for use in a class, and if you are willing to dish out the cash, for independent study as well. It has everything you need to gain a firm grounding in French language, culture, and idioms.
You can buy the textbook with both parts together or separately, but either way, you will want to know what happens with the story, so be ready to order both parts, one way or another.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Le cours de langues français le plus complet
Comment: "French in Action" is a complete, college-level language course intended for students who have aspirations of fluency. The course consists of five components: video tapes (or DVDs), audio tapes (or CDs), textbook, workbook and study guide. All the components work together and are necessary for the course to be effective. The course utilizes an immersion method, meaning that after the first couple of lessons, everything except the study guide is in French. In spite of its high profile and ready access on public television, I don't think it's a good course for beginners. It moves quickly and would probably be best for someone with previous study in the language. The course would be nearly ideal for a college-level student with at least a year of high school French under their belt.
It's a full meal. There are 52 lessons divided into two, 26 lesson parts. Each part can be purchased separately, but any way you slice it, the entire course is a considerable investment in both time and money. Working about an hour per day, it's paced to be handled at the rate of about a lesson a week. At full speed, you might be able to finish it in a year. Because most of the lessons involve some kind of conversational practice, the course is best taken with a partner or the help of a tutor. Self-study students might be tempted to eliminate the conversational and writing exercises, but doing so would be a mistake. Those exercises constitute at least half of the value of the course.
One of the real strengths of "French in Action' is that it puts an emphasis on the French language the way the French actually speak it, which is quite a bit different from the way American phrase books tend to teach it. Right from the start, you're listening to the language at full speed in all its idiomatic glory. If you're anything like me, you'll have the sense of always struggling to catch up. But, I like the fact that the early emphasis is on listening and getting a sense of the rhythm of the language. Younger students will probably like the fact that after the first several lessons, they will have learned at least a dozen ways to insult their friends.
One of the weaknesses of the course is that the audio tapes really need to be used along with the workbook. Hence, it's difficult (though not impossible) to use them in the car during long commutes. Don't expect a standard presentation, because the material isn't handled anything like standard French textbooks. Tenses, for example, are introduced so matter-of-factly that the very first words you utter are in the future tense. And there is no emphasis at all on word-for-word translation. In fact, quite often you're listening to idiomatic phrases in which the individual words when analyzed don't make much sense, but the meaning of the entire phrase when spoken in context is perfectly clear.
"French in Action" is a real grown-up language course for students with mature study skills and sufficient interest to get through it. I, myself, have taken a couple runs at it over the years and have only recently developed a successful study routine. Though the video program is on public television all the time, it's not a casual course at all. Don't believe the promos that suggest that all you have to do is "listen, watch and get involved". Just watching the shows on TV won't get you very far. You will spend at least 350 hours going through the entire course and probably more like 700-1000. That may sound like a lot, but by the end you will doubtless have a better understanding of French than you would have had from any other commercial package.
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Editorial Reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: an important piece of a wonderful course
Comment: Steven Sykes in a great review covered virtually everything I could hope to say about this textbook, so I'll just add a few comments.
You should be aware that this is not a textbook that you can use without other materials either to learn French or to review the language; it is useful only when used with the other components of French in Action. The textbook consists solely of transcripts of the main scenes you'll encounter in the videos, with a few supplemental reading materials, and some cartoons and photos that illustrate the vocabulary introduced in the chapter.
French in Action is a magnificent course, and you will, if you apply yourself diligently, learn to read, write, speak, and understand French with reasonable proficiency. The heart of the course is a series of 52 half hour video programs, available on DVD or (if you live in the US or Canada, free from the Annenberg website, just Google French in Action). Audio programs available on CD or cassette, written workbook exercises, and the textbook reinforce and build upon the grammar and vocabulary you first encounter in the videos. The reason to use all four components is that, by the end of each chapter, you will have seen (videos), heard (videos and audio programs), said (audio programs), read (textbook), and written (workbook) the words you are learning. By that time, the French you were meant to learn in that chapter has become a part of you.
There is a study guide for the course that you can skip entirely unless you are in a formal course that uses the end-of-chapter quizzes. Watch the video for each chapter first, then listen to the first track on the audio program for the chapter, then complete the workbook assignments in order (the workbook will point you to the appropriate sections of the audio programs and the textbook).
The genius behind French in Action is that you learn in a virtually 100% French environment from the very beginning, so you are not thinking in English, but in French, from the start. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but, if you stick with it, it will all start to make sense. I don't tend to gush over products, but this is the best course on any subject that I have ever followed.
One final piece of advice if you choose to learn French using this course. You can skip chapter one (video, audio, and workbook), it's just an all-English introduction to the structure of the course. With one exception, you learn nothing in chapter one that you will not figure out on your own by the end of chapter two. The only unique insight you'll need to know from chapter one is to pay attention to the gestures that the French speakers make in the video programs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very streamlined process
Comment: The entire process was simple, clear, and the delivery was within the estimated time frame.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pretty much a waste of money
Comment: Each chapter is only about 4 pages long and the workbook is generally more helpful than the text. My advice is to avoid buying the book because it's a waste of money and there is such little written that it hardly seems worth the cost. Spend your money on the French in Action workbook.
Customer Rating:
Summary: C'est vraiment excellent! BEST language book!
Comment: Used in combination with the audio materials, this course promises so much more than the usual (colors, numbers, basic greetings, etc.), and places a strong emphasis on pronunciation and idioms. You finish with a useful knowledge of French--the kind people actually speak. Comprehension is difficult at first because the speakers talk at a normal pace without overemphasizing the words, but it is this technique that leaves one able to know what people are saying without having them slow down.
As for the method of delivery--it's fun! The textbook follows a narrative structure, specifically a story about Robert, an American student in France, and Mireille, a young and witty student at the famed Sorbonne in Paris. There is love, mystery, and lots of important cultural information on the way, as well as an underlying humor that made our class laugh quite often. I recommend it highly for use in a class, and if you are willing to dish out the cash, for independent study as well. It has everything you need to gain a firm grounding in French language, culture, and idioms.
You can buy the textbook with both parts together or separately, but either way, you will want to know what happens with the story, so be ready to order both parts, one way or another.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Le cours de langues français le plus complet
Comment: "French in Action" is a complete, college-level language course intended for students who have aspirations of fluency. The course consists of five components: video tapes (or DVDs), audio tapes (or CDs), textbook, workbook and study guide. All the components work together and are necessary for the course to be effective. The course utilizes an immersion method, meaning that after the first couple of lessons, everything except the study guide is in French. In spite of its high profile and ready access on public television, I don't think it's a good course for beginners. It moves quickly and would probably be best for someone with previous study in the language. The course would be nearly ideal for a college-level student with at least a year of high school French under their belt.
It's a full meal. There are 52 lessons divided into two, 26 lesson parts. Each part can be purchased separately, but any way you slice it, the entire course is a considerable investment in both time and money. Working about an hour per day, it's paced to be handled at the rate of about a lesson a week. At full speed, you might be able to finish it in a year. Because most of the lessons involve some kind of conversational practice, the course is best taken with a partner or the help of a tutor. Self-study students might be tempted to eliminate the conversational and writing exercises, but doing so would be a mistake. Those exercises constitute at least half of the value of the course.
One of the real strengths of "French in Action' is that it puts an emphasis on the French language the way the French actually speak it, which is quite a bit different from the way American phrase books tend to teach it. Right from the start, you're listening to the language at full speed in all its idiomatic glory. If you're anything like me, you'll have the sense of always struggling to catch up. But, I like the fact that the early emphasis is on listening and getting a sense of the rhythm of the language. Younger students will probably like the fact that after the first several lessons, they will have learned at least a dozen ways to insult their friends.
One of the weaknesses of the course is that the audio tapes really need to be used along with the workbook. Hence, it's difficult (though not impossible) to use them in the car during long commutes. Don't expect a standard presentation, because the material isn't handled anything like standard French textbooks. Tenses, for example, are introduced so matter-of-factly that the very first words you utter are in the future tense. And there is no emphasis at all on word-for-word translation. In fact, quite often you're listening to idiomatic phrases in which the individual words when analyzed don't make much sense, but the meaning of the entire phrase when spoken in context is perfectly clear.
"French in Action" is a real grown-up language course for students with mature study skills and sufficient interest to get through it. I, myself, have taken a couple runs at it over the years and have only recently developed a successful study routine. Though the video program is on public television all the time, it's not a casual course at all. Don't believe the promos that suggest that all you have to do is "listen, watch and get involved". Just watching the shows on TV won't get you very far. You will spend at least 350 hours going through the entire course and probably more like 700-1000. That may sound like a lot, but by the end you will doubtless have a better understanding of French than you would have had from any other commercial package.
Since it was first published, French in Action: A Beginning Course in Language and Culture -- The Capretz Method has been widely recognized in the field as a model for video-based foreign-language instructional materials. This groundbreaking, critically acclaimed approach to French language learning effectively combines video, audio, and text to help students use real, unsimplified French in the dynamic context of actual communication. Designed to be used in conjunction with the celebrated PBS video series (available from the Annenberg/CPB Project), the print and audio materials, which form the complete program, include textbooks, an instructor's guide, workbooks, an extensive audio program, study guides, and a testing program. This second edition textbook is now available in two separate volumes -- parts 1 and 2 -- each covering 26 lessons of instruction. Major funding for French in Action was provided by the Annenberg/CPB Project.
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