First French Reader: A Beginner's Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language French) (English and French Edition)

As others have pointed out, that "First" in the title is wildly misleading. I've made my way through several of the Dover French dual-language books, and this one has been the hardest. Another possible drawback is that none of the selections is complete; what you get are two-page excerpts from lots of different works, so the motivation that's provided by full involvement in a narrative is lacking.That said, this is still excellent, and the brevity of the selections brings a payoff in variety. This book lets you sample 50 different authors, most from the 18th and 19th centuries, and most of whom you will never see in another dual-language edition. This exposes you to a wide range of styles -- a great point for reading practice -- and provides a basis for choosing writers you'd like to read more fully. Again, the only caveat is that this is a book for somewhat later in your French studies, not the beginning when you're truly in need of a "first" reader. As a starter book among the dual-language readers I recommend "My Uncle Jules and Other Stories" by Maupassant (also edited by Stanley Applebaum).Finally, there's nothing wrong with the print size in the book; it's completely normal. The paper quality is also excellent. As a last bonus, at the beginning of the book there are introductions of all 50 writers and their excerpts.

I am fairly new to the French language which I am learning on my own. I am a passionate linguist and it's so far my fifth language. English is not my first language either, but after many years in this country it is now almost like my native one. I am still reading this book and I am enjoining every bit of it. It is a collection of short stories by famous French writers of the past spanning over 400 years of French literature. It gives me an opportunity not only to broaden my French vocabulary, but also to learn about great French novelists of the past. I am not giving this book a 5 because I find that often the translation is not "word by word", but rather contextual. I still often need to look up words in the dictionary, which I hoped I could avoid by purchasing a dual language book. I do understand however that literal translation into another language is sometimes just impossible, you just have to get the meaning of the sentence as a whole rather dissect it word by word because it would not make sense if it would be translated that way. A humble suggestion to future readers of this book would be to first read the entire story in French without looking at the English version, then read it in English, then read it again in French. When you read it in French the second time you then can "guess" at the meaning of most words you missed at first saving you the time to use the dictionary.

This would be for an intermediate to advanced French reader. It is a mix of French authors from the 1600's to the 1900's. There are short selections by many well-known classic French authors. It is NOT easy reading. However, the dual language English translation facing each page of French helps tremendously.This would be great for an AP French class or college class or the individual who really wants a challenge. Because the selections are short, you don't get too bogged down. Reading a selection a week would be an exercise which would improve your French translation skills. I like that there are so many short and diverse selections from leading French authors over 400 years.

This is a very nice collection of French stories by famous French authors. It is a dual-language book with French on one page and English on the other, and it appears to be beautifully translated. The reason I gave it only 4 stars is that the title "First French Reader" is a little misleading. It sounds like a beginners' book. It is not. You need a year or so of French and need to be able to conjugate verbs and have a good French vocabulary in order to read the French passages in book - they are not watered down or simplified. So for me, a beginner, this will not be my first French reader, but I look forward to be able to read it in the future.

This text - with its English translations - of standard French literary giants (think 'Three Musketeers') is just ok. It is not a textfor use in teaching beginners to French. I would say students would have needed to have taken at least a H.S. advanced course & be able tohandle reading, speaking and grammar fairly easily. This would, of course, include knowledge of vocabulary and conjugation. I found that theEnglish 'translation' actually didn't sit too well side-by-side on the pages w/the French text and it was a fairly stilted and literal trans-lation at that. This would be a good book for an intermediate class that wanted to have some fun w/reading through a sort of Cliff Notes typeof literature. (Think : summer classes, classes at the Y, classes for seniors who already know some French) Otherwise, find a better book forbeginners - there are lots out there. I can't truly recommend it for what it is. Maybe others might like it. In the hands of an experiencedteacher who uses this w/ other sources, it might just pass as 'ok.' A definite pass in my opinion.

Wonderful collection of dual-text passages. This is not an introduction to the French language - many of the texts would be challenging to French high school students.I have studied French on-and-off for over twenty years, but I never felt sufficiently equipped to take on the literature.This volume is intended for a student with a solid grasp of the language, but who is really a beginner as far as literature and academic writing are concerned.I'm very happy to have stumbled upon this gem of a book. Perfect for an intellectual autodidact looking for their next challenge!

Kindle version not as practical as hard copy,hard copy has pages opposite each other,so relatively easy to translate,kindle has translation separate.

While this is probably useful anthology of general French Literature, its title, particularly when compared to other First Readers published by Dover, is misleading. Other books in this series come with a glossary at the back. Some have the readers ordered by difficulty, and some give biographical information on the authors. This (French) collection only includes the latter. I believe that the absence of a glossary really compromises the usefulness of this book as being truly a "First Reader".

印刷版の「なか見検索」で見ると、左右ページに仏文英文が配置されていますが、Kindle版では、各章ごと、仏文の後に英文が来る、というレイアウトになっています。これでは使えません。欠陥商品と言っていいでしょう。サンプルをダウンロードしてご確認ください。(実はサンプルをダウンロードするつもりで、「1-clickですぐ買う」を間違って押してしまったのでした。購入直後ならばキャンセル出来ることを知りませんでした。)

the title was not connected to the subject matterwas an advanced book

not what I expected. Poor selection for beginning french book.