FRENCH EXPERIENCE 1 COURSEBOOK NEW EDITION

I too purchased this book as an additional help to my French evening class. I have quite a few books, cds, .pdfs etc to help and I have to say this is one of the best! It is very organised, well laid out, and it engrosses you into learning words (vocab), phrases and everything you'd expect. But the one thing I love about it is how it helps you to learn about the French way of life. Ive only just bought it and Unit 6 (not doing it in order, I am doing it in the order of my class) about the Metro underground, the signs etc is not in any other of my books. Ive had to look at google maps for the metro and go through the book as it asked the questions. The BBC videos are good too, well, they are quite old now but still relevant. All in all, along with the CDs, this coursebook and the activity book, I am a very happy learner.

The book is clean, with no handwritten notes, etc. However, the corners of the book are quite dogeared and the condition is not quite as good as described. Nonetheless, the very reasonable price offsets this.

Having learnt French at school many years ago and now needing to update and improve my language skills as I have a mobile home on the south coast, which I visit twice a year, I needed a textbook to help me to refresh my language vocabulary and improve my conversation skills. This book is perfect for both - I've learnt so much in just covering the first 4 chapters - can't wait for the rest!

Very nice book with lots of tasks, however it is not for the layman, also many of the activities require the CD's/tapes (but this can be got arround by reading the transcripts in the back), all in all this is a great book if you are a few years into learning French, it is most certainly NOT for beginners (whether you have the CD's/tapes or not!)

These CDs, together with the book, drop you at the "deep end". There is a lot of material packed into some seemingly short chapters, the French speakers talk rather fast, and (as my French partner pointed out) you struggle to understand them exactly the first time round. Unless you are very motivated, this can be rather discouraging for a complete beginner. On the other side, nobody's really gonna bother to talk to you very slowly and clearly on your holiday in France, so this gives you a taste of the "real thing".There are transcripts at the end of the book so be prepared to flick back and forth and to listen to things over and over again. Also, the particular tracks from the CD are not clearly numbered in the book (there's just an "audio" symbol, letting you know that you will need to use a CD). I get round it by penciling in the track numbers on the side, so I know exactly where I am if I want to listen to something again.There are 20 Units in total and there is a lot of cultural, geographical or historical information included throughout the book (unfortunately only in English and I would have wished for it to be offered in French also).Overall useful, but I wouldn't use this set as my main/only tool to learn French. It may put you under the impression that this language is extremely difficult, which is not really the case.

This book when beginning to learn and speak French and will continue to assist you. Excellent value for money and very easy to use and understand. It also contains information on the country which is an added bonus

I bought this book as a coursebook for my French class. It is well written and gives good information about France as well as activities to learn the language by. My French tutor has the recordings which go with the book. If you are learning alone at home you will need to buy the discs to go with the book.

This is a very thorough guide to basic French, which I was advised to get by my lecturer. Would strongly recommend for anyone interested in learning the basics to get this one. I would also advise trying to get the audio CDs too as it will make working through the book a lot easier.