Barron's Mastering French: Level One (Mastering Series/Level 1 Compact Disc Packages) (French Edition) 2nd Edition

French Edition by Monique Cossard (Author), R. Salazar (Author)

4.2 21 ratings

The new edition of this intensive language-immersion course has been updated with new references, and up-to-date vocabulary and idioms. The program package consists of a textbook and a set of 12 compact discs. This comprehensive language program is the same as the one used by the U.S. Government to teach French to personnel in the diplomatic service and other internationally related government agencies. Students who complete the course successfully will have much more than a few foreign phrases at their disposal, but will possess a solid understanding of a new language. The program is ideal for classroom instruction but is also designed so that serious individuals who want to become fluent in French can teach themselves. This course teaches every aspect of the language: vocabulary, grammar, conversing, reading, writing, and listening comprehension.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Barrons Educational Series; 2nd edition (January 1, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ French
Audio CD ‏ : ‎ 198 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0764175998
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764175992
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10.25 x 2.5 x 10.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,849,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #597 in French Language Instruction (Books)
- #16,957 in Books on CD
- #19,179 in Core

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4.2 21 ratings

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4.2 out of 5

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Kindle Customer

Great Seller

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2024

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Received quickly, exactly as described, great deal!

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Savant Sauvage

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2009

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Since initially writing my review (below), I have discovered that the copyright on these materials has expired. The readings and recordings for all Foreign Service Institute language courses are available online for free. All you have to do is download them.

The Mastering French program introduces you to basic French grammar and vocabulary with recordings of native speakers in realistic dialogues. Then follows the drills, which have lots of repetition and substitution. They are great; they "drill" the basics into your brain. I learned Spanish with this method, and when I went to Latin America, I had little or no trouble understanding others or making myself understood. Highly recommended, especially because of the repetitive drills.

10 people found this helpful

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Bruce R Olson

Great for those serious about learning a language

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2013

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If you want to learn a language this program is the best I've come across. The grammar is presented in the context of the dialogue so that you're not trying to memorize lists of words out of context of usage. The narrator talks at the same speed as native speakers so that you are truly being immersed in the language. It is used by the state department to train their people. It comes with a book that goes along with the cds . It's not easy, but if you are truly motivated to learn a language beyond memorizing phrases for traveling and want to become a fluid speaker, this is the program for you

One person found this helpful

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Anna

Mastering French, Level 1

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2012

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I am very much satisfied with the item I received as well as the sales person. He resend the item after it was misdirected. Thanks so much!!!!

One person found this helpful

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Geri

Good book! My husband learnt french and speaks the ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2014

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Good book ! My husband learnt french and speaks the language much better with this book !

One person found this helpful

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Annagene I. Simons

Perfect for progress in listening and usage

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2014

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Exactly what I needed to progress?

One person found this helpful

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Malerie R. Wirey

french

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2010

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Was happy with the condition of this product and the promptness with which it was delivered.

One person found this helpful

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Gordon Trunk

An excellent learning tool

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2009

This is an excellent product to start with if your goal is fluency in French. It is an audio-based approach to learning, like Pimsleur. But unlike Pimsleur, it comes with a textbook that transcribes everything on the CDs and also contains basic grammar information so you can see how to spell the words you are saying. With over 12 hours of audio, you can practice listening to French and speaking it extensively. The audio material includes brief snippets of important information (in English) about French culture that a tourist might like to know. Grammar explanations in the book are minimal but every new grammar point is reinforced over and over again, in many contexts, in the spoken audio material so you get a very good grasp of each new grammar point that is introduced.

This course does have one major flaw, and that is that it contains no information about how to pronounce French, so a complete newcomer will be very puzzled by the huge discrepancy between French spelling and pronunciation. This, however, can be remedied if you study a little about French pronunciation before starting this course. If you already have some familiarity with French, you should have little or no trouble working out the pronunciations used in this course. If you're not familiar with French pronunciation, I would recommend the audio-book package "French at a Glance" to start with, to read about French pronunciation rules and hear and practice some phrases. Also, to any student of French, I strongly recommend the book "501 French Verbs" as a superb grammar supplement.

You will not quite "master" French with this course but it does lay a very solid foundation for further study. This course comprises six units, the first one-fourth of the complete U.S. State Department French course. After completing the six lessons of "Mastering French," you can move on to the next six in "Mastering French, Level 2." For those who are interested, lessons 13-24 are available from Audio-Forum and [...] but are quite expensive, unless you buy only the books with no audio. Complete the first 12 lessons and you should be fairly conversant in French, complete all 24 and you will be nearly fluent.

2 people found this helpful

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