Anyone have any suggestion on a text book to help me pick up some French? I'm thinking maybe a high school french book? There are a zillion books out there, I know, just curious if anyone here on EF has a suggestion for one that is particularly good. Currently have no knowledge of french and I'm not really keen on throwing down a few hundred for rosetta stone...
The series "Grammaire Progressive du Français" is one of the best that isn't some school version filled with cartoons - used and recommended by all my university professors.
I've seen it sold at Payot in near Lausanne Flon
In any case you need this one:
My kids have been practising German, and I have been brushing up on my French using a free app called Duolingo. It's available on computer, android or apple. It can't replace classes completely, but we find it really good.
Depending on your French level I started to study french with a book called Le Nouveau Sans Frontieres which is a very good method for beginners, then I also recommend you to try out Rosetta Stone to learn languages with the computer. It's very interactive.
I would recommend Alter Ego for an adult, although it will be difficult to learn with no course. I teach french as a foreign language, but am located in the Zurich area, so I won't be able to help. "Grammaire Progressive du Français" is only just grammar, it will bore you to death after the first page, and will not help you when it comes to ordering coffee, or buying bread at the bakers'. And Petit_Larousse is a dictionary!!
There are plenty of ressources on the internet to practice your French, but you should have a few basics to start with:
http://www.francaisfacile.com/index.php
http://www.ortholud.com/orthographe/legumes/index.php
http://platea.pntic.mec.es/~cvera/hotpot/exos/index.htm
Good luck!
I use these books with my students, all you need (phonetics, voc and grammar) to start your French
Well don't use any of the books I used at school. The only thing it ever taught me to talk about was the contents of my pencil case.
Every time I go to Lausanne I have to go to the stationery department of fnac to get in my comfort zone.
You might as well learn some useful phrases, http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_of_Grey
Not really, but I can tell you to avoid "Latitudes". It's OK when used in class but crap for self-study.