2008-07-18 Essential, though dull

OK, so it is impossible to make a book like this interesting - at least for me. However, I have had this book for about six months, and I still find it's the first book I reach for when I get stuck. 82 verbs are given a whole page, with 16 tenses written out in full - which is plenty. Although the cover says that there are 12,000 verbs, only the 82 verbs are explained in detail, though these are the ones you'll want most frequently. After that you are referred to one conjugated in the same way as the one you are interested in. At first this niggled because I like to see the word on the page, but then the book would be huge if every single verb was written out. Please not that you need to know the French word you are looking for as this isn't a dictionary too, and although the French verb is translated, there isn't a translation the other way. If you want to know what to climb is, you need to look it up in a dictionary first, then look up the word. Also where there is a reflexive and non reflexive form, you may not get both. You'll need a teacher or some form of course as well as this book because where, for example, you get 'je suis monté' (I came up) and 'je les ai monté' (I brought them up), you aren't given both versions, and in fact in this case you are referred to AIMER anyway. I hope I haven't put you off with these little niggles. I do think this is a really excellent book, and as I am learning from Michel Thomas tapes rather than from a teacher (see Michel Thomas Foundation Course: French (Michel Thomas Series)), I found this book brilliant when it came to extending my knowledge or filling in the gaps. You'll also want a good dictionary. I can't recommend Collins Robert French Dictionary: French-English/English-French enough. Though expensive, it's got lots of useful phrases etc and if you are serious about learning French it is a must.