Tune Up Your French: Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Spoken French - Softcover

Schorr, Natalie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071432299 ISBN 13: 9780071432290

Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 2004

Synopsis

Readers can tune up their conversation skills with Tune Up guides--the next best thing to a year abroad!

Getting beyond sounding like a beginner is more than just a matter of learning more vocabulary and grammar. It's also about understanding the culture and developing the right mind set for thinking, listening, and talking like a native.

The next best thing to a year abroad, the books in this exciting new series offer language learners an entertaining and practical way to hone their foreign-language conversation skills. Tune Up books are structured around 10 key areas for improvement, covering everything from tricky grammatical structures to gestures, slang, and humor. In each area, key phrases are presented in "Top Ten" lists, including everyday expressions for filling pauses, icebreakers, and more. An excellent brushup for learners returning to a language they studied in high school or college, Tune Up books feature:

• Practical advice on improving conversation skills
• Valuable insights into how difficult verbs and structures work
• Tips on how to avoid taboos and common faux pas
• A 60-minute audio CD with key phrase lists and exercises

About this title

From the Back Cover:

See, feel, and say things the French way!

If you are among the many people who studied French in high school, college, or even beyond but still get stuck when it comes to actually speaking the language, this book is for you. Tune Up Your French will help you refresh and build on what you already know and give you the confidence to put it into practice. By demonstrating the connection between spoken language, body language, sound, and ways of thinking, Tune Up Your French takes you beyond basic grammar to help you find your French voice--and give you that certain je ne sais quoi.

Structured around ten "Tune Ups," this fun, informative, and highly effective book provides:

• Practical and realistic advice for improving spoken French
• Over 100 "Top Ten" lists of key French phrases and expressions
• Interjections, vocal noises, and physical gestures that make the most of the 92 percent of communication that's nonverbal
• Unwritten rules about slang
• Ways to make your point by saying the opposite of what you mean
• Cultural guidance for avoiding faux pas
• A repertoire of mots historiques
• An appendix of commonly troublesome verbs
• "Quick Fixes" to get you started right away

Also included are preview questions and review exercises for each chapter, an Answer Key, plus an invaluable audio CD that presents key phrases from throughout the book, tips on intonation, and engaging audio exercises. From idioms and attitude to gastronomic correctness and conversation starters, now you can discover what it means to see, feel, and say things the French way!

Natalie Schorr is an experienced educator who has taught French at Phillips Academy for almost thirty years. She lives in Andover, Massachusetts.

About the Author:

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0071432299
• ISBN 13: 9780071432290
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224