Discovering French

Discovering French

 

Cover of Discovering French

Hello, everyone, or should I say, Bonjour mes camarades. Welcome to my final blogpost of the year. Today, I will be reviewing my French textbook, Discovering French, by Jean Paul and Rebecca Valette, which was published in 1995 and updated in 2003. Now, you might be wondering, Sri, why are you reviewing a school textbook, you lazy bum? Well, I wanted to mix things up. Also, this review might serve useful to people who want to talk French in school, or just to try something different. Let's dive in.

I started using this book as a part of the French class curriculum. I personally have enjoyed this book to learn French, because it is filled with illustrations (animated and realistic) that are lively. For example, on page 56, in the unit about time, instead of just wondering what it looks like when people are telling someone that they have to go somewhere else, I get to see a dialogue and illustration; I understand right away. According to our French teacher, Madame Lopez, this book is an excellent one “because it is predominantly directed towards students whose first language is English. The students seem to enjoy learning using this book and find it easy to grasp different concepts of French.” I completely agree with her.

Example of a dialogue about time

I love how this book is formatted, where each unit covers a new topic, like clothing, money, food, parts of the body, etc. At the start of each section of the chapter, a different theme is introduced, giving us an insight into the French way of life. This method of teaching helps us learn new grammar and vocabulary which are necessary to converse and write in French. For example, the exercises in the book are based on real-life situations, like how to order food from a café, or how to address people in different situations. It also talks about the hobbies and interests of French teenagers in the 90s and early 2000s, and what they think of us Americans.

This book had originally come with loads of other resources to give the full experience of the textbook. Brand new, the book would have supposedly come with a one-year free subscription to an early 90’s French version of Webassign that would have supposedly worked. Additionally, you would supposedly get a few CDs for the oral exercises in the book and an extra workbook for additional practice. Sadly, since I bought my book secondhand to save 50 bucks, the previous owner didn’t give me any of the extras during the sale. I wish I could have seen those extras.

The only drawback of the book in general is that it is very heavy; like a normal textbook, it hurts my back whenever I carry it, and I wish they would have made it a little bit lighter. Also, since the book was written over two decades ago, I wonder if the books today would have different trends and activities compared to the ones in my book. These are just minor issues, which can be fixed when our class goes on a trip to France in senior year, to get real-life experience in how to interact in French society. In the meantime, I could probably supplement my French education by watching YouTube videos.

I imagine that, if I didn’t have this French textbook and if I were still trying to learn French in class, then I would have a really hard time learning and understanding why French works the way that it does. If I were trying to learn French with a flashy little app on my phone, like DuoLingo, then my pronunciation might be better but I’d have no idea what the grammar rules are.

Overall, I love this textbook because of its extraordinary ability to appeal to students and teachers alike. I must mention that this book is the first in a series of three textbooks. As I am still a beginner in French, I have only fully tried out this book, and I am currently using the second book in class. I imagine that when I finish the third textbook at the end of junior year, I might be able to speak French fluently. And on that final bombshell, it's time to end. Goodbye.

 - Sri