Deux mondes: A Communicative Approach

by Tracy D. Terrell

Deux mondes, third edition is widely regarded as the most communicative text available for beginning French courses. Based on the Natural Approach, developed by Tracy Terrell and Stephen Krashen, Deux mondes, third edition offers a way of teaching beginning language students that helps them develop proficiency, especially in listening and speaking, and allows students to participate in real discussion at a very early stage. The Natural Approach in general, and Deux mondes, third edition in particular, present material inductively (so that the activities drive the grammar) and in the context of culturally rich themes and topics. Overall, the third edition of Deux mondes offers users a streamlined presentation, with less material on each page, somewhat less vocabulary per chapter, and shorter and clearer grammar explanations. Changes to the new edition include all new readings and culture notes, two new chapter themes, marginal annotations for the grammar sections, a clearer, more attractive design, and video integrated with the Cahier.

Genres: Textbooks, Reference, Nonfiction, France

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Vahn Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an expensive investment for FRENCH 101 at the University of Auckland. However, most definitely worth the purchase price if you are taking language papers at the university level. Not recommended for ad hoc linguists as there are cheaper and simpler tools on the market.

By itself, the textbook is not entirely useful. In combination with the accompanying software, the textbook is a powerful language learning system. The reality is that the price point pays for extremely user-friendly and intuitive software, with the textbook best used as a classroom aide to modules and assignments completed with the software.

Pros:

- The software is intuitive and immerses users within the language (without a punishing level of difficulty) by working on speaking, listening, writing and reading.
- The textbook complements the software by acting as a revision and study tool in classroom environments where using a computer may not be appropriate.


Cons:

- The textbook standalone is not very useful and must be used in combination with the software.
- The structure of the textbook risks creating information overload for absolute beginners, but this is not a problem if a student is taking a university paper where the professor provides a basic introduction.
- The price point is quite high in comparison to market competitors such as DuoLingo and Rosetta Stone, which forgo the physical textbook in favour of an entirely software based system.

Rating: 7/10.

[Kristi Krumnow · Rating 2 out of 5]

beurk. c'est un texte communicatif de base, je suppose, mais il n'y a pas de lexique anglais-français/français-anglais à la fin qui aiderait les étudiants débutants. content peut-on communiquer et comprendre au début sans aide de lexique? en plus, il faut feuilleter, feuilleter, et re-feuilleter le texte à retrouver les explications de grammaire, etc, ce qui devraient être facilement indiqué. il n'y a pas de références de pages. en plus en plus, le nouveau vocabulaire présenté parfois DANS les activités (sans lexique fran/ang ni aucun usage textuel auparavant) ne sert les étudiants à pas beaucoup. à mon avis, les activités devraient solidifier la compréhension d'étudiant, pas les confondre... surtout un texte pour les débutants du premier semestre. aïe.
j'ai enseigné 2 semestres avec ce texte et, ça, c'était TROP! j'ai changé le texte dès que possible car 2 semestres ont failli me tuer.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a final score of 97.99% in the French class, so... merci.

[Fritz Gerald Asong · Rating 5 out of 5]

i swear...
this is really a great book if u want to learn french through self-study...
yeah...