En Bonne Forme

by Simone Renaud, Dominique Van Hooff

En bonne forme is a fully integrated intermediate French program based on the conviction that a solid knowledge of French grammar is essential for successful acquisition of the language. Although the core of each chapter is the grammar section, students are given ample opportunity throughout to improve all four skills—reading, writing, listening, and speaking. All of the grammar explanations and exercise directions are given in French to encourage greater acquisition of the language. Reading selections, carefully chosen to illustrate the grammar structures presented in each chapter, are immediately reinforced with exercises.New! Division of vocabulary into four flexible sections helps students reinforce word Vocabulaire élémentaire contains cognates or near cognates; Vocabulaire actif presents new words that appear in the reading selection; Vocabulaire suplémentaire includes additional words that are related to the readings and useful for activities; and Français en couleurs provides words and expressions pertinent to the chapter's theme that are taken from colloquial French, slang, and teenagers' language ( verlan ). New! Addition of cartoons and line art offers humorous and interesting ways for students to learn the language as well as added opportunities for in-class communicative activities. New! Reading comprehension exercises ( Activités sur la lecture ) improve students' ability to read and understand a text. New! Updated reading selections present stimulating, humorous, and thought-provoking stories from contemporary French and francophone authors, which support the chapter's grammar structures, highlight cultural coverage, and promote themes for interactive activities, debates, and role-playing. Contextualized grammar presentation provides students with clear, understandable grammar explanations, chapter-by-chapter review, and extensive practice through the use of reading material and related activities. Balanced focus on language skills presents contextualized opportunities for reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the core text, the Student Activities Manual, and the SAM Audio CDs. Recyling of previously learned material strengthens and clarifies what introductory students have already learned, in order to build a strong base for the more advanced topics.

Genres: France, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Language, Reference

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Douglas]

Been using this - my old high school textbook - to brush up on my french ahead of a year as the school's french teacher. Over the years I've referred back to it many times, thanks to its utterly logical presentation. Once a foundation has been built (all instruction is in french), En Bonne Forme is the best possible manual to support your further studies.

[Kab]

An excellent mix of reading, vocabulary, grammar notes, exercises, and suggested discussions and other oral activities for the classroom. It's well-formatted as well which is unfortunately uncommon in language learning textbooks and goes a long way in making a textbook a pleasure to study.

My only complaint is small, in that the vocabulary lists related to each book excerpt is unnecessarily split into at least three sublists—elementary (broken down into nouns, adjectives, and verbs), active, and supplementary (sometimes futher broken down into subcategories by theme)—so when I was trying to look up a word I had to scan multiple lists instead of just a single alphabetised one.

I also appreciate that the content is international and related to that it still feels current (minus some of the 'Français en couleurs' slang of course) despite being published in 2007 (8th edition).

[Ferenc]

An intermediate-level textbook that can be used by self-learners too because you can do most of the exercises by yourself.

It gives you exactly what a good intermediate textbook should give you: a lot of readings and exercises, good grammar explanations, and plenty of cultural information.

What I think is simply fanstastic about this particular textbook is that it does not focus on France entirely in it's cultural readings, it covers most French-speaking countries. This is probably because the book was written by two American teachers, therefore you get a broader and more representative picture of the French language and its cultural use around the world. To me this was important, it made me feel that I was truly learning an international language.

[Mandy Conant]

Good good good! J'adore les lessons.

[Zita M]

Truly the best French textbook I used throughout college. Very clear and concise.

[Mary Ann]

Good, clear French grammar book.