This back-to-basics guide--along with its sister volume, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Leaning Spanish on Your Own--offers a quick and effective method for learning grammar and pronunciation that gets results fast. Gone are the days of rote memorization and endless drills. The exercises are designed to be both practical and fun. Included are tidbits of cultural information and annotated tickets and business documents that will help travelers and others cope in a foreign language.
this book is great. i am completely self-taught in french thanks to this great book! (in addition to other great books and great french films)...
the style is easy to read and understand -- didn't bother so much with the little quizzes or stories... just wanted to get down to the dirt of french grammar... there are other good books out there too... i'd say the "idiot's" guides are the most amusing...
I enjoyed learning many things from this intro book. It's a casual read and often entertaining. Some parts are a bit dated (remember the French Franc? phone cards?), but in general it's quite good.
The chapter order and classification are what made the book a good experience for me. For example, things that you might need while talking in a hotel comes after what you might need at the airport.
I really enjoyed this book, and find it a valuable resource. I did have french in school and have family who are French speaking first(which both have helped ) but I would still say I am a beginer and this book has taken me up a level to about advance beginer.