Street French: How to Speak and Understand French Slang

by David Burke

This valuable guide offers an interactive, step-by-step approach to speaking French as it is actually spoken by native speakers, language that is used on a day-to-day basis in business, among family and friends, at parties—in any casual conversation. Using this guide, readers will quickly gain facility in using terms and phrases that even a 10-year veteran of formalized French would not understand. The text presents the most common French slang words, in context, to demonstrate how they are actually used, with English translations immediately following. Explanations are designed to ensure full comprehension of the nuances and subtleties of the terms and phrases covered. Chapters contain vocabulary exercises, with answers. There is also a clear, concise grammar section which introduces unconventional ``rules'' for using slang and colloquial expressions. Also provided are additional drills, reviews following each five-chapter sequence, and a thesaurus which offers quick reference to synonyms for slang terms.

Genres: Language, Reference, France, Nonfiction, Linguistics

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Librarian Note: There are multiple authors by this name in the GR database.

See also: Fantasy author David Burke

David Burke is a documentary filmmaker and former 60 MINUTES writer/producer who came to Paris in 1986 for what he thought would be a year, but turned into more than twenty. Besides Writers in Paris, he has written two editions of HarperCollinss Access Paris, a travel guide to Mediterranean France, and numerous articles for magazines and web sites. He and his wife, producer/director Joanne Burke, have also made seven documentaries over these years and are working on a eighth.
He now divides his time between Paris and New York.

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'est bon!

[Jydsz Last Name (Optional) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puedo hablar francés ahora

[Mayor McCheese · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a remarkable turn of events I actually completed all the exercises in this book. So often those of us who love foreign languages are compelled to buy a language book placed near the checkstand because it looks fun or because we want to return to nostalgia of learning a language in college, etc. But then usually we do 20 pages and the book gathers dust on the shelf (like when I decided for a few weeks to learn Italian). The exercises here are interesting enough to keep you going but not so hard you get bogged down. Highly recommended to someone with solid French skills who wants to expand vocab and pronunciation.

[Stanley Lalanne]

Un bon livre

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a boring text. And a dull one. Slang made like the 1950s language manuals.