The Ultimate French Verb Review and Practice (The Ultimate Verb Review and Practice Series)

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Customer Reviews:

They've done it again! [Posted on 2008-04-06]
Yes, David Stillman and Ronni Gordon have done it again. Years ago, when I bought The Ultimate French Review and Practice, I was certain that it was the most thorough French grammar book I had ever encountered. However, the newer Ultimate French Verbs Review and Practice carries coverage of the French language a step further. Don't be fooled by the title. To be sure, this is a book on French verbs, one which provides just about everything one might wish to know on the subject. But, it is also packed with up-to-date vocabulary such as computer and internet terms and a wealth of extra tidbits covering other aspects of usage and French language history and development. I took my first French class in 1961 in a high school language laboratory and have been captivated by the language ever since. I went on to study French in college for four years. Since that time, I have continued to read French and to use the French soundtrack on DVD movies as a means of experiencing the language on a regular basis. Living in West Virginia, I rarely get a chance to speak French. It's so nice to have the two Ultimate books to recall things I already know and to learn new things. One little gem I had never encountered before is the use of "vous autres" to emphasize the plural use of "vous." It is simply the French equivalent of "you all" or "you guys." I had always wondered if the French had a way of saying that. Now, I know. The French, however, go a step farther. They also have "nous autres" or "we all" to emphasize the inclusion of particular groups in the use of "we" as opposed to the generic "on" which is an all-inclusive non-particular "we" and is also rendered as "one, people, you, they, etc." I had come across "nous autres" in high school, but never "vous autres." I haven't nearly exhausted the comprehensiveness of this book. I am sixty years old. I will probably never need another French book in my lifetime. These two should do it quite well.

Verb Review [Posted on 2008-07-06]
Used as a review tool for a college course after taking a year off in French. Very useful and helpful.

Extraordinarily Helpful [Posted on 2008-10-17]
I began studying French more than 40 years ago, in elementary school, kept going through junior high school, high school, and college, and continue to work to improve my written and spoken French even today. Even though I'm fairly fluent, I'm not a native speaker, and there is always room for improvement.

How I wish that a resource like "The Ultimate French Verb Review and Practice" had been available during my school years.

The book states that it is directed to "advanced beginning" through "advanced" learners. While the initial chapters -- covering regular verbs in the present tense, irregular verbs, the imperative form, and the passé composé -- should be at least largely within the grasp of someone at the "advanced beginner" level, the book may put such a student in fairly deep waters after that. I would commend it more to an intermediate student and above, with the initial chapters forming a combination of review of the basics and expansion of the student's repertoire of constructions and vocabulary, and the later chapters helping with more challenging aspects of the subject.

There are several things that set this book apart from others I have used.

First, the authors have a particularly clean and lucid approach to the various topics they cover. This is reflected not only in the English portions of the text, but also in the French examples. Many books of this kind tend to have rather forced and artificial-sounding examples, and classify them in rigid and difficult-to-remember categories. The authors here have managed to develop a more organic structure that makes sense without being forced.

Second, following the introduction of the material, the authors offer a number of different kinds of exercises, approaching the material from a number of different perspectives, to help cement the principles. This makes the material easier to grasp and easier to remember.

Third, the examples all sound natural and plausible, and cover useful sentences that belong in the toolkit of any speaker or writer dealing with everyday matters. The authors use each set of examples as an occasion to stretch the student's vocabulary and repertoire of common expressions and locutions. They also provide some extremely helpful explanations of nuanced differences between similar-sounding constructions that would not be obvious from mere literal translation. A number of discussions provide insight into differences between more formal written and spoken French, on the one hand, and colloquial spoken French, on the other. This contrasts with the more formal approach often found in French educational materials, which pretend that people speak only in perfect, grammatically impeccable complete sentences.

Because facility with verbs is one of the marks of fluency in French (or any language), this book serves an important function and serves it well. And it costs no more than far lesser books on the subject. This one belongs in the library of anyone serious about speaking and writing French with confidence.

The Ultimate French Verb Review and Practice [Posted on 2008-11-02]
This book was suggested to me by Amazon and I am very pleased that I bought it. I am in my 4th year of Studying French and this book has enabled me to do some revision and also learn some new verbs. I particularly like the way it uses modern verbs that are practical for everyday life. It explains the various grammar points extremely clearly and it has made my understanding so much clearer.
Thank you Amazon

Covers what other books ignore! [Posted on 2008-11-19]
As a French teacher, I highly recommend this book for advanced beginning through advanced learners. The authors'signature contribution is to address such things as the pronunciation of singular and plural third person indicative (straightaway on pages 1 and 5) and the differences beween English and French for focusing specific elements of a sentence (pp 173-175.)

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