French Short Stories Volume 1 / Nouvelles Francaises Tome 1 (Penguin Parallel Text) Paperback – 1 Jan. 2005

My level of French is roughly just post-GCSE I guess, and I found all the stories accessible to my level of language acquisition. i am surprised how much vocabulary can be acquired this way. The most important element for me, is that it is my first introduction in getting a feel for how good, literary French is written, rather than the emphasis on buying train tickets, booking a hotel room, and filling the car with petrol! (All vital and crucial I hasten to add). This collection provides that important element that is missing from beginners' courses. Now that there is no longer any requirement for literature studies at "A" level, there is a huge gap in learning I feel here , a point at which this collection of short stories starts to fill the gap.The translations have been very well done, in that if a certain word or phrase is not understood, then the translation appears at almost the same place on the opposite page, so easy to locate. To achieve this is no mean feat, when difficulties in translation, involving syntax, use of colloquialisms etc, could make it difficult to search quickly for the relevant passage in translation.One point of advice to be in approaching the texts is not to be too pedantic about trying to translate everything in the stories. It is surprising how much can be appreciated by letting the language just flow. Read a paragraph or two and look up the odd word which can make everything else seem to fit. it is important to find a reading style that fits you, so don't feel overwhelmed if much does not seem to be initially understood.Overall an inexpensive and invaluable introduction to well-written French that has "clout"

I am going to live in France and, although my French language skills are reasonable, I want to improve as much as I can. These parallel texts are an excellent idea and have really helped me. I have tried in the past to read a French book with the same book in English next to me but this is more difficult so the parallel texts are an excellent idea. Delivery was prompt too. Delighted!

I bought this to help with my French and I found it very useful. I'm probably just below an intermediate level when it comes to reading French (I can understand basic sentences, but not complex vocabulary) and I found it difficult to read this, but not so difficult that I lost interest. It's simply a set of translations of original French stories, so you can't expect it to be easy or in any way tailored to help you to learn. I would keep that in mind if your French is at a very low level, but the English translations are so good that it should be useful to everyone else trying to learn the language.In terms of the nature of the stories themselves, they're quite high-brow/arty examples of early to mid-20th century French literature. To give an idea, one of the stories is essentially about a lonely horse coming to terms with his own mortality while ordering a drink in a bar. Personally, I found The Seven-League Boots by Marcel Aymé to be a genuinely brilliant story - one I would quite happily read in English for its own sake. Others were a little more heavy going, such as The Fashionable Tiger and The Little Square, which are full of quite flowery descriptions that I found a bit slow/grating.So overall I'd recommend it, but it's probably not suitable for someone who is either a complete beginner or is just looking for some straightforward lighthearted tales (rather than proper pieces of literature).

Excellent. Hard work, but 100% achievable because the translation runs absolutely parallel, page by page. Exactly what is needed to upgrade your Italian.

Book fantastic condition and delivery was very quick. I have read a couple of the stories and it is for those wanting to brush up on their intermediate and advanced French. The stories are more or less, excerpts from the French Classics and they use more advanced phrasing as you progress through the book. Yes I would recommend.

Quite a serious book. The translation is useful and needed for me as the level of French is high. A dictionary of the more difficult words would be useful too...

good little book. different ways to express ways of speaking french. first story named la plage,first sentence the beach is called une greve.first time for everything.

I remember reading an earlier edition of this almost 50 years ago while doing A and S level French and thought it was great, especially getting away from touristy or archaic set texts. On that basis I bought it for one of my sons, now a med student, who wanted to keep his French alive after getting GCSE A* about four years ago. He found it tough and slow going because of the vocab level, but loved the stories in English. So it's a great read but as a real learning tool you need to be at the right level - I guess that's still confident A level or above.