Merde, It’s Not Easy to Learn French: A Story In Easy French with Translation Volume 1 (French Edition) Kindle Edition

Finally, an introductory book, written in simple French with quick translations available as needed, and designed for adults! The vocabulary is not extensive but just what you need to wander Paris, alone or with a friend instead of an organized tour – shop the street markets, take the metro to the places you always wanted to see, don’t act or be treated like an ugly American. French people are prepared to accept you, maybe even like you, if you try to speak their language and observe certain simple conventions of civility that may be a bit more formal than ours, and this book is a great start. I wish I had had something like it when I began seriously trying to learn to speak French at age 43 – a single woman, an empty-nester, and ready for a few adventures. Spend time with this book, maybe take an adult-ed class (for an introduction to French pronunciation), save up, and rent an apartment in Paris for a week. At 70+, I look back on 8 fun vacations in France. Bon voyage!

As a low intermediate French student I really have enjoyed reading this book. I’ve been able to comprehend most of it with a few “checks” as I go along. It’s a cute story and it helps me feel accomplished to be able to read and build my confidence with just enough challenge.

I am almost done with this book. It is a fun little story about a gal in Paris learning to speak French, and she gets frustrated with her inability to speak and understand it quickly. Sound familiar? Sounds like me, but I don't live in France (yet). Anyway, the book has little exercises to help you learn along with the main character. I like that. It's fun. Apparently this is the first in a series to be published by this author. I can't wait for her next book to come out. I do wish there was some audio available, like some French books available for sale. I recommend this book to beginners to advanced beginners.

I highly recommend France Dubin’s books for adults who want to learn, review, or refresh French. I am grateful to the author for giving me a way to teach French in a fun, interesting, and easy way. Her books allow the students to read and practice French in the real context of a journal written by a woman they can relate to. As they read about her daily life and funny adventures in French class and at home they become successful learners by using real language in their own journal.If you only remember boring textbooks filled with arduous grammatical exercises and monotonous dialogs please give these books a chance and you will rediscover the joy of learning French.

The author points out the reasons for wanting to learn French. Reading a book written in French was on of the two main reasons. I started out wanting to learn to read the writings of Jules Verne in his native language. Over the last couple of years, I've obtained copies of several books (thank you, Amazon!) written in French, but they have always gotten so complex that working through them was a major chore. This book, however, is fun, and requires just the right amount of effort to improve one's French. The delicate balance that the author has provided serves as a delight to the reader. This book is not only a wonderful way to learn French, but provides the idea of keeping a personal diary in French as a way to improve one's French. Rednotebook here I come!

I just finished Vol. 1 and immediately ordered Vol. 2 & 3. I hope to persuade Madam Dubin to write volumes 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8! Studying any foreign language can very quickly become frustrating, tedious, or boring in the wrong hands. France Dubin serves up a continuing story that is delightful and engaging as it unfolds in diary form written by a student, and thus gives us enjoyable practice in beginning to intermediate French with her wry and (occasionally near-naughty) sense of humor as the sauce that makes the practice of language delicious. Merci beaucoup! I look forward continuing this enjoyable language learning in the next two volumes.

Yes, finally a fun and relatable book that makes learning French so enjoyable. I laughed out loud because I recognized these characters/students and followed their adventures of learning French with great anticipation. I was so caught up in their lives that I forgot I was actually reading in French. I enjoyed the wonderful illustrations that increased my understanding. Also I got to learn many words and phrases that would never be in a textbook.I recommend to anyone who loves learning while having fun!

One gets the sense from the very beginning of this book that France Dubin is sharing with us wisdom about how to best approach learning the French language. In the guise of a student diary, she presents very digestible bite-size pieces of grammar, expressions and vocabulary, all the while serving up enticing information about France as a destination. She presents the lessons as diary entries at a nice pace (first all in French, then in English in the second half of the book) and never fails to inject humor or irreverence to keep the book from becoming just another beginner to intermediate language text. I enjoyed the ride and would recommend this book to anyone wanting to get a foothold with French.

I really had a good moment reading this book.It is really fun and easy for an american trying to understand (and speak) french.I bought the book just before my journey to Paris ... and I am now almost feeling french !