French Short Stories for Beginners by Lingo Mastery: book review

French Short Stories for Beginners, Volume 2 (2019) is exactly that. The book contains 20 easy-to-read short stories in French with the aim of expanding the reader’s vocabulary and grammar. There is an accompanying audio version too. And the offer of a free book, Lingo Hacks: Secrets for Learning Any Language in No Time! by Lingo Mastery.

Each story has the basic elements of language: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, tense, and so on, in day-to-day situations (more or less) with natural dialogue – i.e., in functional and descriptive language. After reading the stories, the aim is that readers can make appointments, pay for a taxi, get a haircut, etc. At the end of each story is a synopsis in French and English of what the story was about, and a list of vocabulary. Each story concludes with a set of questions to test the reader’s comprehension and deeper understanding.

The contents page is not useful because it doesn’t provide the title of the story – only “Chapter Seventeen” etc. However, the stories include: First Day of School, Job Interview, At the Animal Park, The Fun Fair, Market Day, At the Gym, Mountain Holidays, Growing Up, The Shopping List, Job Seeking, The Suit, The Lost Child, April’s Fool, Fitness, Reunion, Elevator Breakdown, Driving License, Gardening, The Dog Training Class, and The Birthday Cake.

My favourites were: Market Day, Mountain Holidays, Elevator Breakdown, and Gardening. I’ve already been reading short novels in French, so I’m more advanced than a beginner, but it was interesting to see what this type of book contained.

As readers will see, the stories are not in any logical order. For example, you read about the Job Interview before reading about Job Seeking. And the “English” in the text is American English and spelling. It is useful though as a reader that doesn’t feel too much like a language textbook, but it could be improved with a picture or two!

MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite I Rainy Day Healing I Martinasblogs I Publications I Facebook I Paris Website I Paris blogs I Animal Website I Flower Website I Global Gentlemanliness

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

Martina Nicolls is an Australian author and international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, and foreign aid audits and evaluations. She lives in Paris.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog