French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture : The Capretz Method Workbook, Part 2

Customer Reviews:

C'est vraiment excellent! BEST language book!.......2007-05-16

Used in combination with the audio materials, this course promises so much more than the usual (colors, numbers, basic greetings, etc.), and places a strong emphasis on pronunciation and idioms. You finish with a useful knowlege of French--the kind people actually speak. Comprehension is difficult at first because the speakers talk at a normal pace without overemphasizing the words, but it is this technique that leaves one able to know what people are saying without having them slow down.

As for the method of delivery--it's fun! The textbook follows a narrative structure, specifically a story about Robert, an American student in France, and Mireille, a young and witty student at the famed Sorbonne in Paris. There is love, mystery, and lots of important cultural information on the way, as well as an underlying humor that made our class laugh quite often. I recommend it highly for use in a class, and if you are willing to dish out the cash, for independent study as well. It has everything you need to gain a firm grounding in French language, culture, and idioms.

Language Dunce - even have trouble with English.......2006-08-05

I went through the 52 PBS programs first, then went through them again making notes, then I bought the book.

This immersion method I believe is like a child learning their own language for the first time - you watch and over time figure out what people are saying - you do not begin taking courses for 5 years.

If I had, had to take a typical language course to learn my native English - I believe I would never have learned.

The book is the immersion method in writting [and also in French]. You can go back and forth between the book and the 52 programs and everything is in French. You pick a word here and a phrase there and then start putting a few togeather. You learn the situations also.

For a person like me who fails every language course - this has been fun. It makes me want to go through the chapters and tapes over and over again.

So if you think of this method as a way to pick up French as a child would - a word here and a phrase there and a spark to continue to learn - it can be a lot of fun.

So far I recommend the 52 PBS programs and this Book.

I don't believe the so-called "immersion" method.......2006-07-15

An adult needs all the help his mature abilities can bring, including the language he knows to mirror and bridge the language he is learning. The "French only" method seems to me almost idiotic. It didn't work for me and I know I am not alone. I love French and have kept my eyes on all the self-study French courses available in the States.

Besides, French may not change much but the video is around 20 year old.

NOT good for travel prep.......2006-05-09

After reading the reviews I thought I had found the perfect course to learn French before a trip. I had two months to study and am a motivated language learner. That being said this course was practically useless. This a course designed for college classroom study, not independent home study. Also if you need ANY explanation at all for grammar or pronunciation look elsewhere. I think the immersion method works well when coupled with some explanation. But this course gives no instruction on conjugating verbs, subject-noun agreement, etc. It just expects you to absorb this information. This would be fine if you had a year of college class and a teacher to guide you. If you are buying this to prepare for travel find a concise and cheaper guide to learning french.

Fun, structured, and a great beginning. Needs CD ROM.......2006-03-22

I now live in France and am fluent, and I can say French in Action helped me out on my path to learning French. First, the blond girl Mireille is quite pretty and a joy to watch (for males). The guy, Robert, is a little goofy. Anyway, the story is entertaining enough, with some nice scenes of Paris (especially Jardin Luxembourg) and with a grand finale of a visit of many of France's finest sites.

The text book, workbook, and video combination is excellent. As others have noted, it is one of the best self-learning guides available in any language. The workbook has the answers in the back. If you take this in conjunction with a course, so much the better.

However, this will not make you fluent by any means - at most it gets you up to intermediate. Enough for tourism at any rate, but not enough to prepare you for a life in France and working in French. But the books don't claim to do so.

It would be nice if there were CD-ROMs available (if there are, i haven't seen them). These CD ROMS could have games, quizes, etc.

Just one other thing - the book is GIGANTIC! At least when I had it; it was almost too big for my bag, and was the largest of my university books.

Customer Reviews:

Colorado Waterfalls.......2007-02-08

I will enjoy looking at the different waterfalls that are located in Colorado

great book.......2006-08-03

as an amature photographer , this guide is very helpful in planning shots I will take. It is also a great albeit small coffe tablebook

Average customer rating:

Colorado (Waterfall cover)
James Frank
Manufacturer: Altitude Publishing (Canada)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Color | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1552650197

Book Description

Featuring more that 100 full-color images, Jame's Frank's Colorado presents a magnificent portrait of the Centennial State. From the quite grandeur of the Eastern Plains, to the urbane excitement of the Front Range, to the majesty of the Rocky Mountains to the incomparable scenic splendor of the Western Slope and Four Corners, Franks' gifted photographic vision shares a Colorado which is truly wondrous.

Book Description

Dumont's stories in the 1820s and 1830s are bravely critical toward such American institutions as racism toward Indians and masculine violence. In her later writing, Dumont attacks snobbishness, selfishness, and provincialism. The very existence of her sketches and stories which embody a woman's idealistic viewpoint also challenges common, "Daniel Boone"-type conceptions of the pioneer ethic. Her stories can still animate the reader, who will discover what contemporary issues concerned people in the Ohio River Valley nearly two hundred years ago. A final benefit from apreciating Julia L. Dumont's narratives about frontier culture in the first half of the nineteenth century is that they remind the reader of the continuing need to reassess women's contribution to American culture.

TECUMSEH, THE STORY OF THE SHAWNEE CHIEF

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TECUMSEH, THE STORY OF THE SHAWNEE CHIEF
Luella Bruce Creighton
Manufacturer: Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MJBBM0

Tecumseh: The story of the Shawnee chief, (Great stories of Canada)

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Tecumseh: The story of the Shawnee chief, (Great stories of Canada)
Luella Bruce Creighton
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Tecumtha and the Story of the American Indian: A Biographical Novel

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Tecumtha and the Story of the American Indian: A Biographical Novel
Vernon H., Sr. Castle
Manufacturer: Lost Coast Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1882897676

These Lands Are Ours: Tecumseh's Fight for the Old Northwest (Stories of America)

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These Lands Are Ours: Tecumseh's Fight for the Old Northwest (Stories of America)
Kate Connell
Manufacturer: Steck-Vaughn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

War of 1812 | Military | History | Subjects | Books

jp-unknown1 | Specialty Stores | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0811480674

The trail of Tecumseh (Great Indian chiefs series)

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The trail of Tecumseh (Great Indian chiefs series)
Paul G Tomlinson
Manufacturer: D. Appleton and Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0008CALKY

Average customer rating:

The Story of the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh
Luella Bruce Creighton
Manufacturer: MacMillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JRIC0Y

Book Description

The enormous recent success of molecular developmental biology has yielded a vast amount of new information on the details of development. So much so that we risk losing sight of the underlying principles that apply to all development. To cut through this thicket, John Tyler Bonner ponders a moment in evolution when development was at its most basic--the moment when signaling between cells began. Although multicellularity arose numerous times, most of those events happened many millions of years ago. Many of the details of development that we see today, even in simple organisms, accrued over a long evolutionary timeline, and the initial events are obscured. The relatively uncomplicated and easy-to-grow cellular slime molds offer a unique opportunity to analyze development at a primitive stage and perhaps gain insight into how early multicellular development might have started.

Through slime molds, Bonner seeks a picture of the first elements of communication between cells. He asks what we have learned by looking at their developmental biology, including recent advances in our molecular understanding of the process. He then asks what is the most elementary way that polarity and pattern formation can be achieved. To find the answer, he uses models, including mathematical ones, to generate insights into how cell-to-cell cooperation might have originated. Students and scholars in the blossoming field of the evolution of development, as well as evolutionary biologists generally, will be interested in what Bonner has to say about the origins of multicellular development--and thus of the astounding biological complexity we now observe--and how best to study it.

Customer Reviews:

Learned a lot!.......2007-07-11

Dr. Bonner writes in a way that all of us can understand. Early in my Biology education, I am able to understand everything he is explaining. I believe I have a pretty good grip on cellular slime molds at this point!
The signaling that goes on between different cells is just really cool. I totally enjoyed this book!

Book Description

''An essential book for people working in the area of sulfur compounds in the environment and should be in all institutional libraries....Well indexed, well presented.'' --- SGM Quarterly, November 1997 ''Extremely useful and well-produced symposium volume that should be of interest to many environmental scientists, microbial and plant physiologists, and aquatic ecologists.'' The Quarterly Review of Biology, June 1998

Book Description

James Stirling's "Methodus Differentialis" is one of the early classics of numerical analysis. It contains not only the results and ideas for which Stirling is chiefly remembered, for example, Stirling numbers and Stirling's asymptotic formula for factorials, but also a wealth of material on transformations of series and limiting processes. An impressive collection of examples illustrates the efficacy of Stirling's methods by means of numerical calculations, and some germs of later ideas, notably the Gamma function and asymptotic series, are also to be found.

This volume presents a new translation of Stirling's text that features an extensive series of notes in which Stirling's results and calculations are analysed and historical background is provided. Ian Tweddle places the text in its contemporary context, but also relates the material to the interests of practising mathematicians today. Clear and accessible, this book will be of interest to mathematical historians, researchers and numerical analysts.

Average customer rating:

Many Cultures, One Humanity

Great Travel Book

Worthwhile

Around the world in 25 stories

Wonderful collection for all, who like reading short stories

Other Voices, Other Vistas: Short Stories from Africa, China, India, Japan and Latin America
Various
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Chinese | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Worlds of Fiction (2nd Edition)

Things Fall Apart: A Novel

A Walk in My World: International Short Stories About Youth

Into the Widening World: International Coming-Of-Age Stories

Concert of Voices: An Anthology of World Writing

ASIN: 0451628454

Book Description

This collection of contemporary multi-cultural fiction includes stories by: Bessie Head * Charles Mungoshi * Ngugi wa Thiong'o * Wang Anyi * Ding Ling * Wang Meng * Chen Rong * Lu Wenfu * Anita Desai * Mahasweta Devi * Ruth Prawer Jhabvala * R. K. Narayan * Khushwant Singh * Kobo Abe * Sawako Ariyoshi * Yasunari Kawabata * Yukio Mishima * Yuko Tsushima * Jorge Luis Borges * Carlos Fuentes * Luisa Valenzuela * Nadine Gordimer * Isabel Allende

Customer Reviews:

Many Cultures, One Humanity.......2007-08-29

The more you read about other cultures, the more you realize how similar we are beneath the surface. "Other Voices, Other Vistas" is a collection of stories that celebrates our differences while bringing us closer together. Some of the more insightful and poignant stories include:
India: "The Interview" by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
India: "A Horse and Two Goats" by R.K. Narayan
Africa: "The Collector of Treasures" by Bessie Head
Africa: "Who Will Stop the Dark?" by Charles Mungoshi
Latin America: "Book of Sand" by Jorge Luis Borges
China: "Sketches from the 'Cattle Shed'" by Ding Ling
China: "Kite Streamers" by Wang Meng
China: "Regarding the Problem of Newborn Piglets in Winter" by Chen Rong
But my absolute favorite story in the entire collection is, without a doubt (drum roll, please):
Japan: "The Magic Chalk" by Kobo Abe.
For my money, "The Magic Chalk" is worth the price of the book. It is a witty, magical tale invoking the apocalyptic outlook of a post Hiroshima/Nagasaki Japan. Should be required reading.

Great Travel Book.......2007-08-22

I picked up this collection for a trip. It was a great collection to sit on the beach with. Each story is different and exciting. It's also nice to explore different cultures and think about your next great trip!

Worthwhile.......2007-03-24

This book was published in 1992 and contains 25 short stories, five each from Sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, Japan and Latin America. Most of the works were written or published in the 1970s and 80s, except the stories for Japan, all but one of which came out originally in the 1950s and 60s.

The stories were chosen to showcase major writers from these regions who published after World War II, and whose work was already available in English translation. The compiler was attracted, firstly, to stories that provided insight into the values, pressures, behavior and conflicts of people from other cultures. ("What does it feel like to grow up in Beijing, Bombay, or Buenos Aires? Increasingly, we have become fascinated by the details of daily existence in other cultures and curious about the lives of those whose circumstances and pressures seem so different from our own.") And secondly, to works that transcended individual situations and locations to touch on the shared human condition.

Themes in the stories included relationships between family members, men and women, different social or racial groups in a particular society, and artists and society, and the struggle to find a job or overcome poverty, civil strife, repression or imprisonment. The stories from China showed the impact of the Cultural Revolution: three of them contained main characters either banished to the countryside or imprisoned because of it.

Each region was represented by just five stories, and the quality overall seemed fairly high, even though it was difficult to get more than a glimpse of "what it feels like" in each place. Works that succeeded particularly in communicating atmosphere were, in my opinion, "Civil Peace" by Achebe, about a family struggling to survive the aftermath of civil war; "Africa Emergent" by Gordimer, about the relations between a black artist and a white architect during the time of apartheid and the resulting psychological tensions; "The Destination," by Wang Anyi, about a man returning to Shanghai after years of internal exile; and "The Man from a Peddlers' Family" by Lu Wenfu, about a political cadre's acquaintance with a peddler over many years, through the political shifts in their society, conveyed particularly well in their remarks to each other.

Others included a tale by Kushwant Singh about an Indian civil servant who's been so Anglicized he can no longer follow his society's customs; "Papito's Story" by Luisa Valenzuela, in which a neighbor observes passively an incident during the period of military rule in Argentina; Sawako Ariyoshi's "The Tomoshibi," about the inhabitants of a cozy little bar in a Tokyo backstreet; and Yuko Tsushima's "The Silent Traders," about a woman's memories of a particular neighborhood at various stages of her life. The stories set in Japan, though, felt a generation or two out of date at the least.

It's too bad that a multicultural anthology such as this one, published more than a year after the Gulf War, omitted the Arab world. Major Arab writers whose works were available in English translation before this book was published included 1988 Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz, Yusuf Idris, Alifa Rifaat, Ghassan Kanafani, Zakaria Tamer and Mohamed Choukri. I also wondered why Japan was included instead, since it should've already been comparatively familiar to Americans as a fully industrialized U.S. ally.

The book provided useful lists of fiction anthologies for each region and informed biographies for each author. Although it's a minor point, in the table of contents in the China section the five authors aren't alphabetized correctly (the first author's surname is Wang, not Anyi, for example), and their stories should've been reordered.

Readers who enjoyed this book might also enjoy Global Cultures: A Transnational Short Fiction Reader, a multicultural anthology of some 60 short stories that was published in 1994.

Around the world in 25 stories.......2003-02-18

"Other Voices, Other Vistas," edited by Barbara H. Solomon, is a wonderful anthology of stories. The selections in the book are grouped by geographic region into 5 sections, each containing 5 stories. The regions represented are Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America. In her introduction, Solomon notes that all of the stories are written by major authors who had published fiction after World War II.

The group of 25 authors is full of noteworthy names: Chinua Achebe, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Jorge Luis Borges, and more. The themes in the anthology include love, marriage, parenthood, oppressive governments, art, religion, economic struggle, ideological conflict, and cultural dislocation. The modes range from fantasy to stark reality--there is violence and serenity, beauty and grotesqueness, sorrow and humor.

I especially loved the Chinese stories, which give a vivid portrayal of life under the Communist regime--it's like a real life dystopia. Other strong selections include Yukio Mishima's "Acts of Worship," about a professor's pilgrimage; Isabel Allende's "Clarisa," a colorful character study; and R.K. Narayan's "A Horse and Two Goats," a story of cross-cultural miscommunication. Overall, I would recommend this book both as a classroom text and for individual reading. Recommended companion text: "Caribbean New Wave," a short story anthology edited by Stewart Brown.

Wonderful collection for all, who like reading short stories.......2000-05-11

This is a pocket-size book, that contains short stories from the best international authors. Each story is a good one. Each one is different from the next. So, this book is good not only for college classes, but anyone who enjoys reading short stories from Asian, Latin, and African authors.

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