Learning written French

HeadPig

Hi,

I have had good success "self-teaching" French through listening to podcasts. However, this neglects the written aspect of the language which I feel I need to understand to comprehend the language more wholly and also just so I can become confident in reading it.

I can't see myself poring over textbooks; is there any easy alternative? I would read a book but I feel I'm not at that level yet.

peckerhead

The BBC Languages website has a huge selection of free materials — oral/aural/written. Also, don't dismiss all textbooks, many of them aren't simply pages and pages of verb tables and the like but contain passages for reading accompanied by grammatical explanations of certain features in the text (so learning by example and context, rather than abstract rules), vocabulary-building glossaries, writing activites, etc. Drop into a good foreign language bookshop like Modern Languages on Westland Row and browse a few. They also (IIRC) sell lots of "readers" for learners — abridged/simplified versions of "real" works of literature. Chat to the staff and ask for recommendations — something like Camus' L'Étranger, which is not too challenging linguistically and is also a great novel (part of the reason why you'll find it on so many first-year college courses). Or look at something like the Penguin Parallel Texts series.

The more you read, the quicker you'll build vocabulary and develop a sense of how the language works.

Two other good websites I often recommend to students:
http://french.about.com/ (for a 'plain English' approach to grammar)
http://forum.wordreference.com/forumdisplay.php?f=25 (great discussion forum for language learners, teachers and translators)