Learning French on the Go: An Introduction for Beginners and Novices

Dear Readers: Over the last several months I have been making corrections and improvements to the majority of my books, and I've recently made similar improvements to this book so as to bring it up to par with the others. Even so, I still consider it a book for novices written by a novice, but it's much better than before and reflects my greater knowledge of this wonderful language. I hope you will consider giving it a try. This same book is also available in paperback with CreateSpace. I've also included this book for free in Amazon's Matchbook program which means that anyone who purchases the paperback can have this Kindle version for free. I hope you like the book. Thank you and best wishes, Dave

This book is intended to be an elementary introduction to the French language for beginners, and it does not have pictures, tourist information or exercises.

This book contains phrases useful in daily life, important vocabulary and basic grammar. Topics include:

Table of Contents
Introduction
La prononciation (pronunciation)
some basics
consonants
accent marks
vowels and vowel sounds
diphthongs and vowel combinations
er and ez
different vowel sounds
u as in lune
nasal sounds
Å“u and eu
liaison
Familiar vs. Formal
Masculine vs. Feminine
Dans la classe (in class)
avoir (to have)
avoir besoin (to need)
indefinite and definite articles
de, de la, du and des
il y a (there is, there are)
in class
Les gens (people)
Les salutations (greetings)
Hí!
Bye!
How’s it goin?
useful words and phrases
asking for help
Les présentations (introductions)
La famille (the family)
The Verb être (to be)
Professions et métiers (professions and trades)
Les pays (countries)
Les langues du monde (languages of the world)
Les villes (cities)
Parler de l’âge (talking about age)
Décrire les personnes (describing people)
Les vêtements (clothes)
underwear and housewear
footwear
pants and trousers
female garments
shirts and sweaters
hats, belts, neckwear
coats, jackets, gloves, etc.
suits
handbags, wallets, purses
eyewear
jewelry, metals and materials
Les couleurs (colors)
Les jours (days)
Les mois (months)
Les quatre saisons (the four seasons)
Les numéros et la date (numbers and dates)
Parler de l’heure (telling time)
Les activités (activities)
The Verb aller (to go)
Les lieux (places)
Demander des directions (asking for directions)
Modes de transport (modes of transport)
Le temps (the weather)
Les animaux (animals)
La nature (nature)
Le corps humain (the human body)
Sentiments et conditions (feelings and conditions)
How are you?
the verb se sentir (to feel)
adjectives of feelings and conditions
Nourriture et boissons (food and drinks)
breakfast
lunch, snack, dinner, etc.
drinks
at the table
fruit
vegetables
meats
seafood
dessert
miscellaneous
nuts
in the kitchen
La maison (the house/home)
Possessive Adjectives
Regular Verbs in the Present Tense
Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense
The passé composé in French
The Historic Past (le passé simple)
The Imperfect Past (l’imparfait)
The Future and the Conditional
Les verbes pronominaux (reflexive verbs)
Verb Forms and Constructions
French Words or Expressions Used in English