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 Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:18 pm
I have recently acquired 2 French learning books from my sister..
1) Berlitz French Book, year 1979
2) Lemaitre French book, year 1962
They're pretty old, but read really well. They use the '3 step method' they show the phrase in French, then a pronunciation sentence, then it in English, and im finding it really helpful. I also have a 2000's French book and a current verb book.
* Do you try to use books that are currently published? If so, why?
If you also use old books, what are the years? Do you find them good to use to learn?
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:46 pm
My assigned textbooks have all been recent editions, but I always check out the foreign section of used book stores, in case I can find something inexpencively.
I've got something for French (I haven't got it in front of me, so I can't tell you the author or the exact year) that's from the 1940s or early 1950s. It doesn't have all the photos and illustrations most newer textbooks do, so it's small enough to bring along when I think I might have a few spare moments to study.
I've also got a bilingual French-German dictionary that's from the 1920s or 1930s - the German words are all written in Fractur, so it gives me a bit of a headache to read, and it's definately a spelling reform or two behind, but it's definately a favorite of mine.
I love them both for that charming, crumbling, old book feeling.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:59 pm
lili of the lamplight My assigned textbooks have all been recent editions, but I always check out the foreign section of used book stores, in case I can find something inexpencively. I've got something for French (I haven't got it in front of me, so I can't tell you the author or the exact year) that's from the 1940s or early 1950s. It doesn't have all the photos and illustrations most newer textbooks do, so it's small enough to bring along when I think I might have a few spare moments to study. I've also got a bilingual French-German dictionary that's from the 1920s or 1930s - the German words are all written in Fractur, so it gives me a bit of a headache to read, and it's definately a spelling reform or two behind, but it's definately a favorite of mine. I love them both for that charming, crumbling, old book feeling. Old books smell good x3 And im always curious where it has been before me... I think my older French books, explain things better. Even though it still has France's currency as Francs XD
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:03 am
I have checked out books that are almost as old as my parents (though I'm only a teen) from my local library but I usually have to return them before I get a chance to see if they work or not. I am in one of those families that see self-study as a good thing, so long as no other grades at school slip...then it's back to the library with the books.
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:18 pm
lili of the lamplight I've also got a bilingual French-German dictionary that's from the 1920s or 1930s - the German words are all written in Fractur, so it gives me a bit of a headache to read, and it's definately a spelling reform or two behind, but it's definately a favorite of mine. I hated trying to read Fractur until I forced myself to learn it to be able to translate propoganda posters from WWI. Fractur has definitley grown on me, I don't hate it so much now. smile
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 8:16 pm
I've recently taken to raiding the library at one of the local universities... They've got a fair collection of journals in German, including some going back to the early 20th century (and reprints of some from the late 1800s). The older ones are generally in Fraktur, and I was recently surprised to discover that it doesn't give me quite as much of a headache as before (although the acquisition of reading glasses may have something to do with that). Still, I prefer reading in roman letters.
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:21 pm
I realized how old my Japanese textbook was when it had the name for the USSR instead of Russia. It's okay and I know I'm learning the language, but I sometimes worry that some of the phrases are outdated. Like how an English textbook from the 1970s might have the word 'groovy' in it. I bet the TAs are laughing behind the students' backs at how old-fashioned we sound.
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:41 pm
I had an old French book on me, but I think I lost it in my last move. :C
But I do think about it from time to time, sometimes in class, they'd issue books from the 80s. You look at the cover of the book with this lady with like...really big hair, then you look at the print date and it's all
(c) 1982
And you're all xd
Then I think back on ancient civilization and how nations HAD to learn different languages to suit whatever situation they might have been in, and wonder how much more difficult it could've been, because they didn't quite have the textbooks and not everyone even had the education to read at all in the first place.
Time is SO odd...Sometimes. whee
But I digress. ninja
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 2:48 pm
California apparently has some restriction on the ages of the primary textbooks assigned for any class, so we almost always have to use the newest edition, even when it's not the best, there are few changes, or it's drastically overpriced. It's kind of stupid, especially for lower-level classes. Dog is perro is chien is Hund, and that's not likely to change in the span of several years. Slang changes more rapidly, but that's usually not handled much until upper-level classes, and even then, it is rarely a focus of academic instruction. The only exception I would really see is in case of a spelling reform or something, where there are officially changes made to the language.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:31 pm
I own a bunch of French books that were publlished during WWI (one begins by saying how it will teach you to speak like a modern French person. xp ) When I'm reading them, I don't really worry about if they are out of date because everyone in our French class already gets comments that we sound like we are the age of our teacher when we speak because of the phrases we use.
I've found that people who read a lot of Shakespeare while learning to speak English are very fun to talk to.
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