As the eyes are windows to the soul, language provides insight and depth to our understanding of another culture.
In fact, knowledge of another language enhances understanding of our own language, and generally it strengthens our ability to communicate more effectively in both.
Images of France and French language have fascinated Americans of all ages throughout our history. Its sound and rhythm are particularly beautiful to the ear and emphasized by a culture that evokes images of fine art, literature, wine, and culinary delights, not to mention romantic love and sex appeal. It also evokes terror.
Those of us who are perfectionists or can't fathom speaking a French word outside the context of the latest American or British pop tune with a French refrain know what I'm talking about.
Those of us who have tried using our high school French on a French waiter know that response that strikes fear in one's heart. You know the one I'm talking about.
The one that says in only slightly accented, but perfect English, “I beg your pardon, what did you say you wanted?” Of course, the only thing worse than that is if he actually answers you—in French! Then you have to actually understand his response and pray for the correct reply.
If this troubles you, then hope and salvation are only pages away. Whether you're a beginner or have a few years of French language training under your belt, the Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning French On Your Own makes the basics basic and the harder stuff, well, simpler.
It is the primer that will give you the guideposts you'll need to learn this beautiful tongue while reducing your fear of learning it.
Whether you fear mastering the accent, or the dreaded subjunctive, there are tips to enlighten you and rules written in a vernacular that any American or English reader can understand.
At the French Institute Alliance Françoise, New York's French Cultural Center, we immerse our students in French language training, complemented by French films, an electronic learning center, a full French library, and diverse live cultural programs from France and Francophone countries.
As the first American Director in over twenty years, my French was more than a little rusty. The first thing I did upon being appointed was to buy a good French-English dictionary.
The second thing I would have done—had it been published at the time—would have been to buy the Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning French On Your Own—the perfect complement to the uninitiated, the frightened—or the perfectionist who just wants to get it right.
