Book excerpt: French Sentences Vol.3: English & French THIS EDITION: The dual-language text has been arranged into sentences for quick and easy cross-referencing. The text can be used on its own. However, the content is ideal for reinforcing grammar, and as a precursor to more advanced bilingual editions. Volume 3 in this series takes a more in depth look at French grammar. It also includes some of the basic verb charts. Like in the first two volumes, the text uses a bilingual sentence structure to tackle grammar. It can be used as a primary source for grammar, or as a way for reinforcing an alternative text on grammar. However, it can also be read in a relaxed manner without endeavouring to analyse to excess, thus learning key grammatical concepts in a somewhat passive manner. The reader can choose between four formats: Section 1: English to French Section 2: French to English Section 3: English Section 4: French A methodology for getting the most out of this bilingual format is explained in the book’s Foreword. Once a student has studied the basics, a suitable book about basic grammar can be helpful. The suggestion is that any alternative grammar book be studied more with the intent of recognition and understanding, rather than memorising and obsessive rote learning. Go through as much of the grammar book you feel you can digest — maybe even the whole book — skipping over what is not easily understood. Then, read through a portion of text in this book, looking for examples of what you have picked up (or gleaned) in your hopefully not so arduous study of grammar. Then, depending on your inclination, return to the grammar book (or your basic French book), or move on to lengthier bilingual text — like in 2Language Books texts, for example —, or find some suitable French text: a simple novel, a French news website, etc. Grammar books will likely have some verb charts. However, there are currently good on-line resources that go further — dictionaries with a verb conjugation ‘search’ option. Many basic language books offer some form of audio support. Internet services — primarily news based radio stations — offer podcasts. Audio from television is an additional resource, and can be formatted for use on various digital platforms. However, if audio is an important component of your interest in languages, electronic devices that support quality text-to-speech (TTS) will likely be appealing. With a library card, TTS technology (in a device that supports the relevant content), and the above mentioned resources (as digital content), an entire language learning system is available for not much more than a cup of coffee! There is no substantial financial outlay to get you started. Furthermore, there are no additional ongoing fees (and updates), and there are no expiry dates on ‘premium’ content and resources. (A Dual-Language Book Project) 2Language Books