Richard Simcott

One of the first books I started reading while learning French. It was fairly effective in its goals of being a beginner-level graded reader, and the stories were actually more engaging than one would expect. However, do not expect quality writing, good descriptions, deeper meanings, or anything of that sort--these stories are utilitarian, designed purely to get you started reading French with stories that are just interesting enough to push you through.

I wasn't really sure how to rate this show more book, given its use as a didactic tool. Ultimately, I decided to give it a 4. It was effective in its aims of getting a beginner started in reading a language. However, I docked it from 5 because the stories were not originally written in French. All of the stories in the Short Stories in X For Beginners series are identical, regardless of language, which leads me to suspect that they were originally written in English and then translated. This leaves this book open to the possibility that some words or phrases are not 'authentic' to how an actual French writer would write or say things. Furthermore, this may dull the effective of reading more Short Stories in X for Beginners books, as one would already be familiar with the stories and so the sense of discovery would be lost. show less

This is an interesting story collection in French for those who have been learning French and want to try more complicated sentence structures.

Unlike the usual books that are aimed at beginners, this contains eight fairly lengthy stories. Each tale is written in a moderately difficult language; don’t expect literary gems though. They are from multiple genres such as historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, drama and so on. So you will not find them similar in nature and you will find a wide show more variety of words.

At the same time, the stories are not edited too well. There is a lot of repetition in the content (which helps in reinforcement but also creates boredom.)

There are word meanings provided but the words seem to be chosen randomly. In many cases, the meanings for simple/guessable words are provided (such as exploré, construit, port and other such words which are familiar to English readers) but complicated-to-guess words such as alentours, paraissait, bêtise,… are missed out.

There are practice exercises at the end of every chapter plus a glossary of meanings for some of the difficult words. I'd recommend keeping a French dictionary handy because you will still need it.

This book will serve well as a glimpse into French for slightly advanced learners, not so much for beginners.

3.5 stars, rounding up.

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Great intro book for when I was still a beginner in French.