Tune Up Your French (Book + Audio CD): The Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Spoken French (Tune Up Your Language Series)

This is just what I was looking for. It's got colloquial phrases and ways to chat that I haven't found in previous texts. It's ideal for my level - enthusiastic rather than fluent - and I can recommend this without hesitation.

the book itself is usefull to me but it is littered with notes and comments throughout made by the previoous owner. I dont think people who write on their books should be passing them off as 'good as new'

Useful and practical - though I found some of the exercises a bit irritating. useful for working on pronunciation and accent.

Even after 40 years of French study I found this book fascinating.

As it's second hand I didn't have the audio cd that comes with it. Beyond that it has top 10 lists of ways to say things in but its not a book I'd read cover to cover more open up and dip into for things when bored.

I can read and write the french language, but cannot speak it nor understand the spoken word. MY grand-daughter doing a degree in french recommended the book to me, I have now also bought it for Christmas presents for 2 friends who are in a similar position regarding speaking the language. As I have just purchased the book it will be next year when I visit France before I can tell you how many stars I can rate the book or how effective it is.

This book contains a lot of expressions and help with pronunciation, and is great in this way. But I was slightly disappointed that there is more written English in there than actual French, but if you like explanations and additionaly info, I guess you will be happy with this book.

Instead of grammar and endless conjugations and silly useless exercises, we get useful insights into how to say useful things. I couldn't recommend a book more highly! It takes a lot of practice, and a lot of embarrassing errors, to learn a new language. It's hard to find people who will give you just the right correction at the right time--because this is what sticks in my brain. It is infinitely pleasing to try out a new phrase and have it understood and accepted. This book gives lots of that type of phrase, reassures about spoken verbs, tells you how to say "I'm just looking" and "I'll think about it," and provides nice lists of "faux amis" and good swear words. Really excellent, useful book--if you want to learn more French, read this book!

This book didn't turn out as helpful with my french as I had hoped. Many of the lists are useless. Some parts are OK.

Fifteen years ago I got a BA in French and never really did anything with it, so I've gotten a little rusty. This book and especially the audio cd has really helped me spruce things up. The first few tracks on the CD are a little basic and not too useful to someone with a higher level of french under their belts (ex. a lesson on oui and non), but the rest of it is a great review. Having a degree in French actually doesn't equate to fluency. I know the french of litterature very well since that's what my courses focused on, but I often found myself paralysed when faced with a french speaker because I didn't feel confident in my ability to compose sentences that didn't sound like they were from an 18th century novel. This set has really helped make my french skills more current and fresh so I don't sound like an old book! I listen to the CD while driving over and over and you will probably find that you go through the book more than once, too since it's so full of info.

This book is a great addition to other books and CDs for mastering French. Along with useful French expressions used in daily conversations, it also provides slang from different parts of French-speaking world, as well as some cultural differences between French and American customs. You will learn expressions to help you start up conversations, ask questions, expressions used when shopping, going out, eating, when you need help and in many other situations. You will also learn French manners, body language and interjections, as well as popular idioms and famous French quotations. The book comes with an hour long audio CD created in a conversational style. The CD covers some expressions used in a book with additional commentary, though it would've been great if all of the expressions were recorded.

I love this book! Although my spoken French isn't bad, there are so many little things I've learned from skimming through this book -- for example, how to order a decaf espresso, what to say when someone is about to cut in front of you in line, or the fact that when giving a phone number, the French say the digits in pairs, whereas Americans say each number individually. The book is organized in chapters by topics, but because of its "top ten" format you can also open it at random and you're sure to learn something new and unexpected. Although it is written in a very amusing style, it's packed with useful information. A French friend who looked at it gave it her seal of approval, saying that the author really knew French expressions and customs. I keep the CD in my car and pop it in occasionally just for the fun of repeating some of the idioms and phrases along with the French speakers. I've given this book to friends whose proficiency in French varied greatly and they've all raved about it. Highly recommended!