Mad Beppo
A different kind of animal.
Please link on the first page.
SO, YOU NEED TO LEARN TO
READ FRENCH?
Many sites can teach you to SPEAK French, but perhaps what you need is to be able to READ French. Professor Mad Beppo* has compiled his digital French resources (a course and language files, songs, and texts) to help take you from zero knowledge of the language to reading sophisticated texts with ease.
French for Reading Knowledge
An online, self-guided course for a person wishing to learn how to read French. Chapter 00 (see below) will tell you everything you need to get started. You will be directing yourself through this course, but if you have any questions, encounter any problems, or simply want to introduce yourself, feel free to contact the Professor.
Chapter 00
Introduction to doing this course online. Go here before doing anything else.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Begin Learning the Rules of Pronunciation
2. Acquire This Book
Edward M. Stack.1
Reading French in the Arts and Sciences, Fourth Edition.
Houghton-Mifflin, c1987.
ISBN: 0395359686
Review Frequently
Even if you are not planning on writing or speaking French, you will need to do some serious memory work. You need to acquire a multi-thousand word basic vocabulary that you do not need to look up; perhaps 3000 words that are not easy cognates. You need to be able to recognize parts of speech (what’s a noun, a verb, an article, an adjective, an adverb, etc.) and the forms of verbs (tenses and personal endings), without having continually to look up such things.
Such ready recognition is the goal, and to get there you will need go over the matters covered in this course on a regular basis and recommit them to memory. In doing this review work, you may consult not only of the textbook and my commentaries, but also the French Language Files.
Passive or Active?
It is true that, in order to be able simply to read French, a passive knowledge of forms and meanings is all you need; it is also true, in theory, that a passive knowledge (= ability to recognize) is easier to attain than an active knowledge (= ability to use). However, I think it is also true that, to some degree at least, the best passive knowledge is an active knowledge...
The author's website is worth exploring whether you purchase the book or not.
French Texts
Depending on your purpose or the level of your French, texts have been grouped into the following categories.
Reading French: 1st Level
Not for absolute beginners: to be able to read these selections you should have gone through at least the first ten chapters of the French for Reading Knowledge course (or be at the equivalent level).
Reading French: 2nd Level
Somewhat more difficult texts, with less elaborate glossing. You should have gone through most of the French for Reading Knowledge course before starting on these.
Reading French: 3rd Level
Practice texts for perfecting your ability to read difficult French with a fair amount of ease.
French Fully Translated
French texts of great interest made accessible to those with little or no knowledge of French by a complete translation into English.
Interpretations
Files devoted in part or in full to the illumination of a literary text.
Old French
Files containing or referring to French texts written prior to AD1300.
French Songs
Songs the Professor finds of particular merit both lyrically and pedagogically. Most songs include a bit of factology, a link to an online recording, some grammatical notes, the French lyrics, and an English translation.
https://www.madbeppo.com/https://www.madbeppo.com/french-texts/My friendly suggestion would be to also consult the audiobooks whenever possible:
http://www.litteratureaudio.com/