Not for beginners but good for smoothing out creases in your French grammar. Review on 5th Edition. (Schaum's Outline of French Grammar - Mary Coffman Crocker)

Member Name: bkecky

Product:	Schaum's Outline of French Grammar - Mary Coffman Crocker
Date:	26/06/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very thorough, gives exceptions and builds up in difficulty

Disadvantages: Complicated language used, it is expected you already know grammar terms

I first but the German version of this book and was so impressed with it that I purchased the French version. It retails in the shops at the regular price of £9.99, which is not at all bad for a language text book. It is a great book but having spoken German better than French I found that it was at a slightly higher level with listing all exceptions and rules that you would be there all day learning if you read it back to front! Yet this is a good thing that it is so thorough just a bit high for anything at GCSE level or below.

For A -level and degree level students this a great tool though. There are 578 exercises that allow you to practice the rules that you learned, although for me I would prefer a few more or perhaps an accompanying workboook as the explanations are very concise and it moves quickly onto the next part of the grammar rule or exception.

The verbs section is particularly thorough and I found it very useful for learning the basic tenses, which is enough for me at the moment but I can see in the future that it will be necessary to go into the further tenses. The book is arranged into Nouns and Articles, Adjectives and Adverbs, Prepositions, Numbers, Dates, Time, Verbs, Interrogative Words and Constructions, Negative Words and Constructions, Pronouns, and Special Meanings of Certain Verbs. Within the contents page it lists all the sub-headings within the section, which makes finding the exact thing you want very easy and reduces the need to start and the beginning and work to the end. A grammar pick 'n' mix if you will. Doesn't that sound fun?!

There is also a set of verb charts at the end for easy reference. I like how the exercises and grammar rules develop from basic to more advanced so you can stop when you feel you have reached your particular level. Do not make the mistake that I did and try to do the whole chapter when your knowledge is not so extensive because then you end up forgetting most of the main stuff and getting mixed up in the exercises.

A disadvantage is that often the sentences and vocabulary are not translated so you are just expected to know, which is great on the simple things but when it gets more complicated it would be nice to have an English translation so that it is easier to comprehend and to build vocabulary. For verbs the translation is given but not for nouns. For tenses it would also be useful to have the translation of the equivalent so that it is easier to remember. But maybe working it out for yourself is what the book is aiming to achieve.

This book also requires a basic knowledge of grammar. You need to know the differences between your comparatives, reflexive pronouns, auxillary verbs, superlatives etc. Otherwise you can find yourself being a bit lost in the explanations and having to refer to the grammar index for a definition, which is why I would also say this is not for GCSE where grammar coverage is limited.

Overall it is a very good book for sorting out those hazy areas but maybe for starters something a bit basic is more necessary and I would not recommend this for a beginner but for someone who already has a grasp of the language because otherwise it can be baffling. When I first opened this I couldn't get beyond the present tense exercises, but now my language has developed I find it very useful to dip into now and again and clarify any uncertainties. But one thing I must say is that if this is the outline of French grammar I dread to think what the detailed account would be like!

Summary: A great book for helping sort out those uncertainties.