Workbooks · French Foundations

The cover of French Foundations
A1 · the written course

French Foundations

A year with Colette and Filou, in 24 chapters. Every chapter teaches one piece of grammar and one piece of pronunciation, with the sound written out in plain English under every French line — and not one French word appears before the book has taught it.

  • 126 pages · 24 chapters
  • 323 words, taught in order
  • Exercises with worked answers
  • Printable PDF, A4 — nothing to install
  • Buy once, yours forever — updates included
$24.99

Emailed the moment you pay · 30-day refund, keep the PDF

Every chapter

All 24 chapters, and the pronunciation point each one teaches. Read the sound column down the page and it is a system for decoding written French — which is the part most courses leave to the end.

Part One · BonjourColette introduces herself, her dog, and her town. From nothing to naming things.
  1. 1 Bonjour, je m'appelle Colette
    Hello, my name is Colette · sound: the French r
  2. 2 Filou et moi
    Filou and me · sound: the letters you do not say
  3. 3 Un chat, une tarte
    A cat, a tart · sound: un versus une
  4. 4 Le chat de Colette
    Colette's cat · sound: ou versus u
  5. 5 J'ai un chien
    I have a dog · sound: the nasals on and an
  6. 6 Révision 1
    Naming the world · sound: everything so far, in one place
Part Two · Ma journéeHer day, hour by hour. Verbs arrive, and with them the ability to say what you do.
  1. 7 Un café, s'il vous plaît
    A coffee, please · sound: é versus è
  2. 8 Tu aimes le café ?
    Do you like coffee? · sound: liaison, part one
  3. 9 Non, pas du tout
    No, not at all · sound: the ne that natives drop
  4. 10 Quelle heure est-il ?
    What time is it? · sound: eu
  5. 11 Où est la boulangerie ?
    Where is the bakery? · sound: oi
  6. 12 Révision 2
    A day in the town · sound: the whole system, so far
Part Three · Les gensHer family, her neighbours, the man at the bakery. Describing people, and the last two verb groups.
  1. 13 Ma famille
    My family · sound: gn
  2. 14 Elle est grande et gentille
    She is tall and kind · sound: the endings you can hear
  3. 15 Je finis, je pars
    I finish, I leave · sound: ill
  4. 16 Je fais, je vais
    I do, I go · sound: ai and ei
  5. 17 Je vais chercher Filou
    I'm going to fetch Filou · sound: rhythm, and why French has no stress
  6. 18 Révision 3
    People and plans · sound: everything, and the one that matters most
Part Four · Le monde autourWeather, money, the road out of town. By the end she can be left alone in France, and so can you.
  1. 19 Du pain et de la confiture
    Bread and jam · sound: the e you do not say
  2. 20 Combien ça coûte ?
    How much is it? · sound: numbers, and where liaison is forbidden
  3. 21 Il fait froid
    It's cold · sound: ch and j
  4. 22 Je peux, je veux, je dois
    I can, I want, I must · sound: open and closed eu
  5. 23 Prends la première rue
    Take the first street · sound: connected speech
  6. 24 Révision 4
    You can be left in France · sound: the whole decoding system

Inside the book

Real pages, straight from the PDF. Every exercise carries an instruction and a worked first item, and every answer explains why — which is what separates this from a printout of vocabulary.

Page 8 of French Foundations
Page 8
Page 49 of French Foundations
Page 49
Page 90 of French Foundations
Page 90

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