For example, it draws parallels between English sounds and French sounds, and it teaches you tricks for remembering when a letter is silent.

Having aided millions of travellers on their journeys, DK's iconic Eyewitness Phrase Book series is back and better than ever. Like in other Romance languages, nouns in French are either "masculine" or "feminine"; adjectives vary accordingly. ZHUH vuh pahr-LAY ah lahm-ba-SAHD oo oh kon-soo-LAHT a-may-ree-CAN/os-trah-lee-AHN/ahn-GLEH/ka-na-DYAN) I want to speak to a lawyer. Stunning images enhance the content and make this the most visually attractive French phrase book on the market.poor-yay-VOOZ ahk-sep-TAY) expensive cher ( shehr) cheap bon marché ( bong mar-SHAY) (Note: this doesn't change with the gender or number of the noun. Unlike in English, all inanimate objects have a gender assigned to them: for example, pain (bread) is masculine, while confiture (jam) is feminine. zhuh sweez uhn see-twa-YEN a-may-ree-CAN/os-trah-LYEN/bree-tah-NEEK/ka-na-DYEN) I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.

Having access to a great French dictionary is really important when learning, but most books are much too big to take along with you on your travels. To specify "tap water", say "eau du robinet" ( OH doo roh-bee-NEH) or ask for a carafe of water "une carafe d'eau" ( OON cahr-AHF doh). On the other hand, if a noun ends in -ace, -ance / -ence, -ée, -elle / -erre / -esse / -ette, -ie, -ice, -ine, -ise, -que, or -tion / sion, it's probably feminine.Nevertheless, all Francophone Canadians, including Québécois, learn standard French in school, and most of the differences between the two varieties are limited to informal speech. In the end, the author has put together a little bonus material that goes over the Do’s and Don’ts and other etiquette of the French culture.

While France has very good public transport links, getting your head around them when abroad can be a real challenge.

In the combinations "gue" and "gui", the "u" should not be pronounced: it is there only to force the prononciation of "g" as in "go". It has long been the language of international diplomacy and communication, and although largely supplanted by English since World War II, it remains de rigueur (of obligatory requirement) for educated people in many societies around the world to have some level of basic French ability. However, how many of them provide you the tools necessary to have a common conversation with a best friend or someone you've just met? After initially using the vous form, a person may say to you "On peut se tutoyer"; this is a polite invitation for you to use the tu form with them. But if you're from an English-speaking country, then as a general rule of thumb, you'll find that if you ask for what you're used to at home, the meat will be rarer than you'd like.