French in Conversation

The summer Léo comes to stay, in 24 chapters. Both French past tenses and the choice between them, reflexive verbs, object pronouns and comparisons — a story in every chapter, the sound written out in plain English, and an answer key that explains why. Follows French Foundations and assumes every word it taught.

145 pages · 24 chapters

467 words, taught in order

Exercises with worked answers

Printable PDF, A4 — nothing to install

Buy once, yours forever — updates included

$19.99 $24.99 Save 20%

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 · HierColette tells Claire what happened yesterday. The past arrives in the first chapter, exactly as Book One promised it would.

1 Hier, j'ai parlé à Claire
Yesterday I spoke to Claire · sound: -er and -é
2 J'ai fini, j'ai pris, j'ai fait
I finished, I took, I did · sound: the endings you hear, and the ones you don't
3 Je suis allée à la gare
I went to the station · sound: liaison inside je suis allée
4 Nous sommes sortis
We went out · sound: the agreement you can hear, and the one you can't
5 Je n'ai rien vu
I saw nothing · sound: the ne that isn't there
6 Révision 1
Hier · sound: Part One in one place

Part Two · AvantTwo women remember the town when they were young — and the second past tense arrives to describe it.

7 Quand j'étais jeune
When I was young · sound: three endings, one sound
8 Il pleuvait, il y avait du monde
It was raining, there were people · sound: *-ait* against *-é*, honestly
9 Tous les samedis, on allait au marché
Every Saturday we'd go to the market · sound: the hidden y in *-ions* and *-iez*
10 J'ai vu, je voyais
I saw, I used to see · sound: hearing the change of tense
11 Je dormais quand le téléphone a sonné
I was asleep when the phone rang · sound: running the words together at the join
12 Révision 2
Avant · sound: Part Two in one place

Part Three · Tous les joursLéo is in the house. Getting a seven-year-old up, washed and dressed is the best reason there is to learn the reflexives.

13 Je me lève à six heures
I get up at six · sound: the swallowed *me*
14 Je me suis levée tôt
I got up early · sound: *je me suis*, said as one word
15 Assieds-toi ! Ne bouge pas !
Sit down! Don't move! · sound: where the extra length falls in an order
16 Je le connais
I know him · sound: *le* and *la* vanishing before a vowel
17 Je lui ai téléphoné
I phoned her · sound: *lui* and *leur*
18 Révision 3
Tous les jours · sound: Part Three in one place

Part Four · Raconte-moiWeighing things up — then and now — and finally telling the whole summer as one story.

19 Plus grand que moi
Taller than me · sound: the *s* of *plus*
20 Le plus beau village de France
The prettiest village in France · sound: *le plus*, *le moins*, *mieux*
21 Plus de pain, moins de sucre
More bread, less sugar · sound: *autant*, *tant*, and two nasals in a row
22 Depuis, il y a, ça fait
Since, ago, for · sound: *depuis* and *puis*
23 D'abord, ensuite, tout à coup
First, then, all at once · sound: the tune of a story
24 Révision 4
French in Conversation · sound: the whole listening 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 9 of French in Conversation — Page 9

Page 50 of French in Conversation — Page 50

Page 97 of French in Conversation — Page 97

Also worth a look

New · le or la? look at the ending

French Nouns, Genders & Articles

Most French nouns tell you their gender in their last few letters. This book takes the endings one family at a time, each with a cut-paper picture and its real exceptions, then shows how le, un, du and au work. You stop guessing and start knowing.

95 pages · 40 endings and articles
Every rule comes with how far to trust it, and the exceptions worth knowing
How to say every word, and a "Your turn" with answers on every page

$9.99 Details

New · every tense, A1 to B1

French Verb Tenses

Say what you do, what you did and what you'll do. Each tense is taught the same way in pictures: what it's for, how to build it, the verbs that break the rules, and when not to use it.

89 pages · 33 lessons
Stem and ending shown as paper tiles
How to say every line, and an exercise with answers for each tense

$9.99 Details

New · see it, say it right

The Sounds of French

French spelling looks wild and is in fact quite regular. This book takes it one sound at a time: a cut-paper picture where every label holds the sound, then how it is spelled, how to make it with your mouth, and the trap. By the end you can look at a French word you have never seen and say it.

65 pages · 24 sounds
Every labelled word has the letters that make the sound marked
Word pairs to say side by side, with how to say every one

$9.99 Details