Rating: 
Summary: No Jean-Pierre/Marie -- read real French!
Review: ...I can't imagine being in a class to learn French for reading -- you can do it all by yourself with this book -- save yourself tuition money and go for it.I just passed my department's reading exam in French -- like other people mention, the book prepares you for multiple fields of readings (mine was in Japanese Literature) -- I used this book entirely to get me through it. Forget Jean-Pierre and Marie -- this book has real documents and stories in French -- no generic contexts. Students of Literature will probably enjoy this book not only for the skills, but also the reading selection (you're reading Hugo, Baudelaire, Bergson, Rousseau in the original!). Students of history and science, have no fear -- there's good stuff for you too. How I prepared for my exam: I read the book, but halfway through I went back and did daily review of previous chapters as I progressed -- things like the French subjunctive, imperfect tenses, etc are hard to grasp, but a little review and you'll comfortable with it. Vocabulary cards and a thorough review of theFalse Cognates at the back of the book are a must. After about 2 months of daily work (about 2-4 hours a day), I was able to read articles in my field with little difficulty. Bon chance!
Rating:
Summary: If you need to pass the reading exam, this is perfect!
Review: A beautifully structured book for teaching yourself to read French (not to write or speak French). It's expensive and in need of updating, but it's great anyway. I needed to prepare for a translation exam required by my doctoral program, with a background of a year of French in the seventh grade and enough Spanish and Latin to have a feel for Romance languages. I used this book, making vocabulary flash cards along the way, and I passed my exam. A tip for choosing a French/English dictionary suitable for beginners: See if there's an entry for "eu" ("had") that at least refers you to "avoir" ("to have"). If there isn't, find another dictionary--one that doesn't assume you know things like entirely irregular past participles. The HarperCollins Robert College Dictionary passes this test; oddly, their Unabridged Dictionary (1998 edition) does not.
Rating: 
Summary: Pass your grad school French exam
Review: A beautifully structured book for teaching yourself to read French (not to write or speak French). It's expensive and in need of updating, but it's great anyway. I needed to prepare for a translation exam required by my doctoral program, with a background of a year of French in the seventh grade and enough Spanish and Latin to have a feel for Romance languages. I used this book, making vocabulary flash cards along the way, and I passed my exam. A tip for choosing a French/English dictionary suitable for beginners: See if there's an entry for "eu" ("had") that at least refers you to "avoir" ("to have"). If there isn't, find another dictionary--one that doesn't assume you know things like entirely irregular past participles. The HarperCollins Robert College Dictionary passes this test; oddly, their Unabridged Dictionary (1998 edition) does not.
Rating:
Summary: Search no further -- this is all you need to read French.
Review: After doing every excercise in the book, I was beautifully prepared to take my graduate reading profiency exam for art history. I passed. This textbook is excellent for all levels. It perfectly prepares you to read French. I'm reviewing it again this summmer before starting school again in the fall to brush up. Search no further -- this is all you need.
Rating:
Summary: If you need to pass the reading exam, this is perfect!
Review: I had taken one year of college French but needed to pass the reading exam in graduate school. Most classes concentrate on speaking and mine wasn't enough for advanced reading. This book was used in conjunction with a class to pass the reading exam at another university, so I picked it up and began studying on my own. This was a great self-study book and well worth the money! (Yes, I passed.) The best thing about it is how it built up my confidence so that when I got to more difficult parts, I wasn't afraid to approach them.
Rating:
Summary: superbly designed programed text with excellent examples
Review: I have just passed a foreign language reading examination for graduate study using this book. Its design is awesome; great fun to work through with great sample texts by Rousseau,Voltaire,de Tocqueville and on French history. The great strength is that you get immediate feedback as you learn. I really enjoyed using this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Dry, but effective
Review: I needed to brush up on my reading French, and I bought this book. I think it's an effective method ... the author introduces the grammar a little at a time, and provides anywhere from 10 to 25 sentences to illustrate the grammatical points. It's a programmed type of approach; each French sentence is accompanied by the English translation (you cover up the English until you've translated the French). If you work conscientiously through the entire book, you'll have a sound knowledge of written French. (not spoken French, written French) Two negatives: some of the material is dry and dated. Which isn't too bad - if you assimilate the patterns and the grammar, you'll be able to apply them to more current material. The second drawback is the price. Sixty bucks for a PAPERBACK??!! Granted, it's a thick book, but come on, people. Twenty five or thirty dollars would be a fairer price. If money is no object, you'll do well with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Actually taught me to read French
Review: My background in French was limited, but the book gave a very thorough structure where you try to read bits of the large passages in small exercises, and before you know it, you are reading a pretty big article. It also gives you enough grammar and vocabulary to avoid frustrations. I really think this is an excellent book for learning to READ French. The articles chosen were intended to encompass many fields so I don't think they were outdated. I'm not a graduate student (just came out of highschool) but this is a serious and good way to learn!
Rating:
Summary: amazing book--and it helped with speaking too
Review: Regarding using this book to help with speaking: This book has nothing about pronunciation, so if you care about speaking I recommend learning general spelling and pronunciation rules beforehand, so you have an idea of how to read this stuff aloud properly in case you find yourself inadvertently doing so. I had had some French in school, but I also listened to all three levels of Pimsleur French, which I found helpful for pronunciation practice. I would also recommend Pronounce It Perfectly in French for good spelling/pronunciation instruction. But that's a different matter from how great this book is. I found it particularly wonderful because of the little guarantee on the back--that it covers all aspects of French grammar as required for overseas French schools. I got the feeling that after I had mastered this book, I wouldn't have to worry about running across some huge and surprising gap in my body of French knowledge. So far, that has held true. This book is pretty hardcore, and I found it hard to be motivated to study it without having some concrete goal--mine was a trip to France. I had always eschewed reading, claiming I only cared about speaking--but I have realized that as an adult, it's much easier to pick up grammar quickly by reading, and since reading is easier than speaking/understanding, it gives you an early basis for general confidence in the language. So, with a goal in mind, I painstakingly went through this book in (I think it was) about two months, making sure I knew all covered vocabulary and grammar before moving on, and then reviewing earlier chapters as suggested in the book. I also used it in conjunction with Mastering French Vocabulary: A Thematic Approach, another book which I have greatly appreciated. I made (electronic) flashcards with vocabulary from both books, which I found to be exceedingly helpful. (I used the program SuperMemo with a PDA--I highly recommend it.) I think I probably spent about 10-12 hours per week on it. After you're done with this book, you can check out other grammar books to review and clarify points that you need extra help with. The book is organized in an order that I guess was best for learning, but there is no good summary of verb endings, for example, so I especially liked the Schaum's Easy Outline for this type of thing. I'm not a graduate student and I don't need to pass any exams, so I can't vouch for the book's capabilities in that area, but I can say it gave me confidence in reading, and in conjunction with the vocabulary book I was using, gave me confidence in understanding the spoken word, which is a first step toward confidence in speaking. There are lots of other things to do to improve one's speaking skills, but I think a big component is confidence, and this book was really helpful. Not to mention it's nice to be able to read things in French and not feel like it's "foreign" and that there are more things in each sentence that I don't know than that I do. One final thing I can say about this book is that it is definitely not a waste of time! If you already know the material covered in a certain chapter, you can move through it quickly, and it's probably a good review, but if you don't already know it, you'll learn essential information. I highly recommend this for anyone with a low level of French who wants to make a concerted effort to greatly improve in a condensed period of time--which is how I was--and I'm sure it's useful for others, too.
Rating:
Summary: No newer edition needed!
Review: This book contextualizes the grammar and made learning to read French a very easy task. The authentic reading passages are much outdated, but the fact that I could read and understand them with no difficulty gave me a considerable amount of confidence going into the doctoral language exam. This book should be used to complement coursework done with a professional tutor or French professor, or as the text for a French translation course; but, for the language enthusiast, it is explicit enough to use to prepare for the lanaguage exams without the assistance of someone who is quite familiar with French grammar. I highly recommend it!
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