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Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: I have studied french for several years now, and I know most of the vocabulary included in this book. Despite that, I finded useful the way it is divided in thematic categories, allowing me to search for the specific vocabulary I need when I need it. It saves time and it is very practical. The task of learning new vocabulary can be quite tedious, but this book makes it more approachable, by allowing you to choose what themes you are going to study, and in what order.
I don't regret buying it, because I think it is a thoroughly useful reference book.
Rating: 
Summary: instead of memorizing the dictionary...
Review: Sometimes I've wished I could just increase my vocabulary in a huge chunk by reading the dictionary--but of course that isn't very practical or efficient, since on my way to learning useful words I would probably be distracted by hundreds more unuseful ones. This book offers the practical alternative to reading the dictionary! You can start with the chapters that are most interesting to you, and even within those chapters, see at a glance the subset that will be the most useful to start out with (sections of chapters are divided into "learn first" and "learn later" parts). Every time I have looked at this book and gone through a chapter or section, and then have a conversation, watch a movie, or read a book in French, I've recognized words that I just saw in this book. I sometimes prefer it to a dictionary--there is an alphabetical index of French entries--because when I look up one word I might be intrigued by and learn some of the related words near it. The introduction talks about the painstaking and lengthy process the editors went through when trying to decide what words were useful enough to include in these books, and how to categorize them--that is exactly the kind of thing I would hope the creators of a vocabulary book would do. I very much recommend this book for someone (like me) who has a good functional grasp of the language but is short on vocabulary. If you already have a very strong vocabulary, it might be useful for filling in any gaps (or for self-validation of your vocabulary prowess!).
Rating:
Summary: Solid ,and very helpful
Review: This book is great for beginner and non-beginner alike. Its modular approoch not only takes the boredom out of memorization, but aids in retention of vocab and makes it easy for use as a reference guide. It's quite enjoyable. I recommend it to the beginner and someone (like me) who's looking to brush on ages of non-use of francais, ce livre est tres magnifique!
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful resource for students of French
Review: This book is the best tool I have found to aid in aquiring a solid and useful French vocabulary. It was well thought out, is very comprehensive, and has made my time spent studying French more productive. This is because I'm able to focus my studies on the most used words on the topics most important to me. The authors claim the number of words needed to take part in simple conversations is 1200 to 1500. To assume an active role, 2500 to 3000. And to do so without having to ask "what does that word mean?", 5000 to 6000. Langenscheidt's "Basic German Vocabulary" judges the magic number to be 2000 words, in order to carry on everyday conversation or read a text written for the average native speaker (2000 words constitute 80% of words used in all written and oral communication). This book, Mastering French Vocabulary, seperated their nearly 6000 words into those to be learned first, numbering about 3000, and those to be learned later, numbering an additional 1943. They were organized into 35 thematic categories (which were broken down into further sub-categories) to make learning easier and more enjoyable (this approach worked well for me). Some examples of the 35 categories used are: biographic information, appearance and character, feelings, making evaluations, shopping eating and drinking, clothing, fields of art, at work, politics, weather and climate, and colors and shapes etc.. Aside from the quantity of words, and the nice organization into seperate themes, the authors wrote out each word phonetically using the International Phonetic Alphabet, just as any quality dictionary would, but something most other vocabulary building tools fail to do. This was complimented by the best explanation of the french pronounciation of the IPA that I have yet to see. The only criticism I have is the small number of example sentences used to supplement the vocabulary given. Langenscheidt's "Basic German Vocabulary" had at least one example sentence for each entry, and even the other foreign language books in Barron's Mastering Vocabulary series have a great deal more examples. The French version has a mere 1310 example sentences, which roughly means there is an example sentence for every sixth vocabulary word given. The current Mastering German Vocabulary: A Thematic Approach has 4,900 and the Spanish and Italian versions have about the same. The French edition is noticeable thinner than its counterparts, ... I was disappointed when I found there was an example sentence for only one out of every six entries, and doubly so after I discovered the same publisher did such a better job with the other editions in the series. But its practical pronounciation guide and inclusive list of the most important french words, still makes it the best -French- vocabularly resource avaliable.
Rating:
Summary: Very basic text
Review: This book, it should be emphasized, is ideal for someone who has had about 2 years of French at the U.S. high-school level (or about 2 semesters at university). The vocabulary is very basic. The more advanced student might consider looking elsewhere, in my opinion. This book is a good collection of the absolute essentials of "survival" French, but not much beyond that.
Rating:
Summary: it is what it is
Review: This is wonderful book for reviewing vocabulary. You should also know that German, Spanish, and Italian versions exist as well. The words covered are very helpful, especially for those who like to travel and need to know "easy" words that do not appear frequently in literature but do come up often in offices, stores, etc. Each entry offers a clear example of usage in its proper context. These books are so inexpensive, that it is worth taking one with you on a trip abroad, even if you end up abandoning it at the end to make more room in your suitcase for the books that you want to bring home.
Rating:
Summary: French for Busy People!
Review: This vocabulary groups words by category for logical continuity. Example: emotion words. I give this product the highest rating because I really can't imagine how it could be improved. I used the book while preparing my daily lunch -- about 5 to 15 minutes per day. There's no need to think: just read through the lists of words until you're comfortable. Memorizing vocabulary is a relatively easy part of learning a language: with this book, it's convenient as well!
Rating:
Summary: Adequate but Not for the Advanced Student
Review: While this book does indeed contain pages of vocabulary words, expressions and verbs presented in a thematic format the words offered are elementary, not advanced or specific enough for a speaker who wants more nuanced vocabulary for more detailed conversations or writing.
For the beginning French student, I would think that this book could be a god-send, once your writing or conversational topic is decided upon, all you need on a basic level is included---no need to constantly refer back and forth to a dictionary.
Recommended to beginning French language enthusiasts only.
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