ae ES in 3 MONTHS FRENCH _ , ¢ =< BEGINNER’S LANGUAGE COURSEhugo in3 tate _FRENCH Ronald Overy and Jacqueline LesLONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH, MELBOURNE, AND DELHI This edition first published in Great Britain in 2003 by Dorling Kindersley Limited, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL. First published in Great Britain by Hugo's Language Books Limited, 1987 Copyright © 1987, 1997, 2003 Dorling Kindersley Limited ‘A Penguin Company 6810975 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. ACIP catalogue record is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 40530 100 7 Hugo French In Three Months is also available in ‘pack with three CDs, ISBN 0 7513 6991 8 ‘Written by Ronald Overy FILL. Formerly Senior Lecturer at ‘The Language Centre, South Bank Polytechnic, London. and Jacqueline Lecanuet L. &s L., PG Dip. Ling. Formerly Principal Lecturer in French at ‘The School of International Business and Languages, South Bank University, London Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Product LTD ‘see our complete catalogue at www.dk.com Preface ‘Hugo French in Three Months has been written by two lecturers whose combined experience in teaching French ranges from beginners to post-graduate level. Both authors taught at the South Bank Polytechnic, now the South Bank University, where Jacqueline Lecanuet was Principal Lecturer in French. She is a graduate of Caen, and Lille Universities and holds a post-graduate diploma in linguistics. This edition is dedicated to the memory of her husband Ronald Overy, an inspired teacher and author of textbooks in French, Spanish and Russian, who died five years ago. The book begins with an explanation of French pronunciation, as far as this is possible in print. If you hhave bought this book together with accompanying CDs, these will enable you swiltly to pick up the distinctive sounds of the French language. If not, referring to our system of ‘imitated pronunciation’ will aso help you learn to pronounce French accurately and understand it when spoken, Ithas always been a principle of the Hugo method to teach only what is really essential. We assume that the student wants to learn French from a practical angle: the lessons contain those rules of grammar that will be ‘of most use in this respect. Constructions are clearly explained, and the order in which everything is presented takes into consideration the need for rapid progress. Each week’s work includes a large number of exercises and the vocabulary introduced is both practical and up-to-date. Often, in addition to testing a grammatical point, an exercise will include a specific vocabulary, for ‘example: Exercise 45 deals with relative pronouns and the hotel, Exercise 67 with the subjunctive and space travel. The conversations offer examples of everyday French and frequently contain a touch of humour, ‘The course finishes with a short selection of reading passages illustrating both literary and journalistic styles, all with an English translation. It is important to remember, however, that idiomatic language cannot PREFACE