Welcome to the Language Warehouse Basic French Course!
     When compared to other cassette French courses, this course
     is unique in that it is designed to take a student with no
     prior knowledge of French to a very high degree of proficiency.
     To accomplish this, the course is arranged in a phased format,
     with a small chunk of grammar handled with each lesson.
     Although it may seem that the grammar points aren't covered in
     a logical order, the whole course is well thought-out, and in
     the end, all of the bases get covered.

     A word here about page numberings. The original page numberings
     have been left in only because the grammar points at the end
     of each chapter make regular references to page numbers. The
     number appears at the BOTTOM of each page, although this isn't
     sometimes very clear in the html version. Also, numbering of
     the pages starts at the first lesson in the current volume,
     and progresses upward until the past page of that volume. For
     example, VOLUME 2 starts at lesson 16, page one, and ends at
     lesson 25, page 216.

     When studying this course, you may feel a bit overwhelmed
     at its sheer size. Don't worry, though. Take it one lesson
     at a time and you'll do just fine. Remember that if it were
     so quick and easy, everybody would be speaking French.
     Anything worth having takes some effort!

     In a classroom environment, the students cover one lesson per day,
     spending six hours on each lesson, and covering five lessons per
     week.  Since you'll be doing self study (for which you'll find
     this course beautifully suited,) you have the advantage of
     learning at your own pace.  Study a lesson a day, or even a
     lesson a week if you like!  You can even study this course
     along with one or more other French courses at the same time.
     There's no hard and fast rule to studying foreign languages, so
     feel free to attack yours from all sides at once!  But by all
     means, make your language learning experience as entertaining
     as possible!

     The first few lessons of this course are dedicated to learning
     the pronunciation of French.  Do yourself a favor and go over
     these tapes a few times before proceding to the rest of the
     course.  The more familiar you become with French
     pronunciation, the more you'll get from the texts that
     accompany these cassettes.

     An extremely important part of any cassette language program
     is the text that accompanies the cassettes.  I have gone to
     great lengths to provide all of the original texts for the 85
     chapters in this course.  The farther you progress in this
     course, the less you may find yourself referring to these
     printed texts, but during the early stages of your language
     study you'll find them invaluable.  When you first start
     studying French, you'll be hearing lots of strange, new sounds
     that you haven't yet developed references for in your mind (and
     this written text is especially important with French and its
     strange pronunciations!)

     Eventually you may find yourself referring less and less to
     the texts, except for the grammar and vocabulary sections.
     This is normal, and means that you're developing an ear for the
     language and a subconscious sense of the syntax of the
     language.

     So...

     You've got the cassettes, the texts and the ambition- you're
     on your way, right?  Well, pretty much.  But hold on for just a
     minute.  Remember that you've made a commitment here.  You've
     already made a financial investment, and you're getting ready
     to make an investment of your time and effort. So why not take the few
     additional things to guarantee your success?  Why not take
     those few crucial steps that will place you above and beyond
     the "average" language learner?  Here are a few tips to help
     you get the most out of your efforts.


     1- Break up your study time.

     Try to keep your study blocks to around a half hour, which is
     coincidentally one side of a cassette.  It's been discovered
     that after about 30 minutes, you reach the point of diminishing
     returns.


     2- Don't get frustrated!

     Studying a foreign language is quite different from most
     other intellectual pursuits.  Sometimes you'll reach a plateau
     where you'll feel like you've stopped learning.  You may even
     have times where it'll seem like you're not even learning
     anything!  This is NOT true, of course, but it can bring your
     learning experience to a grinding halt as the gremlins of self
     doubt sabotage your efforts, making you ask yourself, "am I
     wasting my time?" and "is all this effort worth the trouble?"

     During times like these, just keep in mind that NOW is not
     the time to question your resolve to learn French!  Remember
     that the real learning takes place behind the scenes- when you're
     doing chores, driving the car, and yes, even sleeping.  Your
     mind uses the rest periods between study sessions to
     consolidate the information that you've been feeding into it.
     This is why you'll be watching television one evening and all
     of a sudden a line from a dialog you studied last week will pop
     into your head.  This is how your mind works.

     3- Develop Your Memory!

     A huge part of learning a new language involves simply
     remembering the new words.  This is great news for you, because
     there are tricks you can use that will make it a snap to learn
     virtually any number of new words.  Both of the
     language-learning books listed below include very detailed
     sections on mastering this all-important facet of the language
     learning process.

     4- Get these books!

     In any pursuit, knowledge is power!  I recommend the following
     books highly to anyone who wants to get the most out of this
     course.  I am in no way affiliated with the authors or
     publishers of these books, I just feel that they're some of the
     best of what's out there to help you learn.  You can have your
     local bookstore order them, or you can even order them via the
     Internet from Amazon Books (http://www.amazon.com).

     What the heck is an indirect object?  And what does "passé
     composé" mean?  Every language student needs a good grammar
     book!  Although the grammar points section of each lesson is a
     great help, a good grammar book will prove quite handy in that
     it can cover these points in more depth and clarity than can
     the grammar section of any cassette language course.  One
     grammar series that I found very comprehensive is the "Teach
     Yourself" series, by NTC Publishing Group.  The current price
     is only about $8.  The ISBN (for ordering purposes) is
     0-8442-3772-8.

     A book that I highly recommend- and that I wish I had found
     long ago- is "How to Learn Any Language- Quickly, Easily,
     Inexpensively, Enjoyably and on Your Own", by Barry Farber.  If
     you plan to do any language study whatsoever, get this book!
     It's packed with invaluable tips and methods for staying
     motivated, improving your memory, maximizing your learning
     experience, and loads of other great stuff.  Be sure and get
     this book!  ISBN 0806512717.

     Another great book for language learners is "How to Learn a
     Foreign Language", by Graham E. Fuller (ISBN 0-935166-02-5).
     It's about $10 and it contains loads of helpful information and
     tips for anyone learning a foreign language.

     5- Never give up!

     The world is full of people who wish that they'd learned a
     foreign language.  You're certainly one of these people, or
     else you wouldn't be reading this right now!  So seize this
     opportunity!  You have one of the best courses ever assembled,
     so take advantage of it!

     Cris Stephens
     The Language Warehouse
     459 Bryant St.,
     Ormond Beach, FL 32174
     http://www.tlwh.com
     Copyright 1997, Stephens Global