A SHORT FRENCH GRAMMAR FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

by Foster Erwin Guyer'06, xv-1989 pp., New York: Harper ifBrothers, $1.20.

This book has been written primarily for a special class of students, for those who take up the study of French in college for a period of one or two years. These short term adult students present a special problem. Although they can normally advance more rapidly than high school students and can assimilate more mature reading material, they are limited by time and must reach their goal quickly if they are to reach it at all. Since the only objective attainable within this short period is a fair reading knowledge of the language, instructors working with students of this sort are now concentrating their efforts along this one line. Professor Guyer's grammar has been designed to help such instructors and students to achieve their aim quickly and efficiently.

An introductory chapter on pronunciation and phonetic symbols, twenty-three lessons in which the fundamentals of grammar and a basic vocabulary are presented rapidly and logically, a section of supplementary grammar rules, a table of regular and irregular verbs, a reference vocabulary, plus an index, give, in the short space of two hundred pages, a clear, convenient, and sufficiently complete treatment of the subject. The division of material allows the individual instructor to use as much or as little as his particular class requires. The plan of each lesson is also somewhat elastic. In addition to the grammar survey and reading exercise, there are exercises on composition and conversation for those who have the time and the spirit to take this mental discipline.

The distinguishing feature of this book, in my opinion, is that it offers a streamlined approach to reading without sacrificing those fundamentals of grammar which are so essential to any real knowledge of the language. Along with his grammar survey the student begins to read early, as early as the third lesson, and the material is not made up of lifeless sentences designed to illustrate certain rules; it is an interesting story about Jean Valjean, based on the first portion of LesMiserables. Reading a famous novel, even in simplified form, so early in the course will give the student a feeling of accomplishment and at the same time show him the necessity of mastering the grammar.

Naturally it is difficult to pass final judgment on a text-book before it has stood the test o£ classroom use. However, I venture to predict that A Short French Grammar will be successful because it gives every indication of fulfilling the purpose for which it was designed. Simple, logical and interesting, it omits confusing details in order to drive hard and straight for the goal.