Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary
by Rick Steves
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rick StevesEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); German (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-05
ISBN: 1566915171
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
Book Reviews of Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary
Book Review: Avoid this book - it's full of bloopers and howlers!
Summary: 1 Stars
Sadly, this book is not up to the standard of Rick Steves' guidebooks. What a shame! Mr. Steves has a really good sense of what information is needed by travelers to ease and enhance their trip. But HIS PHRASEBOOK is a big disappointment. It is FULL of errors! On average, I would say there is nearly one mistake per page. Some are just misspellings, but others are more serious - faulty pronunciations, bad grammar, and even wrong words. For example, in the section "A French Romance" on p. 199, "baiser" is given as the translation of "to kiss". Non, non, et non! Except in the fixed expression "baiser la main" (to kiss one's hand), "baiser" IS NOT USED with this meaning! It's a vulgar word for "copulate", equivalent to our "to screw/lay/f__k". If you want to say "to kiss" in French, you use the word "embrasser". Oh là là, quelle erreur! One can only imagine the repercussions if one used this word when asking permission to kiss someone good-night...
And it struck me, if there are that many errors in the French I know - Lord only knows what's lurking there in the expressions I don't know! I have seen enough to convince me that the French in this book is not to be trusted.
In addition, Mr. Steves doesn't see fit to let the reader know whether words (nouns) are masculine or feminine, not even in the dictionary section. And 9 times out of 10, he doesn't indicate what the masculine and feminine forms are to accompany these words. So how can one hope to do anything other than butcher the French language with this book?
It's true that you can probably make yourself understood with Mr. Steves' phrasebook, even with all the mistakes. But that's putting the bar pretty low, isn't it? When you buy a phrasebook, don't you expect something a bit better than the equivalent of "I go now, and he go, too"? If you're new to French, you'll probably make enough bloopers on your own, without an additional helping from Mr. Steves. Get yourself a phrasebook that gives you accurate French, such as Berlitz, or Fodors (sorry, I'm not familiar with the Lonely Planet phrasebook).
I am saddened to think that neither Mr. Steves nor his publisher thought it necessary to have this phrasebook/dictionary proofread or vetted by a French person. It appears from the mistakes Mr. Steves makes that he has picked up the language by traveling and talking to people but has not undertaken any systematic study of the language. How could anyone who has had even one semester of college French say the equivalent of "I have already to finish" when they mean to say "I have already finished."? Surely then it is irresponsible, if not downright arrogant, to assume that Mr. Steves' command of French is good enough to be used as a model for others to copy. Oh, là là! Quelle horreur! Quelle triste histoire! All the potential usefulness of this book has been thrown away through its slap-happy approach to grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
Summary of Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary
Bonjour! From ordering a cafe au lait in Paris to making new friends in the Loire Valley, it helps to speak some of the native tongue. Rick Steves, bestselling author of travel guides to Europe, offers well-tested phrases and key words to cover every situation a traveler is likely to encounter. This handy guide provides key phrases for use in everyday circumstances, complete with phonetic spelling; an English-French and French-English dictionary; the latest information on European currency and rail transportation, and even a tear-out cheat sheet for continued language practice as you wait in line at the Louvre. Informative, concise, and practical, Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary is an essential item for any traveler's sac a dos.
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