The best French textbook 🇫🇷 How to choose

french books
OK OK OK, even if I’m not a fan of French textbook, I understand that, for some learners, it works.
 
I mean, it’s an easy way to learn French.
 
And easy is almost always good when it comes to language learning.
 
But, let’s talk about French textbooks for a minute.
 
Because there’s TONS of them everywhere, and everyone has a different opinion about them.
 
I’m going to demystify all of this for you.
 
C’est parti! 

Not all textbooks are created equal

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Featuring my fav Disney 📚

If you are here, it is because you are not only looking for A textbook, but THE French textbook. So you understand that there’s a difference of quality between all of them. Some are really bad, outdated, useless, not-user-friendly, messy, wrong,…
 
However, I have to say, I’ve NEVER came across a completely bad textbook. The worst I’ve read were simply outdated.
 
 
You know, the stuff that comes from the 70’s. Stay away from those.
 
 
But it’s normal, after all, languages evolve constantly. So the French spoken today in France is different than the French that was spoken 50 years ago. Even if the basics of grammar remain almost the same.
 
Logical, right?
 
So, how can YOU find the best French textbook then? Just pick one?
 
It’s a little bit more complicated.

In the most perfect of worlds, you already know this about French textbooks

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First rule of textbook searching, don’t talk about the textbooks.
 
Because the textbook itself is not what must drive your research.
 
Your goal should.
 
WHY ARE YOU LEARNING FRENCH?
 
Yes, I know, I keep asking you that question (here, here, here and here).
 
So you should have your answer ready, right? RIGHT?
 
Good.

Once you have your goal, the search is actually going to start.

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Alright, now, ask yourself this – Is there a French textbook that is made specifically for me and my goal?
 
Because, and I speak from experience, there are as many different goals as there is French learners.
 
The reason why YOU are learning French is different than your neighbour’s. Therefor your goal is too.
 
If you intend to learn French because you want to travel to France and eat all the cheese your stomach will enable you to, you need to be able to ask for cheese, read the labels, and to know your way around French food culture.
 
But, if you’d rather be able to have deep and meaningful conversations with the handsome Frenchman you’ve met in the little coffeeshop just on the corner of your New York flat, knowing what’s the difference between a Figou and a Régal de Bourgogne is going to be useless.
 
Spoiler: Un Figou is a type of goat cheese and has a little bit of fig jam inside. When un Régal is made of cow milk and is covered in read wine soaked sultanas. Did I mentioned I love cheese? 
 
See?
 
So, what is it you want?
 
Travel, Business, Conversational, Survival? And is there a textbook made for you?
 
(I’m sad to say there is no cheese lover French textbook… yet!)

The components of an amazing French textbook

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That being said, there is a few components to a good French textbook.
 
Here they are:

Loads of exercices

Yes, you want explanations. But also want to be able to use the new grammar rules and vocabulary you learn.
 
Exercises are here to drill those newly acquired pieces of knowledge into your brain.
 
They act as reminders, because you’ll need to ACT on it.
 
If you can’t do the exercises, you didn’t understand the rule.
 
Which brings me to the second point…

Easy to follow grammar with a LOT of examples

You need to understand.
 
And for that, the textbook need to explain things to you in a way that you will understand. (duh)
 
Stay away from textbooks that explain everything with grammar concepts without little reminders of what these terms mean.
 
We don’t all master completely the grammar of our own language. So don’t expect to understand the grammar of another one if the textbook is explaining to you only with grammatical terms.
 
That’s also where examples are coming in.
 
Examples are here to make sense of the rule. And, if I’m honest, this is what you should learn.
 
Not really the rule, because that’s easily forgotten, or misinterpreting. But the concrete example.
 
If I tell you that the adjective always come after the noun, you’re going to forget.
 
If I tell you, in French, we say ’the car red’ – ‘la voiture rouge’. You got it, even if you don’t know what an adjective is.
 
The more examples, the better.
 
 
I’m only saying adjective so that you understand the example, I know that most of you will know what it is.
 

For example, you can check these:

Vocabulary inside the grammar examples

Those examples must also teach you some vocabulary.
 
Because with just grammar and the four words over and over again, you won’t go far.
 
It’s like if you knew how a motor works but you didn’t know how to drive the damn car.
 
Pretty useless right?
 
(Well, unless you’re a mechanic.)

Proven results

And finally, of course, it helps is there are tons of positive reviews on the internet.
 
Try the reviews of Amazon. Or a detailed video made by a learner on YouTube.
I could tell you to look out for REAL examples. Stuff that you can actually say in a conversation.
 
Le singe est sur la branche 😉 -> hard to say to a French person outside of a highly specific context or if you want to make fun of your friend who just took up rock climbing. (Or if you lost your monkey and it happen to be hanging out in a tree).
 
But as you don’t speak French yet, it’ll be difficult to assess that on your own.

Speaking of good reviews, you probably won’t go wrong with a best-seller French textbook.

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So, let’s look at the Amazon best-sellers.

 

All the links presented here are affiliate links, which means I get a small percent of the sale if you buy it through the link. Note that I only recommend textbooks I trust, have tested and would recommend to my own students.

 
That being said, here they are:

Easy French

Step by Step
$ 12 (on Amazon)
  • Exercices - 10/10
  • Grammar - 10/10
  • Vocabulary - 5/10
  • 4.5/5 stars on Amazon
Check it on Amazon
Price may vary
Cheapest

Living Language

FRENCH
$ 28 (on Amazon)
  • Exercices - 9/10
  • Grammar - 7/10
  • Vocabulary - 8/10
  • 4.5/5 stars on Amazon
Check it on Amazon
Price may vary
With CD

ASIMIL

French
$ 78 (on Amazon)
  • Exercices - 9/10
  • Grammar - 10/10
  • Vocabulary - 10/10
  • 4/5 stars on Amazon
Check it on Amazon
Price may vary
My fav

Easy French Step by Step

People who have used it swear by it. But to me, the fact that it doesn’t have audio is a HUGE let down. How are you going to SPEAK? 
 
However, if you complete it (and you should always do) with regular practice, maybe a teacher, it’s a great resource.
 
It’s starting to be a bit outdated though… Last update was 10 years ago. (Which explains the price as well).

Living Language FRENCH

This is a more traditional method. I don’t really like traditional method. However, it works. Given effort and regularity.
 
It’s a HUUUGE set of CDs. (To be honest, they should really do the downloadable version now)
 
Go for it if you enjoy listening to CDs in your car.

ASIMIL

ASIMIL is really the best method out there. Especially if you have tried to learn French before but failed because of the method.
 
You were bored or didn’t feel like you were progressing fast enough.
 
In all languages, ASIMIL is really a proof of quality.
 
This would be the one I would go for if I was learning French.

REMEMBER

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  • Textbooks are not an all-in-one method, you need to practise on the side to be able to speak French.
  • Even if lots of people love a textbook, doesn’t mean you will. Check the reviews before you purchase a textbook.
  • Check if you can get your hands on a super specific one (if it exist).

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