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Any easy French books to read?


eruvande

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I'm super new to learning French, but with other languages I've learned reading has always been the best way to improve vocabulary. Are there any really easy stories to read, even Le Petit Prince is too difficult for me at the moment...?

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  • 2 months later...

What about the Babar books? Those are pretty simple, and it's definitely at a lower vocabulary than The Little Prince. I think Babar was the first book in French I ever read in school.

Also, something that's worked really well for me is reading children's books you've read in your native language in French. Like the Madeleine books and Dr. Seuss. It's good for learning basic vocabulary as well as some simple idioms and grammatical rules. Some books are even available in half-French, half-English so you can compare as you go along!

Good luck, and don't worry -- it always get easier.

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  • 2 weeks later...

...and don't worry -- it always get easier.

I can't agree more with this last statement. The more you do it, the easier it gets. When I started reading Harry Potter in French for fun, I understood very little to be honest. But I could tell I understood more by the end of my first book. By the end of my second book I realized I understood even more. Now that I'm in the middle of my fourth book, I think I can understand the majority (maybe 70-85%) of what I encounter. I think you just have to dive in with it and stick it out. It gradually becomes easier.

Reading a book written for young adults is a very good idea since there would be a simpler vocabulary and grammar. I don't think there's anything wrong with reading translations of books you might like. As long as it's fun for you, do it!  : )

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  • 3 weeks later...

A friend of mine once had a book that was half in French and half in English. So one page was French, and the adjacent page English. It was great, because it was easy to read just one 'half' of the book while not looking at the other, but if I got stuck, I could look over and see what the translated version said.

I can't remember what book it was, as this was years ago. Has anyone else seen any that are like this?

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Another possible method is to take a book you know in english, and buy the french translation. Try and read the french, and when you find yourself stuck you'll have the english right there. It's better than trying to use google translate or something, because the direct translation doesn't always work out.

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  • 2 months later...

SirTenenbaum, I couldn't agree more! Starting out at a level higher than what you're at is a sometimes frustrating, but great way to learn. If you're reading a children's book of colors, you're probably not going to benefit that much. "Arc-En-Ciel : Le plus beau poisson des oceans" is a children's picture book that I think is both easy to read and useful for learning new vocab :)

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