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A review by iztrkfliers
Short Stories in French for Beginners by Olly Richards
4.0
One of the first books I started reading while learning French. It was fairly effective in its goals of being a beginner-level graded reader, and the stories were actually more engaging than one would expect. However, do not expect quality writing, good descriptions, deeper meanings, or anything of that sort--these stories are utilitarian, designed purely to get you started reading French with stories that are just interesting enough to push you through.
I wasn't really sure how to rate this book, given its use as a didactic tool. Ultimately, I decided to give it a 4. It was effective in its aims of getting a beginner started in reading a language. However, I docked it from 5 because the stories were not originally written in French. All of the stories in the Short Stories in X For Beginners series are identical, regardless of language, which leads me to suspect that they were originally written in English and then translated. This leaves this book open to the possibility that some words or phrases are not 'authentic' to how an actual French writer would write or say things. Furthermore, this may dull the effective of reading more Short Stories in X for Beginners books, as one would already be familiar with the stories and so the sense of discovery would be lost.
I wasn't really sure how to rate this book, given its use as a didactic tool. Ultimately, I decided to give it a 4. It was effective in its aims of getting a beginner started in reading a language. However, I docked it from 5 because the stories were not originally written in French. All of the stories in the Short Stories in X For Beginners series are identical, regardless of language, which leads me to suspect that they were originally written in English and then translated. This leaves this book open to the possibility that some words or phrases are not 'authentic' to how an actual French writer would write or say things. Furthermore, this may dull the effective of reading more Short Stories in X for Beginners books, as one would already be familiar with the stories and so the sense of discovery would be lost.