Products
This page is a relic from the old version of this site. I'm still not sure whether i'll be updating it, or getting rid of it.
single-serving T-shirts!
After taking forever to try and print the t-shirt on my own press, I finally got wise and printed it at a professional shop. I have this gray-green, in large as well as a couple of mediums in white, short and long sleeve, and some X-larges in a baby blue.
The design is three-colors on each of both sides.
Order here, or if you are ordering from overseas, or from within Denver, Colorado, please e-mail me at info@single-serving.com instead of using this form.
pocket dictionaryWhether you are travelling to France, learning the language, or almost any other needs, you will need a dictionary. Buy The Oxford Color French Dictionary. It's a small dictionary to take with you on your travels. It has color-coding to help you look things up more easily. It also has French games and puzzles to get you through that wait at the train station or airport. |
full-size dictionaryFor anything other than travel, a big, complete dictionary is what you want. Buy the Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary. It is very complete and thorough. |
verb tablesBuy 501 French Verbs : Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses in a New Easy-To-Learn Format, Alphabetically Arranged. The subtitle says it all. A must if you are learning the language. |
course with CDsBuy Living Language's Ultimate French. Book and CD's. It's a little more expensive, but worth it. Don't get the complete series from Living Language to save some money. I did that and was dissapointed. This is the best series that I have seen. The lessons and conversations are great, and it's a great grammar reference. |
software course (CDs only)Buy Instant Immersion French 2 CD-ROM Set (Jewel Case). I think that this doesn't come with a book. It was however rated highly for a software course, people liked it better than a lot of the expensive courses. For the cheap price, you can't do much better, if a software course is what you're looking for. |
course with tapesBuy French I: Pimsleur Comprehensive. I have never used any of the Pimsleur series because of the high price. Everyone that has raves about them, so I would love to check one out. If I could find a used one I would try it. If you have the money, give it a try, everyone that has, has loved it. |
vocabulary builderBuy Mastering French Vocabulary : A Thematic Approach. This book organizes vocabulary according to their view of it's importance in your being able to communicate. These sections are then subdivided by theme. A good supplement for another course, or use it to build vocab after finishing a course. |
grammarBuy Essential French Grammar A grammar review to supplement a course, or use it as a refresher. The book is broken up into small chapters and gets its lessons across quickly. It's not a big book, but gives you what you need without wasting space. |
refresherBuy The Ultimate French Review and Practice: Mastering French Grammar for Confident Communication. Forgot everything you learned in high school, did ya? This is the book to get you back on track. The reviews of this book have been nothing but the best for former students of French. |
phrase guide (humor)Buy Wicked French. A real phrase guide that will kill you with laughter. Watch out, you may even learn some French! |
phrase guide (humor)Buy Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School Slang, Parts of the Body, Bodily Functions, and all those other things that you need to communicate like a local. |
phrase guideBuy Berlitz French Phrase Book & Dictionary. A very complete phrasebook organized by subjects and color coded for ease of use. With example sentences. |
fiction (in French)Buy Le Petit Prince. This is always the second book that I try to read when learning a new language. The first is Jonathan Livingston Seagull. A great book about friendship, you will finally be able to read the original French version! |
fiction (in French & English)Buy Best Short Stories/Les Meilleurs Contes: A Dual-Language Book. Once you get to an intermediate level, it's time to start trying to read. The dual language books are a great way to do it. The text may be a little tough at times, but you can learn a lot by toughing your way through. |
DVD (French audio)Buy La Femme Nikita (1991) A violent, but now classic film by Luc Besson about a bad girl gone good. Remade in the US as 'Point of No Return'. |
DVD (French audio)Buy Breathless (1961) A thriller about a Parisian couple on the run from the law. Ground-breaking editing and filming style. A must for film buffs. |
DVD (French audio)Buy Jules and Jim (1962) Seven films by François Truffaut (five features and two short films) includes a selection of classic and lesser-known titles from the master of the French New Wave. |
DVD (French audio)Buy The 400 blows (1959) A riveting story of a child who turns to crime in the face of parental neglect. This film spawned many after it, but remains the best. |
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A Note On DVD's: DVD's are wonderful things for language enthusiasts because they can have multiple language tracks. That means that you can watch a French movie in French and try to understand as much as you can, when you are motivated, or just kick back and watch it in English when you're being lazy. There is one serious problem: Regional Codes. The greedy pigs in Hollywood have developed a punishment for language learners and frequent travellers. The US is regional code 1, France and the U.K. are regional code 2. The world is divided into 6 regions, but anyone in their right mind in the other 4 regions makes only 'no region' discs (with "ALL" or "U" where the number would be.) This means that an American interested in learning French cannot buy some DVD's in France to watch back at home. If you really travel a lot, get a multi-region, multi-system player from B&H photo and video like the Pioneer DV-533 (the only one they had when I checked.) I've also seen them in San Fransisco in the harbor and in Europe. Check www.vcdhelp.com to see if your player can be 'hacked' to play all regions. If you know anyone in the industry that was involved in the creation of regional codes, please beat the shit out of them, or send me their name and address and maybe I could make a road trip. If you've read this far, maybe you'lll also want to read this old Washington Post clipping that I found called Breaking Down DVDs Borders. There is no date, but i'd guess it's from late 2000 or early 2001. |
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travelogue (in English)Buy A Year in Provence The best seller account of an English couple that moves to the south of France. His plans of writing a novel, slowly transformed into this wonderful account of their experiences. |
travelogue (in English)Buy Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes, by (a young) Robert Louis Stevenson. Travel tips for rent-a-donkey trips, or just a travelogue? Yup, you guessed right. Stevenson's beautiful French travel story about a sometimes troublesome donkey. |
travelogue (in English)Buy On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town If 'A Year in Provence' left you starving for more, read this fantastic tale spun around actual recipes. |
travel guideBuy Eyewitness Travel Guides to France and Paris. The Eyewitness guides are known for their beauty, detail, and historical and background information. They are for the traveller who wants to learn, and are a great reminder of your travels. These guides don't have as many listings, like where to eat and where to stay, but for the right traveller are golden. |
travel guideBuy Rick Steves' France, Belgium and the Netherlands Rick Steves' guides give a more personal view of selected areas. Many people swear by these books. The book focuses on areas that they consider the best or most important and has nice details. It does not try to give info on every knitting club in every village, just what they view as the best. |
travel guideIf your goals are a little loftier than just getting by in the language, try one of these paths out: Living and Working in France: A Survival Handbook and Buying a Home in France. Both are highly rated and if you follow the directions, you won't need any of these stupid language books, you'll be living in France! And how could you not learn French then? |
Spanish Phrases
You can view the Spanish Course here, but it's still being edited.
Spanish Courses available in the USA and UK:
Read about Greg and Nikki's travels through Spain and South and Central America! You might just pick up some pointers that make your trip there easier. Greg is an incredible resource for Drupal programming and if he wasn't a damed good Spanish speaker already, he will be more than that by the time their trip is done!
Puerta del Sol is a monthly audio and print magazine on a variety of topics delivered on CDs along with accompanying booklets. The format is a little much for beginners, but once you're able to understand some of the language, this is probably one of the best methods of learning, next to having willing native speakers around! In addition to the magazine stories, there is music with the lyrics in the booklets, and a vocabulary section that covers the vocabulary that is used in the articles to better help you understand what you are hearing and reading. Subscribe
- highly recommended
Join a Spanish Language Meetup in your town.
