2000 Most Common French Words in Context

Lingo Mastery has embarked on a new mission – to make French more accessible to a wider population. In the Introductory Note the goal is stated well: ‘Just like any other goal you set for yourself in life, learning a new language can be intimidating at first and may seem like a mountain to climb. You’ll spend a lot of time talking or thinking about it, but actually doing something about it? Easier said than done. Learning a language is just like dieting, really: it’s easy to postpone and it takes a lot of motivation to get started, but when you finally get into it and start to see results as you go along, you’ll find that it is extremely rewarding, in so many ways. Indeed, knowing more than one language isn’t just something to brag about. It’s a valuable asset to your overall knowledge, and it gives you an in depth and personal access to a whole new culture: music, literature, history, science, sociology, gastronomy… and most importantly, you will get the unique chance to discuss, share and learn with remarkable people you would otherwise never have met. When you face yourself in the mirror and finally decide to go on a diet, it’s because you have an objective in mind – a final goal – which will take time to achieve. The same goes with learning a new language: your objective, reason or purpose will help you stay focused and motivated along the way, no matter how long it takes. It’s true: every learner is different, has his or her own ways and progresses at his or her own pace. Setting unreasonable goals for yourself or trying to rush into things will definitely affect your level of interest, which is why you need to constantly remind yourself of your objectives, keep track of your progress and make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. In the end, learning a new language will help you learn more about yourself. When you ask yourself the question “Why should I learn to speak French?”, consider this: French is one of the few languages that is spoken and taught on all five continents, with over 220 million speakers worldwide. It is ranked the sixth most widely spoken language in the world and is the official language for 29 countries, which puts it right after English in this category. Being able to communicate fluently in French will not only give you access to more leisure travel destinations, it will also allow you to become a valuable candidate for quality job opportunities around the globe: many large companies – and that’s a fact – will favor a bilingual candidate, since they have the capacity to communicate with a larger amount of existing or potential clients and can be understood on a much larger territory’. After their success ‘teaching Spanish’, now they turn to teach French! And it works. The technique is to expand vocabulary – ‘Learning the first thousand (1000) most frequently used words of a language will allow you to understand 76.0% of all non-fiction writing, 79.6% of all fiction writing and an astounding 87.8% of all oral speech. Learning the top two thousand (2000) most frequently used words will get you to 84% for non-fiction, 86.1% for fiction, and 92.7% for oral speech. Learning the top three thousand (3000) most frequently used words will get you to 88.2% for non-fiction, 89.6% for fiction, and 94.0% for oral speech.’ The specifics of the language are outlined (especially the importance of masculine and feminine) and then the lessons begin. Examples - ‘Être – To be Pas besoin d’être un champion du monde pour s’amuser au golf. No need to be a world champion to enjoy yourself while playing golf. De – From - La grand-mère de mon père venait de Pologne. My father’s grandmother was from Poland. Plus – More/No more - Jacques vourait plus de salade de fruit, mais il n’en reste plus. Jacques would want more fruit salad, but there is no more left. Autre – Other Sa voiture ne fonctionne plus, elle doit en acheter une autre. Her car no longer works, she needs to buy another. And so it proceeds with one of the more accessible adjuncts to mastering the French vocabulary in a manner that places words in context and thus – easy to remember! The technique is solid and the lessons well taught. This is a very fine introduction to French, appropriate for all age levels, and a book much needed at this time in our national status! Grady Harp, August 18

Learning vocabulary in your target language is a must if you hope to communicate in it well. And, you can find many frequency lists on the internet for free. However, this book provides that special element that truly enhances your learning -- putting the words in context. Each word comes with its own example sentence. Additionally, as I worked through the list, I noticed that many of the words are used in the example sentences for other words -- a strong reinforcement for learning. I originally got the book via Kindle Unlimited for $0 but liked it so much that I ended up purchasing it for $3.99. I just wish that this book came with the top 5,000 words in context instead of “only” 2,000!

This book is very useful for studying. It contains the most commonly used vocabulary with one sentence for each word to provide context. It definitely has an important place in my study plan. But! The product quality is very poor — the pages are falling out one by one.

I suggest this book would appeal most to those in intermediate French, who have a solid understanding of grammar and vocab, but who wish to fill in any gaps with oft-used words. Well presented with a pleasing layout. Whether intended or not, the sentences in this book contain common idioms of "a" and "faire", etc., which also helps to expose oft-used French. Five stars.

very pleased

I loved that it was focused in on the most common words, and teaching them in the context of sentences! If you'd prefer to sit down with a book to read and learn vocabulary, this would be a good jump start into learning critical words then going on to read stories afterwards, with the knowledge you've gotten. I appreciated the context sentence examples, that also were full of high frequency words, so reading the whole book was very reinforcing of the information. I've seen websites before with frequency lists of words, and this was a more approachable structured way to go through studying those kinds of words.

This book can be a valuable learning tool. But it could be better. Rather than ordering words by frequency they should be grouped differently, perhaps by parts of speech. This would allow you to better organize the language in your mind. However my main suggestion concerns the Audible version. I am very interested in getting this but the Audible sample is worthless in assessing its value. It’s an introduction that merely talks about what’s to come. It needs to be a sample of the meat of the book - words and their use in sentences.

First, it uses the Pareto principle -- a minority of the words do the majority of the work. By learning the most common words you get the most immediately useful knowledge. Second, for each word you get a sample sentence, in parallel English and French, that also introduces or reintroduces several other words. To borrow a pattern from the Xzibit Yo Dawg meme, they put vocabulary in your vocabulary so you can learn while you learn. It's such a simple notion that I'm surprised this is the first place I've seen it.

I have to say I was blown away by how much I liked this book. While the format may not suit everyone, for me it is absolutely ideal for improving my french at the pace that suits me. I have found it fantastic for building my vocabulary (while ensuring there are no glaring gaps) and the useful sentences for each word provide all the necessary context for applying these words into newly learnt phrases. I have had one experience of learning a language in this way previously. When studying mandarin, our teacher would provide us with the 600 most important characters, and I also then found it to be of great use to know that the first big steps in fluency lay simply with memorising and applying what was there in front of me. Language learning can be a daunting task and I really love the simplicity of this approach. Even for those who desire a more encompassing and structural approach to learning french could definitely still draw great benefit from using this as a supplementary resource. Especially, as mentioned before, in identifying key weaknesses. Finally, I would also add, I appreciate the nature in which this book teaches you 'common' french as opposed to 'textbook' french. While there may not be a lot of difference, I felt the sentences provided for each new piece of vocabulary did wonders to help refine the colloquial manner of speaking I had with my french, which can be so hard to derive from a more formal and academic learning programme.

Impossible to find a useful phrase owing to no index, sections or titles of subjects. As a beginner that would be more useful to me than just a book of random phrases, better if they were divided into for eg "tourism", "business" etc

très bon pour apprendre le français

Useful for learning french, gives good clear exposure to the language, simple sentences 2000 words highlighted, audio track on Audible is great. First sentence is spoken slowly, second sentence is as natives speak. I purchased the book and accessed the audio track with an Audible trial. Book and audio have identical format. Comprehensive study tips too. Put in the time and benefit results.

Das Buch benutze ich täglich zum Lernen. Ich finde es großartig. Vielen Dank dafür. LG