Customer Reviews
Interesting, useful and funny - By: Peter Alexander, 15 Dec 2007 
I'm not a French speaker or learner myself, but bought this as a gift for a friend who is tackling the language. I'm sure they'll enjoy it as it's quite fun compared to the dry language texts I had to wade through at school. It's interesting to see that some French idioms are quite similar to ours but have an unusual slant. For example, where we have 'Pushing up the daisies', they have 'Eating the daisies from the roots up'; we write 'Rubber cheques', & they write 'wooden' ones (like taking a 'wooden nickel'?). Others are quite surreal 'Falling backwards into apples' sound quite painful, but to the French this is a soft landing. Although it's amusing, the text is scholarly enough to be useful to the serious student & the cartoons are excellent. You can't argue with the price either: great value.
101 French Idioms - By: J. Jeeves, 03 Jun 2007 I totally agree with the other reviewers (on whose recommendation I bought this book). I am a 'returner' to French, having learned it at school & college, but not having actively used the language for several years. I have also bought another, advanced French course, but wanted something else that would be fun to learn; this is certainly it!
Although it is both funny & witty, it is not only that. As well as a literal & figurative translation, the book gives a typical dialogue of how each idiom may be used. I have already learned some excellent phrases, which should liven up my dialogue when I visit France. I am also thinking of buying a copy for my French friend who's learning English, as it would also be good for a learner from the French person's perspective too. Well done Jean-Marie Cassagne on a first class product. I am now going to purchase the accompanying volume, French Proverbs & hope to enjoy that, too.
Fun and useful! - By: Cazzandra, 15 Mar 2006 I *love* this book. I bought it because of a recommendation by another reader & it's everything they promised. It had mein fits of laughter & I started using the idioms immediately because the pictures & the explanations show you the circumstances where the idiom is appropriate. I surprised the French speakers I know by my sudden use of apt figurative language. It really is fun to be able to use these sayings. The cartoons are amusing & each one is followed by a dialogue where the saying is used so you can see how it will fit into a conversation. I couldn't stop using them but luckily the people I was addressing were tolerant & highly amused.
There are 101 idioms with cartoons, followed by a dialogue or a description. At the back are translations of the dialogues & a list of the idiomsin alphabetical order & by key images. So, if you know you want to something to do with 'dogs' for example, you can look up dog & find the idioms associated with that image.
I can't recommend this highly enough. It helps you practise your French without even realising that's what you are doing. I'm intending to order the proverbs as well! it is a real bargain. It was worth that just for the laughter it brought.
A fun way to improve understanding of the French language - By: mardigras52@hotmail.com, 07 Mar 2001 This book is a fun,entertaining book that helps learners of the language grasp colloquialisms that they wouldn't understand otherwise e.g.-
(to fall into apples)means to faint!The idiom is givenin a conversation to help understand what context it should be usedin & these conversations are translated at the back of the book.But the best thing about this book are the comical drawings that illustrate each idiom.This gives the impression that the book has a more lighthearted approach to understanding & teaching French.A refreshing book for those wanting to speak more like a native or those who just want a more enjoyable way to improve their French.
