French Wheelock?

[ThatLanguageGuy]

Salut mes amis qui parlent le français ! J'apprends le français depuis Décembre parce que moi je pense que les langues étrangères sont très intéressants, et il y a deux ans, j'ai commencé apprendre le latin à l'école intermédiaire, et je suis tombé amoureux des mots étrangères. J'ai complété un manuel par le nom de <<Language Hacking French>> et maintenant je parle au niveau B1. Mais j'ai besoin d'autres livres puisque je voudrais parler couramment le français. Il y a quelqu'un qui peut m'aider chercher un bon livre de français pour apprendre le français au niveau C1 ? Est-ce qu'il y a un livre comme le livre en latin écrit par Monsieur Wheelock ?

Hey everyone! I know this is a Latin forum and seems very drole to have someone posting about French. I am a self taught student, and I'm in the second year of Latin at my middle school, and hope to get things arranged so that I might take Latin III during ninth grade. However, besides that, I have read Wheelock, and I began to learn French in December. Is there any book like Wheelock but for learning French? Or is there just another good textbook that takes one to the C1 level on the CEFR?

Bonus dies et bonne journée

[swtwentyman]

French courses nowadays are meant to get you talking rather than reading, and you're not likely to find a systematic grammar of that language as you are a classical language, whose instruction is aimed at reading, and with grammar very unlike that of English. They don't even teach the literary tenses until French lit courses -- not that you'll have any uses for them before then, but any grammar-translation course worth its salt would drop them in (and include some readings).

I don't know how well the modern high-school method compares to self-teaching or an introductory college course (I had seven years starting in the seventh grade so I don't even really remember not comprehending French) but it does get you speaking very well really to the point of fluency. As you have several years of instruction still to go I'd advise you study your school courses well, especially as any courses you're likely to find will be (justifiedly) aimed at speech.

If you're determined to try: turn-of-the-century textbooks lean more toward the grammar-translation method and -- especially if you can find a textbook catalog -- you'll probably be able to find something like that on AbeBooks, though not as easily as you'd find turn-of-the-century or print-on-demand copies of classical textbooks. Be advised that you'll probably find it very difficult to find an answer key.

I understand your desire for a Wheelock's-ier textbook. I'm in no position to start a new language but someday I'd like to try my hand at German, but my interest is purely literary and philological. A community-college course may be good for that, being aimed at adults and being abbreviated to two or four semesters; I don't know.

I knew you were young but I didn't know that young! You're obviously a self-starter. Me, I've been a B student my whole life and my Greek and Latin reflect it; accordingly, with your youth and industry you should do very well.

[ThatLanguageGuy]

Thanks!! I have really been enjoying French, so much as I have enjoyed Latin!! (They're both great!!) Do you by happen to know of any other forums like this, but for French, where I could get some certain questions answered? (They mostly concern the literary tenses and subjunctive and other ideas such as that).

[Tertius Robertus]

re. french forum: https://french.stackexchange.com/

[ThatLanguageGuy]

Thank you! Merci beaucoup, et finalement, gratiās tibi agō !