Reading is great for your French – no matter what

If you want to improve your French, you have to read it. Anything will do – even magazines in the doctor’s waiting room, a simple poem or a film screenplay or subtitles, so you can watch the action while you follow the words – but you really make progress when you read your first book in French.

Reading a whole book in a foreign language is a daunting prospect but immensely satisfying when you achieve it.

The original is always better than any translation can ever be (with respect to all translators) and every author has her particular voice that you only hear in their native language.
The trick is to make it as easy as possible for yourself.

Choose a book you want to read (not one you have to read or ‘must’ read). Try to make it one that will stretch you but not too much.

Discipline yourself to try and get the gist of what is being said: it will quickly kill the pleasure if you lunge for the dictionary every other word.

Three kinds of book are especially good to begin with:

• Children’s books – France publishes some excellent ones and any teacher will recommend one.
• Adult comic books (bandes dessinées - BDs) often have gripping stories. The illustrations will help you understand unfamiliar words.
• Books translated from English, especially ones you have read in the original so you know the story and can concentrate on the language.

You will need to make a few mental adjustments.

The author may make use of the past historic tense that is only used for writing, not speaking: the stem of the verb will still be recognisable but perhaps not the ending.
While punctuation is broadly similar in French to English, speech is set out differently and can be confusing until you get used to it.

The great plus of getting used to reading in French is that you can then tackle anything.

You will have access to a library near at hand, not only in bookshops but on the shelves of friends who will be delighted they can at last share their favourite titles with you.
France has a rich literary culture with a huge variety of great reading in both fiction and nonfiction.

Starting out, however, takes motivation. The Connexion asked advice from anglophones in France who have made the linguistic leap.

Kate Rose, co-founder of the Charroux Literary Festival, said: “I recently read the French translation of Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler, the experience of her life in the French countryside, having quit her job in London.

“A familiar story by a British author, translated, can make a good starting point for folk nervous about reading in French.”

Ruth Hartley, author of the novels The Shaping of Water and The Tin Heart Gold Mine, said: “As both a writer and artist, I love [or was drawn into reading in French by] the ninth art of bandes dessinées or BDs, comic books for adults which I think of as rich and detailed movies without sound.

“Mauvais Genre is one of my favourites. It’s based on a true story about a man so traumatised by First World War trench warfare that, with the help of his wife, he deserts and lives as a woman.”

Keen reader and member of Angers British Library Martin Gallagher said: “There are lots of good easy-to-read books in French for us Gallophiles but I would suggest Crin-Blanc by Albert Lamorisse. Easy to read along with a good dictionary and entry-level French. I’d rate it with Lord of the Flies.”

Keen historian John Corley, who also does research in Spanish. added: “I’m a non-fiction reader. I have spent and misspent many hours with Le Petit Larousse Illustré which besides giving you every word you will ever need in French is also an encyclopaedia of all those things that you ever wondered about.”

What French-language book would you recommend to anyone thinking of picking one up for the first time? Email news@connexionfrance.com