Learn French (No Joke!)

When I felt ready to tackle a dual-language book (French on page, and the equivalent English on the other)I struggled through a chapter or two of classic French short stories, all the better to get the maximum cultural impact, before throwing in the towel. Among my many problems was that these classic works use the obsolete passé simple, a tense used only in written French, and now hardly at all.

I think I would've been better off with Jeremy Taylor's Learn French with Jokes. Although the French is better than some of the jokes. A sample:

« Docteur, docteur, je ne peux plus sentir mes jambes ! »
« Ce n'est pas un miracle, nous vous avon amputé des bras. »

[sentir = to feel]

"Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!"
"I'm not surprised, we amputated your arms."

As in the sample above, some less obvious words are defined on the French page, and there are a few exercises to make sure you're not just reading the English.

The jokes in the iPad version have French audio, read by a lovely French voice. It really enhances the book. So, if you want to try something offbeat, give this a try, and impress your francophone friends with jokes -- in French. Links to all of the various media versions at http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/books/learn-french-with-jokes/.