What to read after Nature Stories?

 Nature Stories:

English & French

·        The English text has been translated from the French.

·        The French text has been re-worked.

·        Contains commentaries on some parts of the text.

·        Contains a summary of French grammar.

·        Contains a Translation Skills Test (with Grammar tips).

·        Can be read in ‘English to French’; ‘French to English’; ‘English’; or ‘French’.

THIS EDITION: Nature Stories (in French, Histoires naturelles) is a classic French book written by Jules Renard. It contains a collection of short commentaries on the natural world, and man’s place in it. Renard’s style and succinctness immediately brings to mind the Japanese haiku.

This volume includes an introductory section summarising the important aspects of French grammar. The digital edition also contains a translation skills test. (Includes verb conjugation and other grammar hints.)

The dual-language text has been arranged into small bilingual snippets for quick and easy cross-referencing. The content is ideal for assisting the intermediate language learner to transition to foreign language only content. Also, if the content is too difficult, there is other material put out by 2Langauge Books that can help.

The reader can choose between six options:

Section 1: English to French

Section 2: French to English

Section 3: English

Section 4: French

Section 5: English to French Skills Test

Section 6: French to English Skills Test

The eventual aim is to read with a comfortable level of understanding only in the foreign language. If you are a beginner, read the native language snippet first. If you are at an intermediate level, read the foreign language snippet first. The advanced level is like the beginners level, except you have to try and figure out the foreign language text, instead of having it provided. One way to do this is to cover the foreign text snippet. In the digital edition, you can take an intermediate or advanced level skills test.

Many basic language books offer some form of audio support. Internet services — primarily news based radio stations — offer podcasts. Audio from television is an additional resource, and can be formatted for use on various digital platforms. However, if audio is an important component of your interest in languages, electronic devices that support quality text-to-speech (TTS) will likely be appealing. With a library card, TTS technology (in a device that supports the relevant content), and the above mentioned resources (as digital content), an entire language learning system is available for not much more than a cup of coffee! There is no substantial financial outlay to get you started. Furthermore, there are no additional ongoing fees (and updates), and there are no expiry dates on ‘premium’ content and resources.

(A Dual-Language Book Project)

2Language Books