À l’écran: Short French Films and Activities Manual with DVD by Kelle Truby, et al. (review)

reader to understand better the origins of words in English but also help with the acquisition and retention of French vocabulary. For example: Consider the English word ‘lassitude,’ which means weariness or lack of energy, and which doesn’t seem related in stem to any other English word with a similar meaning. Where does it come from? It makes more sense when you know that in French there is a transitive verb lasser, which means to tire out or weary (someone or something). Cela me lasse—That tires me out. The adjective las or lasse (fem) means tired or weary, and the present particle lassant used as an adjective means tiring, wearying. (All the French You Use 5) It is important to note that Rosenthal’s goal was not to provide an alphabetical listing of words in dictionary format in these volumes. In fact, his goal is to provide an amusing look at French words that exist in English by grouping words according to their close counterparts (for example, raisin and prune). One might then ask how one is to use Rosenthal’s books if one is curious about the origins of a particular word. This question is easily answered and satisfied by the alphabetical listing of all the words at the back of both books. Finally, while both of these books are a fun read, they also include a listing of sources and references with annotated commentary that Rosenthal used to research word origins and that would be useful for any instructor of French. Indeed, without in the least being heavy-handed, both of Rosenthal’s latest volumes provide a delightful way to learn more about both French and English. Canisius College (NY) Eileen M. Angelini TRUBY, KELLE, DESIRÉE PRIES, and KRISTINA BAER. À l’écran: Short French Films and Activities Manual with DVD. Boston: Heinle Cengage, 2011. ISBN 978-1-111-77228-4. Pp. 28. $21.95 (book + DVD). Intermediate and advanced intermediate French language students will enjoy this extremely useful text for introducing French film and for improving listening comprehension skills. The authors have succeeded in incorporating approachable , meaningful, and communicative instructional content for each chapter. This manual would be very easily incorporated as an adjunct to any intermediate level curriculum. It provides a welcome change of focus from explicit grammar and vocabulary practice using the film medium as impetus for discussion. The films deliver a total immersion setting, and the material is fun, engaging, and appropriate for students at this level. The seven short films range from three to eleven minutes in duration (it would be helpful in future editions if a listing of these film lengths were provided). Whether amusing, touching, or action-packed, the film selections provide thought-provoking content with instructionally rich lesson material. Film topics are varied, ranging from an animated film about a young boy and his favorite team sweater to an amusing drama about a crash landing triggered by a dropped cell phone connection. The linear organization of the book need not be adhered to, as instructors may choose to use as few or as many chapters as they choose, allowing for much flexibility when class time is limited. The instructor edition also provides the script for each film for ease of review and quick access to the material. Reviews 933 The book is organized by chapters, with one chapter and accompanying exercises devoted to each film. Each chapter is organized into sections that are used consistently throughout the text. The “Préparation au visionnement du film” section includes discussion questions and essential vocabulary and expressions. The next section, “Pendant le visionnement,” contains two parts: “Premier visionnement ” asks students, for example, to fill in a chart with target information or to watch the film without sound and be prepared to respond to questions about the setting, actions, or plot details; “Deuxième visionnement” instructs students to watch the film a second time with sound, if they had previously viewed it muted, and respond to true and false selections or multiple choice answers. “Allez plus loin” challenges the students further by asking them to do close readings of the narration of particular scenes for cloze vocabulary exercises. This section is omitted...