Reading in French


"Speak in French when you can't think of the English for a thing!" Declared the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll.

One of the best ways to learn a language is to use it. One of the best ways to use it is to read it. One of the best ways to read it is to get some books written in it. One of the best ways to get books written in it is to find them in a library (it's free, that way).

It just so happens we have books in French suitable for all reading levels. We have a number of readers specifically designed to give reading practice at different levels, as well as children's books and adults' novels. We also have poetry and plays written in French as well, if you want to try your hand at those.

Some of our French literature collection has side-by-side English translations, which can help you with texts that might otherwise be too difficult, but it is worth your while trying to find a book that suits your reading level and just spending some time with the language.

At the moment, we have a small display of our French language literature and readers on the first floor of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library - along with some books on French Grammar, to help you along.

Why not come in and take a look at them? You can take some home, if you would like.

You can also "follow them home" - that is, go to the shelves where we found them and see what else you can find.

French literature is located at 840 in both the Main and Curriculum collections (contains a mixture of French language and English translations). French learning material is located in the 440s - and the graded readers are at 448.64.

Also, make sure you check out the Modern Languages LibGuide (http://libguides.jcu.edu.au/languages) - the French tab links to more resources to help with your reading and listening skills, and the Learning Languages tab has some good advice for using books in language studies.

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