Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary

After 2 weeks in Paris with this book in hand, all I can say is "what a disappoinment!" I bought this book based on other customer's online reviews, while my husband went to the bookstore, and carefully chose "Lonely Planet" French Phrasebook French: Lonely Planet Phrasebook. The difference was not subtle. The Lonely Planet version is beautifully color coded, for easy navigation, while Mr. Steve's book is simple black and white. Lonely Planet is a tiny bit thicker, but is overall smaller in size (nice for your pocket).

Mr. Steve's provides a small dictionary, lost somewhere in the middle of the book, with no indication of gender, and no assistance whatsoever with pronuncation of said words. The dictionary portion of this book alone, made the guide a complete waste in my estimation.

In addition, if I...Read more

I haven't spoken French since high school, & I'm planning my first trip to Europe (including Paris). This book is really helping me remember all the tricky parts of the language, but it doesn't bog me down with the grammar that my old French teacher tried to drill into my head! This book has the important stuff, like ordering in a restaurant. It's small enough to fit in my pocket, so I know I'll use it a lot.

My husband and I are going to Paris for the first time next week. I just got the book yesterday and it is by far the most user friendly translation book. I have never taken a French class in my life and by this book breaking down phrases with simple English phonics makes all the difference. My husband and I are both fluent in Spanish and I can defend myself in Italian, but French was Greek to me. Thank you Rick Steves, now I can go to Paris with the confidence that I won't massacre the French language.