Little Theatre Comedy Georges Feydeau, Translated by Barnett Shaw Characters: 13 male, 6 female 3 interior scenes The action revolves around a flirt who refuses lovers so long as her husband is faithful. A wild plot to entrap her stumblingly husband in flagrante delicto becomes so frenetic that the seducers, angry husbands, spying wives, innocent maids, pubescent bellboys and police inspectors lose track of who's in bed with whom. "Sheer delight." Dallas Downtown News.

Why does everything sound better if it's said in French? That fascination is at the heart of The Story of French, the first history of one of the most beautiful languages in the world that was, at one time, the pre-eminent language of literature, science and diplomacy. In a captivating narrative that spans the ages, from Charlemagne to Cirque du Soleil, Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow unravel the mysteries of a language that has maintained its global influence despite the rise of English. As in any good story, The Story of French has spectacular failures, unexpected successes and bears traces of some of history's greatest figures: the tenacity of William the Conqueror, the staunchness of Cardinal Richelieu, and the endurance of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Through this colorful history, Nadeau and Barlow illustrate how French acquired its own peculiar culture, revealing how the culture of the language spread among francophones the world over and yet remains curiously centered in Paris. In fact, French is not only thriving—it still has a surprisingly strong influence on other languages. As lively as it is fascinating, The Story of French challenges long held assumptions about French and shows why it is still the world's other global language.

A Frequency Dictionary of French is an invaluable tool for all learners of French, providing a list of the 5000 most frequently used words in the language. Based on a 23-million-word corpus of French which includes written and spoken material both from France and overseas, this dictionary provides the user with detailed information for each of the 5000 entries, including English equivalents, a sample sentence, its English translation, usage statistics, and an indication of register variation. Users can access the top 5000 words either through the main frequency listing or through an alphabetical index. Throughout the frequency listing there are thematically-organized lists of the top words from a variety of key topics such as sports, weather, clothing, and family terms. An engaging and highly useful resource, the Frequency Dictionary of French will enable students of all levels to get the most out of their study of French vocabulary. Former CD content is now available to access at www.routledge.com/9780415775311 as support material. Designed for use by corpus and computational linguists it provides the full text in a format that researchers can process and turn into suitable lists for their own research work. Deryle Lonsdale is Associate Professor in the Linguistics and English Language Department at Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah). Yvon Le Bras is Associate Professor of French and Department Chair of the French and Italian Department at Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah).

We are so used to hearing about all the French words that are found in English and about how purist the French are about their language, that we don't realize how many English words have migrated into French. You'll be astonished by how many English words are used in French. French is inundated with them! Swamped with them! Most are native English words, but surprisingly, some were originally French words which moved into English long ago, evolved a different meaning, and then moved back to French with the new meaning as anglicismes. English words aren't always taken into French with the same spelling and usage as they have in our language. For example, you'll encounter le week-end, which has gained a hyphen, and le warning which doesn't mean "the warning" in a general sense, but specifically means the emergency lights or flashers on a car. Some words are specific to certain sports, like l'uppercut or le football, or to other activities, such as playing bridge, while other words which are general in English have only limited meanings in French. An example is le slice, which only refers to golf and tennis, and not to a slice of melon, for instance. Some words are so well integrated into French that the average Frenchman wouldn't be aware that they are words of English origin. At the other extreme are words that that same Frenchman would recognize immediately as English words even though he uses them without reflection (much as we would say ravioli and pizza are Italian words, or taco and tamale are Mexican Spanish words). All these words will be marked as anglicisme or mot anglais in a French dictionary like Le Petit Robert, and the use of some of them would be frowned on in formal speech or writing, but many are very widely used in normal casual speech. You'll find it a fascinating book. READ WHAT PROFESSORS AND INSTRUCTORS OF FRENCH AND OTHERS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT EARLIER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES: I think your books are wonderful. You have made a fantastic contribution to the French language profession. --- Prof. Judy Baughin, Raymond Walters College You have done a real service to learners of French...This is important work. --- Prof. John Romeiser, U. of Tenn. I have to say your Key Words and Expressions is just the kind of book I would have liked to have had when I was teaching myself French oh-so-many years ago. --- Prof. John Moran, Dir.Language Programs, NYU If you really want to learn spoken French, you need this book (Key Words). You'll need other books as well, you'll need audio materials, and you'll need live language experience. But this book is a necessity. ---- reader reviewer amazon.com I love the Faux Amis, especially the relaxed, conversational presentation. ---- Prof. Norman Shapiro, Wesleyan U. Your little books are great! ---- Prof. AG Fralin, Washington and Lee U. I absolutely *love* Faux Amis. It's so well done. --- Prof. Herta Rodina, Ohio U. I love your books! They are easy to navigate, and they are extremely useful to non-native French speakers. ---- Prof. John Turvaville, U. of Tenn. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this book (Key Words) is that it took until 2007 for anyone to think of writing it! ---- reader reviewer amazon.com The books are excellent.---- Prof. Luke Bouvier, U. of Mass, Amherst I've been perusing Key Words for the past couple of days and it's great fun... What a great idea for a book! --- Prof. Herta Rodina, Ohio U. This (Key Words)is easily one of the best and most important French resources I own (and I've got dozens of them)... It's amazing, absolutely amazing how this book has improved my understanding of spoken French. - reader reviewer, amazon.com I wish Rosenthal had written Rules for the Gender of French Nouns twenty years ago when I was a student. - Stephen Hedge, review in "The French Review"