English Vocabulary through French Roots

English vocabulary for non-English speakers: easy, useful and fun

1. There is a huge and fast growing market for English language learning books, especially in Eastern Asia.

2. If demand is high, supply is also very wide, although not too diversified. There is room for a new type of book.

3. One of the big obstacles for intermediate and advanced English learners is the difficulty of acquiring more sophisticated and specialized vocabulary (like: chamber, decapitate, bovidae, hibernate, ventral, mortality, malign, etc.).

4. Most of these sophisticated words originate from French (or ancient French), and more generally from Latin. These words are the most easy to learn for French speakers in particular and, in a lesser way, for Spanish, Italian or Portuguese speakers (French chambre = room, décapiter = to behead, bœuf = ox, hiver = winter, ventre = belly, mort = death, mal = bad). These words are also the most difficult to remember for non romance languages speakers.

5. Intelligence is the best helper of memory. Knowing a few French words can help to learn easily hundreds of English words. If you know that French cent means "one hundred", it takes little effort to guess or remember: centenary, centennial, cent, per cent, centenarian, century, centuple, etc. This book is based on this principle. The method has been tested on Japanese and Chinese students with a sharp increase in productivity.

6. Of course, there are already etymological dictionaries or vocabularies, but they are not suited for a large public and their references to dead languages (Latin) act as a scarecrow for today's learners. We can avoid that by relating English words to living languages: French, and also Spanish and Italian which are closer to the original Latin root. For example, Italian capo (head, hence leader) became chef in French, hence English captain, capital, decapitate, but also chef, chief, kerchief.

7. While English is increasing its leadership as a world language, the need for foreign languages has never been so high. Markets are more diversified than ever, and international tourism is increasing much faster than GNP. Microsoft for example, is using a few dozen languages to deal with its customers. Even business relations can be improved by the use of French, Spanish, Italian, etc.

8. While using this book, the reader will develop, without effort, some linguistic skills. He will often guess the meaning of English, French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese words he has never seen before. He will be able to grasp more intimately his favorite topics: science and humanities, but also opera, cooking, impressionism, latino and bossa nova music, and so many other fascinating fields. This book is useful. This book is fun to use!