First published in 1997, Breaking the French Barrier has helped thousands of students achieve their language goals through a clear, structured approach that builds real confidence and lasting fluency.
Each level delivers essential vocabulary, core grammar, and rich cultural content in a complete, year-long French course. The program is designed to stand alone — with everything a student needs for a full academic year, no supplemental materials required.
Thoughtful exercises, a recurring audio adventure series, authentic native-speaker recordings, vocabulary quizzes, cultural articles, and a comprehensive test program support students at every stage. By the end of the series, students will have covered all major French grammar topics.
Online Access includes:
- Audio, video, and interactive exercises (twelve unique exercise formats)
- Cultural articles featuring notable people and landmarks from French-speaking countries
- Instant feedback for exercises with corrections for incorrect answers
- Responsive flashcards with audio to reinforce vocabulary
- Oral questions and video instructional capsules
New to French? Two new beginner titles — À Vos Marques... Partez! and En Route! — are also suitable for introductory high school students. Learn more →
French Level 1/Beginner
Level 1 requires no prior knowledge of French. The "First Steps" lesson also presents all the sounds of the French language so that students can develop an authentic accent.
- Theme-based, simple words and vocabulary offers students opportunities to learn words relevant to their daily lives at home, school, and beyond.
- An action-packed dialogue series appears throughout the book offering students reading and listening comprehension practice.
Throughout the chapters, easy-to-understand explanations unravel these essential building blocks of language:
- nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions
- the present, passé composé, imperfect, and progressive tenses
- formal command
French Level 2/Intermediate
Level 2 first reviews key grammar topics to ensure that all students have a strong grounding in the present, passé composé and imperfect tenses.
- New lists of vocabulary further expand students' ability to describe the world around them
- An adventure series also is featured in Level 2 as characters travel to exciting new places with unexpected twists and turns
- The new material in Level 2 includes:
- the future, conditional, present perfect, the pluperfect, present subjunctive, and the pluperfect subjunctive tenses
- indefinites, demonstratives, and reflexive pronouns
- informal commands, comparisons
French Level 3/Advanced
Level 3/Advanced targets students in their 3rd or 4th year of French. This title covers all the key grammar found on AP, SAT II, IB, or college placement tests. Continuing the strategies established in French Level 1/Beginner and French Level 2/Intermediate, this title begins by reviewing the major present, past, conditional and future tenses. Cultural articles with comprehension exercises help students get to know stories from people around the world.
Key topics include:
- all perfect tenses, including the present perfect, pluperfect, future perfect and conditional perfect
- the subjunctive mood (with commands, verbs of emotion, hypothetical situations, adverbial phrases)
- comparatives, the passive voice, "if clauses," punctuation, and uses of the infinitive
- intriguing vocabulary, with special focus on adjectives in early chapters, followed by nouns, verbs, and idiomatic expressions
The Advanced title makes certain that every student – whether formally enrolled in school or studying independently – has all the rules he or she will ever need to know about the French language. It fully equips students for a lifetime of authentic contact with the Francophone world.