Read an Excerpt
Welcome to Vista Higher Learning's new introductory French program ESPACES: Rendez-vous avec le monde francophone. ideal for 2-3 semester sequence, ESPACES features a flexible lesson organization designed to meet the needs of diverse teaching styles, institutions, and instructional goals. in French, espaces means spaces in the sense of spaces reserved for a particular purpose. The spaces in ESPACES are its major sections, and they are reserved for helping students to learn French and to explore the cultures of the French-speaking world in the most user-friendly way possible. The textbook treats vocabulary and grammar as tools for effective communication, incorporates learning strategy instruction to develop students' skills, and emphasizes culture as integral to learning the language and communicating successfully. * Distinctive integration of video Shot in France, the ESPACES video provides three hours of specially-shot, program-specific video. integrated up-front in each lesson of the student text, a dramatic episode reinforces the lesson's vocabulary and previews its grammatical points in an appealing, comprehensible way. At the end of each unit, the Flash culture segments, hosted by the ESPACES narrators, enrich students' cultural knowledge through a wide array of images, all related to the unit's theme. * Unique, user-friendly design ESPACES enhances learning with its one-of-a-kind, easy-to-navigate design built around color-coded sections that fit either completely on one page or on spreads of two facing pages. To further motivate and support students, the textbook pages are visually dramatic, and ressources boxes correlate all program ancillaries on-page, right down to thepage numbers. * Rich, contemporary cultural presentation in each lesson of ESPACES, a vibrant Espace culture section brings to life the everyday life, language, accomplishments, and traditions of French speakers as they relate to the lesson's theme. At the end of each unit, an eye-catching Panorama section introduces students to the countries and regions of the French-speaking world. * Exciting integration of culture and multimedia Throughout ESPACES, three textbook sections are specially linked to high-interest multimedia delivered on the ESPACES super web site. Students enrich their cultural awareness by researching a task-based project in Projet, watching an authentic television clip in Le zapping, and listening to a song in interlude. * The basics of grammar in an innovative format ESPACES facilitates the learning of grammar by presenting each point on one self-contained two-page spread. Grammar explanations in the outside panels offer convenient on-demand support for the directed Mise en pratique exercises and open-ended Communication activities in the central, inside panels. * Practical, high-frequency vocabulary in each lesson, ESPACES introduces high-frequency vocabulary through expansive, full-color illustrations and reinforces it with two sets of activities: directed Mise en pratique exercises and open-ended Communication practice. * Process approach to skill building At the end of each unit in Lecture, À l'écoute, and Écriture sections, ESPACES carefully develops reading, listening, and writing skills, incorporating learning strategies and a process approach. * Focus on communication throughout ESPACES incorporates communicative activities throughout each lesson and in cumulative Synthèse sections that recombine the language of the corresponding lessons with that of preceding lessons.
