Modern Languages

This text is part of a Focus series of student editions in Spanish designed for students of Spanish and general readers who are not native speakers. Each book carries the full text, notes, introduction and questions in the manner of Advanced Literature Placement examination questions. All are in Spanish and are designed to help the reader approach the materials with both linguistic, literary and cultural issues.

This is the second in a two-volume series of books designed to facilitate discussion in Russian of Russian language films. Each chapter concentrates on one film and includes assignments for students training from Intermediate to Advanced Plus proficiency according to the ACTFL guidelines. The book has a modular structure that allows instructors to select the films according to the students' interests and goals of the class. The book can be used on its own as a textbook or as a supplemental material for classes at various levels. While the book's main purpose is the development of students' conversation skills, each chapter includes texts for reading comprehension and exercises that focus on the acquisition of written skills and grammatical accuracy. 

The Focus Student Editions are designed for French language courses in literature and culture. Prepared with non-native French speakers in mind, these editions include an introduction (in French), the complete work, and linguistic and cultural notes in French, a current bibliography and study questions. A masterwork of modern francophone African literature, L’enfant noir has the artistry of a novel and the authenticity of an autobiography. This prizewinning 1954 tale describes the narrator’s journey from childhood in Kouroussa, in northwestern Guinea, to France, and the conflict of sacred traditions with the ways of the modern world.

A reference guide in Russian about Russian verbs with exercises for guided practice.

This text is part of a series of student editions in Spanish designed for students of Spanish and general readers who are not native speakers. Each book carries the full text, notes, introduction and questions in the manner of Advanced Literature Placement examination questions. All are in Spanish and are designed to help the reader approach the materials with both linguistic, literary and cultural issues.

"This is an excellent book for use in AP Spanish literature and culture classes, and also for use at the college level. The readers' guides and historical and cultural overviews of Spain are especially useful." —Patricia Smith, Tufts University

El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra was first published in Spain around 1630 by Gabriel Tellez, a Spanish Baroque dramatist, poet and a Roman Catholic monk who used the name Tirso de Molina. The earliest adaptation of the legend of Don Juan, the personification of youthful indifference and all that is sinful, Tirso’s tale set in the 14th century confronts evil masquerading as honor. The Focus Student Editions are appropriate as introductory texts for Spanish language courses in literature and culture. They have been designed to help students approach the original Spanish text through an introductory essay, vocabulary and cultural notes, and study questions. All material is in Spanish, and complete in one volume.

Federico García Lorca's 1945 drama is set in a small Spanish village, where the five daughters of a tyrannical mother struggle against her strict control. The play explores themes of repression, passion, and conformity, and the effects of love upon men upon women. This edition is designed to help students approach the original Spanish text through an introductory essay, vocabulary and cultural notes, and study questions. All material is in Spanish, and complete in one volume, appropriate as an introductory text for Spanish language courses in literature and culture.

Ciak si parla italiano is a new text designed specifically for courses in Italian conversation that focus on cinema as the context for discussion. This text covers sixteen films ranging from Pietro Germi's Divorzio all'italiana to Pupi Avati's Il cuore altrove. They cover a broad range of genres: comedy, drama, science fiction, historical, political, social. They are films that students and instructors find interesting and engaging. The readings which accompany each film vary, and augment the film screenings and class discussions. There are five types of readings: background information on the director and film, cultural explications, scene transcriptions, directors comments, and poetry. While the first two serve to orient and contextualize the films for the students, the transcriptions allows for a more detailed linguistic analysis of a particular scene. The directors comments provide an insightful interpretation to stimulate discussion. The poetry readings were inspired by filmic references and inspire students to expand their insights beyond the specific film.

A new edition of a classic anthology, published in five convenient and inexpensive volumes, updated for the modern student. Selections in French, with introductory material and notes in English. Includes time lines, introductions to each period and its culture, and short biographies of the authors.

". . . a most valuable project. It will provide a much-needed tool to college and university professors who teach courses on minority literature in general; however, most notably Jewish German and Austrian culture."
      —Dagmar C.G. Lorenz, University of Illinois at Chicago

A new edition of a classic anthology, published in five convenient and inexpensive volumes, updated for the modern student. Selections in French, with introductory material and notes in English. Includes time lines, introductions to each period and its culture, and short biographies of the authors.

A new edition of a classic anthology, published in five convenient and inexpensive volumes, updated for the modern student. Selections in French, with introductory material and notes in English. Includes time lines, introductions to each period and its culture, and short biographies of the authors.

Unamuno's thought-provoking 1931 novella of a village priest who remains devoted to his people while he struggles with religious disillusionment touches on Spanish tradition as well as existential and religious philosophy. The Focus Student Editions are appropriate as introductory texts for Spanish language courses in literature and culture. They have been designed to help students approach the original Spanish text through an introductory essay, vocabulary and cultural notes, and study questions. All material is in Spanish, and complete in one volume.

This is the first in a two-volume series of books designed to facilitate discussion in Russian of Russian language films. Each chapter concentrates on one film and includes assignments for students training from Intermediate to Advanced Plus proficiency according to the ACTFL guidelines. The book has a modular structure that allows instructors to select the films according to the students' interests and goals of the class. The book can be used on its own as a textbook or as a supplemental material for classes at various levels. While the book's main purpose is the development of students' conversation skills, each chapter includes texts for reading comprehension and exercises that focus on the acquisition of written skills and grammatical accuracy.

Apprentissage du cinema francais is an introduction to French cinema, in French, for American college students. This text includes the history of the origins of French film, an explanation of how to analyze a film, a lexicon of French cinema terms, and an analysis of 17 major masterpieces of French filmmaking. A parallel English version of this text, French Cinema: The Student's Book, is also available, so the same course can be taught to students of French culture as well as students of French language.

Additional Resources: Apprentissage du cinema francais Companion website.

Five Russian stories (in English) from the post-Soviet era from among the best modern writers. The stories reflect cultural and political styles and concerns in Russian literature today. Translated with notes and introduction in English.

Four German Stories is a German language collection of postwar and contemporary stories, written by German and Austrian writers, and focusing on family life. The stories are arranged in order of increasing complexity for vocabulary, syntax, style, topic and approach. The text includes footnotes for difficult or idiomatic phrases, an extensive glossary for most words found in the stories, and pre- and post-reading discussion questions.

"This is the only text that actually teaches the student how to cope with practical Russian-English interpretation and translation problems which are becoming ever more important in today's global village. All those to whom I have recommended the first edition have found it a highly useful if not indispensable tool, and this revised and expanded version will be welcomed by advanced students of Russian as well as future interpreters and translators. Dr. Visson is to be commended for her emphasis on the importance of using correct and appropriate English equivalents for a broad range of Russian formal and informal colloquial expressions."
     —Frank J. Miller, Russian Language Coordinator, Columbia University

Newspaper articles of general interest serve as the basis for numerous exercises intended to help the student gain an active knowledge of the vocabulary and phraseology characteristic of written and spoken Russian and essential for reading and communicating in Russian at an advanced level. Special attention is devoted to word formation and the use of new vocabulary and phraseologies in their typical contexts. A review vocabulary list at the end of each lesson indicates words the student is expected to master in each lesson, and a cumulative vocabulary list at the end of the text shows where each item occurs.

A reference guide in Russian about Russian prepositions with exercises for guided practice.

The story of three generations of a Turkish immigrant family. Location in Cineplex: Chapter 6. 101 minutes. Region 2 DVD: Japan, Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East, including Egypt. You may need special equipment to play this DVD. Please visit about.com for more details. Region B Blu-Ray: Africa, Australia, Europe (including overseas territories of Britain, France, and the Netherlands, excluding Russia), Iceland, Greenland, New Zealand, Oceania, Southwest Asia. You may need special equipment to play this DVD. Please visit about.com for more details.

START explains the fundamental concepts of Russian pronunciation and writing to first year English-speaking students. Pronunciation by native speakers is given with reference to English sounds and words: hard and soft consonants, voiced and voiceless consonants, regressive assimilation, and the reduction of unstressed vowels. Self-quizzes and dictations are included at the end of every chapter. 

START, 2nd Edition is now out of print, replaced by a new Online 3rd Edition. Click here for information about the completely redeveloped and entirely Online 3rd Edition of START.

A new 5th edition of Cinema for French Conversation is now available (released in September 2022) (read more about the new edition here).

Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and BAFTA nominee for Best Foreign Film, JOYEUX NOEL (MERRY CHRISTMAS) tells the true-life story of the spontaneous Christmas Eve truce declared by Scottish, French and German troops in the trenches of World War I. Enemies leave their weapons behind for one night as they band together in brotherhood and forget about the brutalities of war. Diane Krüger (Troy), Daniel Brühl (Good Bye, Lenin!) and Benno Fürmann (The Princess and the Warrior) head a first-rate international cast in a truly powerful, must-see film. Location in Cinema for French Conversation, 4th Edition: Chapter 5. Location in Cinema for German Conversation: Chapter 1.

Paris, 1960. Jean-Louis (Fabrice Luchini, Potiche, The Girl From Monaco) lives a bourgeois existence with his neurotic socialite wife Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain, Mademoiselle Chambon) while their children are away at boarding school. The couple’s world is turned upside-down when they hire María, a Spanish maid who introduces Jean-Louis to an alternative reality a few stories up on the sixth floor servants' quarters. Befriending a group of sassy Spanish maids (including Pedro Almódovar’s star Carmen Maura, Volver, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), the women teach him there’s more to life than stocks and bonds, and their influence on the house ultimately transforms everyone’s life. (StrandReleasing.com). Location in Cinema for French Conversation, 4th Edition: Chapter 10.

Bilal, a 17-year-old Kurdish refugee, has struggled his way through Europe for the last three months trying to reunite with his girlfriend, who recently emigrated to England. But his journey comes to an abrupt halt when he is stopped by authorities in Calais, on the French side of the Channel. Left with no other alternatives, he decides to swim across. Bilal goes to the local swimming pool to train, where he meets Simon, a middle-aged swimming instructor in turmoil over his imminent divorce. Simon agrees to help Bilal, hoping to win back the affection of his wife, who does volunteer work helping immigrants. But what begins as a relationship based on self interest, develops into something much bigger than Simon could ever have imagined, as he too will ultimately risk everything to reach happiness. (FilmMovement.com). Location in Cinema for French Conversation, 4th Edition: Chapter 11.

Bubbling with wit, stellar performances and lavish cinematography, MOLIÈRE stars multi-Cesar®-nominated French actor Romain Duris as Molière, a down-and-out actor-cum-playwright up to his ears in debt. When the wealthy Jourdain (Cesar®-winner Fabrice Luchini) offers to cover that debt (so that Molière's theatrical talents might help Jourdain win the heart of a certain widowed marquise), hilarity ensues. Disguised as a priest, Molière becomes a guest in Jourdain's palace on the pretext of teaching Jourdain the craft of the stage, which annoys his wife, Elmire. But, soon after, the confrontation between Elmire and Molière turns seductive. Too busy to notice, Jourdain enlists the aid of a well connected and scheming acquaintance, to help him pursue the young widow. Romantic yearning, human foibles and laughs galore all characterize MOLIÈRE, a delightful film that slyly captures your heart. (SonyPictures.com). Location in Cinema for French Conversation, 4th Edition: Chapter 16.

This text is based on 23 songs by Bulat Okudzhava and is designed to facilitate Russian language through aural exercises by listening to the songs. Each is followed by listening exercises on cultural and grammatical details. Includes audio CD.

Completely redesigned in this 3rd edition, and now offered as an exclusively online product, START: The Sound and Writing Systems of Russian facilitates teaching the sounds and writings systems of Russian to first-year English-speaking students more effectively than ever. As a supplement to any standard first-year Russian textbook, START, 3rd Edition integrates its presentation of the Cyrillic alphabet, Russian sounds, and Russian writing systems through text, audio, video, written exercises, dictations, and auto-correcting quizzes so that students can acquire a solid grounding in fundamentals before moving on to more advanced material. Read more about START, 3rd Edition - including instructor and student FAQs.

Course Instructors: Click here to create a user account and request preview access to START, 3rd Edition.

Students: If your class is using START, 3rd Edition please contact your instructor for information on how to purchase access. If you have questions about student purchases please email customer@hackettpublishing.com.