Introduction
Welcome to your new French book! Let us try to explain why we believe you’ve made the right choice. You’ve probably had your fill of books asking you to memorize lots of terms (such is school). This book isn’t going to do that—although you’re welcome to memorize anything you take an interest in. You may also have found that a lot of books make a lot of promises about all the things you’ll be able to accomplish by the time you reach the end of a given chapter. In the process, those books can make you feel as though you missed out on the building blocks that you actually need to master those goals.
With Must Know High School Basic French, we’ve taken a different
approach. When you start a new chapter, right off the bat you will immediately see one or more must know ideas. These are the essential concepts behind what you are going to study, and they will form the foundation of what you will learn throughout the chapter. With these must know ideas, you will have what you need to hold it together as you study, and they will be your guide as you make your way through each chapter.
To build on this foundation you will find easy-to-follow discussions of the topic at hand, accompanied by comprehensive examples that will increase your ability to communicate in French. Each chapter ends with review questions—more than 1,000 throughout the book—designed to instill confidence as you practice your new skills.
This book has other features that will help you on this French journey of yours. It has a number of sidebars that will both help provide helpful information or just serve as a quick break from your studies. The 
sidebars (“by the way”) point out important information as well as tell you what to be careful about French-wise. Every once in a while, an 
sidebar (“in real life”) will tell you what you’re studying has to do with the real world; other IRLs may just be interesting factoids.
In addition, this book is accompanied by a flashcard app that will give you the ability to test yourself at any time. The app includes 100 “flashcards” with a review question on one “side” and the answer on the other. You can either work through the flashcards by themselves or use them alongside the book. In addition to the flashcards, the app includes extensive audio that will help you with the sounds of French. To find out where to get the app and how to use it, go to the next section, The Flashcard App—with Audio!
Before you get started, however, let us introduce you to your guide throughout this book. In addition to extensive experience as a French educator, Annie Heminway has written more than a dozen books on learning the language. Having had the opportunity to work together before, we know that Annie is unmatched in her enthusiasm for the French language (and culture!). She understands what you should get out of a French course and has developed strategies to help you get there. Annie has also seen the kinds of trouble that students run into, and she can show you how to overcome these difficulties. In this book, she applies her teaching experience to showing you the most effective way to learn a given concept, as well as how to extricate yourself from traps you may have fallen into. She will be your trustworthy guide as you expand your French knowledge and develop new skills.
Good luck with your studies!
The Editors at McGraw-Hill