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The apparent difficulty of students of French as a second language to acquire French vocabulary is examined, drawing on experience with teaching Irish university students and the structures and stylistic traits peculiar to French. It is noted that while certain kinds of words (noun, verb, adjective, adverb) occupy little space in text, they take up the most room in a dictionary, and conversely, while others (pronoun, preposition, determiner, conjunction) use much space in text and relatively little in dictionaries. Grammar (structure) and vocabulary are also often taught separately, with grammar receiving more attention. It is proposed that vocabulary deficit has two causes: (1) the obvious word is not always obvious at all; and (2) meaning does not always reside within single words. These concepts are expanded upon and illustrated. It is suggested that while having students keep a list of vocabulary words is a classic technique and using picture dictionaries is handy for concrete vocabulary, a more useful technique is for students to begin with "obvious" words (e.g., "ferme") and cluster around them related terms (e.g., "exploitation, exploitation agricole, recolte, vendange, culture," etc.). This more expansive system for developing vocabulary may be more effective than the conventional linear approach. (MSE)

Abstract.-A significant number of lungfish dentitions are now known from the Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Woodbine Formation, primarily from one new locality, the Arlington Archosaur Site of northeast Tarrant County. Texas. The [...]

Abstract.--Most Ceratadus specimens from the Aptian/Albian of north Texas belong to a small species that is characterized by distinctive sharp dental crests, denticulate in unworn tooth plates. These blade-like crests, [...]

La Suisse et la Savoie de Valery Larbaud. By BERNARD-DOMINIQUE BAJON. Geneve: Slatkine. 1999. 486 pp. 34.76 €. Titles on Valery Larbaud typically contain the conjunction 'et'. This 1999 study [...]