Get a good dictionary

If you are at all serious about teaching French at home, you will need to invest in a good French-English dictionary. My advice is not to settle for less than 100,000 words. A dictionary of this size will have all you will ever need, including complete pronunciation guides, grammar, and conjugations.

Warning! A comprehensive dictionary will include the "bad" words as well as the good ones. This is only a good thing as you should also learn what not to say as you progress in language study.

While there are several internet translators available, these are generally unreliable. Language is so full of idioms which are difficult to translate. For example, one of my students handed in a composition that made "I'll be right back" sound like the equivalent of "I'll be left front." His translation, while word for word and literal, made no sense at all. This is less likely to happen with a good dictionary that gives examples of word usage.

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