The Twisted Doors | Les Portes Tordues | Las Puertas Retorcidas by Dr. Kathie Dior The Scariest Way in the World to Learn and Listen to French or Spanish! And now Twisted Doors is available in an English edition aimed at ESL students here and abroad! Whoever heard of of curling up on a nice, soft, warm couch to actually enjoy learning French? The first chapters are a warm-up, but you must learn them well or else! Then, hang on tight to your pillow, for this will be the scariest way in the world to learn a language! The Twisted Doors is a bilingual French-English, Spanish-English, or ESL illustrated mystery and grammar combined with an accompanying audio CD. Just read along and listen to the captivating mystery and improve or perfect your comprehension of spoken French, Spanish, or English! Suitable for beginners, intermediates, self-learners, it offers educational material as taught at Purdue University's Gifted Education Resource Institute, was among the top 10 French resources picked by Laura K. Lawless for About.com, and received an AATF's editor rating of 5 Fleurs de lis.
Twisted Doors ESL Edition | The Scariest Way to French and Spanish | Features | MP3 Sample | Reviews of the French Edition Enbglish Table of Contents | French Table of Contents | Spanish Table of Contents
The Twisted Doors $59.95 English (ESL) French Spanish Package of 10 $495 English (ESL) French Spanish
The Twisted Doors: The Scariest Way in the World to Learn English! is the most creative and engaging intermediate to advanced ESL/EFL course of its time: It teaches extensive grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking, and listening by embedding an ongoing suspenseful mystery adventure, even into the grammar quizzes, dialogues, and exercises. Students are motivated to learn a chapter so that they can find out how the mystery unfolds in the next!
The Twisted Doors combines an all-in-one comprehensive grammar and basic English skills textbook, an integrated mystery reader with gripping dialogues doubling as grammar quizzes, a highly illustrated activity book with hundreds of interactive quizzes and exercises (sometimes in the form of rhyming riddles, secret codes, games, crossword puzzles, word scrambles, or hidden words), and a riveting read-along audio book CD. No costly add-ons or supplements are needed since they are all incorporated and integrated into one book.
Assessed at TESOL levels 3-4, progressing to level 5, The Twisted Doors is a must-have for intermediate to advanced ELL/EFL/ESL (English as a Second Language) middle and high school students worldwide, advanced adult self-learners (for self-study, please get the Teacher's Edition, which has an answer key), adults in ESL literacy programs, international students in the US, and overseas English-language learners.
The Twisted Doors is a bilingual French-English, Spanish-English, or ESL illustrated mystery and grammar combined with an accompanying audio CD. Just read along and listen to the captivating mystery and improve or perfect your comprehension of spoken French, Spanish, or English! Each chapter cleverly integrates vocabulary, expressions, grammar, tests, and answers into the mystery, and an exact line-by-line English translation of the French or Spanish text is given so that you can learn the language while you are entertained by the story. It's great for beginners, intermediates, self-learners, G/T students, travelers, and ESL students - this intriguing mystery motivates readers of all ages. The book and CD have the same format as taught at Purdue University's Gifted Education Resource Institute, GERI , West Lafayette, Indiana, and was written by Dr. Kathie Dior, formerly of the Université de Paris, and edited by Servanne Woodward, Phd. of the University of Western Ontario.
There is an extensive and thorough French or Spanish vocabulary and expression index included. There is no searching for the English translation or a vocabulary word, no searching for the answer key in a remote appendix - it's there! The pages are printed on two sides facilitating comparison with the English text, with space allotted for note taking, and come with 46 chapters and include 37 charming Victorian style ink illustrations. The French and Spanish editions feature the same English text - buy both the French and Spanish versions and compare the French, Spanish, and English texts!
The audio CD enhances the suspense and enables the reader to listen to the story and improve his/her comprehension of spoken French or Spanish, and has a clear and riveting narration by a native-speaking university instructor. It is composed of 46 tracks covering all 46 gripping chapters of the mystery without the grammar sections, and therefore doubles as a stand-alone audiobook! The audio format is compatible with PC CD-ROMs, Mac CD-ROMs, car, portable, and home stereos.
Here is an MP3 Sample for Chapter 3 of The Twisted Doors in French and in Spanish. MP3 is a common sound format for the compression of CD quality audio, and there are many freeware and commercial players downloadable from the Internet, including current versions of the Windows Media Player.
Received an AATF's editor rating of 5 Fleurs de lis 5-Star Guide Rating and among the top 10 French resources as picked by Laura K. Lawless for About.com
"Les Portes Tordues (The Twisted Doors) is a unique book. It is a bilingual story (French-English) plus grammar book all in one, and is aimed at upper beginning- to intermediate-level students.The story relates the mysterious adventures of a girl and boy trapped in a scary house with twisted doors, and is illustrated with two dozen color images. But there's much more to this book than just the story! Each chapter contains the following: Passage from the book, in French and English, list of tricky vocabulary, grammar lesson, grammar quiz, answers to quiz. The first 12 chapters cover basic French grammar in short, easy passages. From chapter 13 on, the story passages get progressively longer and more difficult, and the grammar lessons are very cleverly incorporated into the story itself. For example, in order to open locked doors, the protagonists have to recite certain vocabulary lists or verb conjugations that were discussed in earlier chapters. In the last chapters of the book, a thorough grammar and vocabulary review is woven into the story. But watch out for the twisted doors!" Laura K. Lawless for About.com (5-Star Guide Rating and included among the top 10 French resources)
"This is the most exciting way I have ever come across for learning a foreign language. The book is written as an adventure in French, with English translation for each chapter. Although the reader is impatient to find out what happens next, unless the vocabulary and exercises are completed to a satisfactory degree, continuing to the next chapter is strictly forbidden. This in itself is an incentive to do the necessary work! The information will be needed later in the book, so it's best to learn it properly to begin with. The story is so exciting that the student is compelled to learn each step thoroughly in order to find out what happens next. The combination of a suspense story with the exercises results in a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting way to learn French." Chris Thomas, East Sussex, Great Britain, professional British playwright, producer, and photographer (5-star rating on the Barnes and Noble site)
"This book is very different from other language books. Instead of conjugating verbs and memorizing rules of grammar, the reader finds himself drawn into an intriguing bilingual mystery. The twists and turns in the story provide great motivation to continue to the next chapter and on to the final surprise ending. In addition, the author uses everyday French phrases instead of the stilted sentences of the typical language textbooks. Since my high school French was over 20 years ago, I was surprised at how much I learned and how quickly I progressed. Now that I have completed the book, it is fun to pick it up and see how much I can read without looking at the English translation. And the review provided at the end is a great reference for vocabulary and many common verbs." Judith Cuneo, California, international flight attendant (5-star rating on the Barnes and Noble site)
"I am studying French at home without a teacher. "The Twisted Doors" book and its accompanying audio CD is the most helpful learning material I have bought. Not only is it very easy to study with this book, but it also seems to have something magical that keeps me always in a studying mood. The author, Kathie Dior, knows very well what the student needs, and it is written in that sense. The audio CD was recorded with high quality sound. The voice has a special intonation according to the situation described, which helps in the understanding of the text. There are many French books available for purchase on the web and here in my homeland of Argentina. But this book is the best." Francisco S., entrepreneur, Buenos Aires, Argentina (5-star rating on the Barnes and Noble site)
"I love your French story as a way to learn French. As a former teacher, I approve!" J. Datesman, former Dean of Students at Lake Forest Academy in Illinois
"I just wanted to write a quick note to say that I am really enjoying Les Portes Tordues. I have traditionally had a miserable time with language books because of lack of interest - spending weeks learning to count the weekdays, etc. Les Portes Tordues has been very enjoyable because of its immediate immersion in "real" language, as well as the fact that there's a story so there's actually something to maintain interest as I go. This is extremely important for me since my wife and I will be moving from the US to France in about 4 months!" Trever Talbert, Thomasville, North Carolina
