Great book, introduces topics gradually, lots of info on vocab and grammar. The CDs are great as the voices are clear but fluent, again increasing in difficulty gradually. There are LOADS of exercises for each topic (exercies along the way, grammar exercises, extra exercises, and supplementary exercises too - for every chapter!) all answers are in the back. The only downside is that there is no transciption for the CDs - it would have been nice to read along with listening to the CDs. Overall a great book, which I have used for a beginners course in French, but I also do the extra exercises on my own and am planning to continue to use this book and go to the end now that my classes are finished, as this is a great book for use in and out of classes