Liberté
The text covers all of the usual material addressed in the first two semesters of a university French language course. The grammar coverage is quite comprehensive, and I particularly appreciate the wide array of cultural notes introducing students to important aspects of French and Francophone culture. There is no index (though there is a very helpful Title Page) and there is no glossary.
The content is accurate, error-free, and unbiased. It needs to be continually updated; there were a small handful of outdated references and anachronisms, but these can easily be fixed.
The content is up-to-date, and with regular updates and reviews it will remain relevant (particularly where certain cultural notes and contexts are concerned). The grammar itself is timeless. To make this textbook more up-to-date pedagogical trends, I would like to see more use of film (short films or feature-length), and to see these updated every few years.
The book is exceedingly clear and well-organized. I appreciate very much that the beginning of each chapter states very clearly what the learning objectives for the chapter are. The use of English in this case will be very helpful for first-year French learners.
The text is very consistent, employing a "spiral" method in which certain materials are recycled throughout the text in order to help students to gain mastery through repetition. Like any good textbook, the material builds on itself throughout the book.
The text materials can easily be divided into subunits suited to the instructor's purposes, who may easily pick and choose which materials to use or not to use. The book is not overly self-referential and easily divisible into specific exercises, projects, or emphases.
The organization is excellent. The chapters are neatly divided into grammar, vocabulary, cultural, and oral exercise sections. The presentation of these materials is consistent and predictable, which makes learning the material easier.
The interface is generally excellent. There were occasional red marks and other awkward signs on the PDF version that I pulled up (2014 version), but spacing, navigation of materials, and clarity of visuals were all excellent.
I did not find any grammatical errors. The overall coverage of the grammar is excellent. The book covers everything I would hope to cover in the first two semesters of introductory French (and then some!) in terms of grammar. I wish there were more emphasis on vocabulary, however.
The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It makes an effort to discuss Francophone culture outside of metropolitan France, but I would like to see more authentic cultural readings and notes, even at the first-year level.
I would like to see more integration of film and music. I would like to see more cultural texts, especially authentic ones (not always artificially constructed texts created specifically with this textbook in mind). I would like to see a greater emphasis on vocabulary.
The grammar coverage is excellent, the organization is clear and predictable (which is very helpful for our first-year French learners), the exercises are very useful, and I like the emphasis on oral learning exercises.