densely packed favorite heavyweight for many native English speakers; I have the new (4th ed. 2007) Oxford Hachette (below), too; they're both a bargain at $35 each here at amazon

yet another great (big) two-color dictionary -- Harrap's is billed as "college" rather than "unabridged," though it appears to fit the later category if compared to the Collins College line; you can't miss with this purchase, either; the Collins is somewhat more legible, possibly because the Harrap's may be packing more info in smaller text

hilarious, super-cute illustrations; multi-ethnic representation and kids in wheelchairs -- just like in real life! most children and many adults will be charmed by this 1,400 key words & phrases picture dictionary

2nd ed. (2006) outstanding course in French pronunciation, used in university phonetics courses; must buy the audio CDs, too: ISBN-10: 0618507086 ; don't let the price dissuade you, it's worth it if feel you need to build confidence in your French pronunciation

love the legible and nicely spaced two-color text and quality paper; another plus is the cross-platform (Windows & Mac) CD-ROM; I still prefer the "Big Blue" as it has gobs more usage examples and more CD-ROM exercises

most students need all the practice they can get; a bargain price; see also: Practice Makes Perfect [PMP] French Verb Tenses, by Trudie Booth, and other 'PMP' workbooks

always more grammar practice; another bargain; see also: the "Practice Makes Perfect" workbooks from McGraw-Hill, e.g. French Pronouns and Prepositions, by Annie Heminway

systematic approach to vocabulary acquisition, prioritized within subject areas, originally written for the German market; see also: Christopher Kendris's (Barron's) French Vocabulary, a pocket size guide that's packed with gobs of vocab, also listed by subject (ISBN-10: 0764119990; approx. $6.95)

text + audio help with idioms and slang, at a bargain price

Champs Elysees is a great listening comprehension tool. They offer various subscription plans; take a look at their web site (they also offer German, Italian, & Spanish language products)

vocabulary guide matches specific phrases to facial expression and gesture

Tintin in original French is a classic French learning tool; Tintin remains popular (despite the often cringe-inducing imperialist and racist tone of several volumes) because the illustrations are so expressive; Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis are said to be working on a computer-animated movie

encyclopedia entries on writers and various figures and texts in the French canon; very useful for students' reference

vol. 1 of a five-volume survey of French Literature; vol. 2: 17th c. ; vol. 3: 18th c. ; vol. 4: 19th c. ; vol. 5: 20th c. introductions are in English, with French text and English glosses

monolingual guide to contemporary French society, culture, political systems, etc.; excellent reader with useful maps, charts, questions; supplement text with updates from French news web sites

used in some university courses on French culture; do an author search on "Polly Platt" to find other titles used in culture classes

excellent history of French Cinema, from origins to date of publication (circa 2003)

Criterion Collection produces some of the finest editions of classic international films; check their web site's coming soon page for new French releases, not to mention all the other great international films

Ouaaaaaaais! M is for "Maître des Arts: Chant et guitare," or perhaps "Mathieu Chedid;" don't leave French pop music off your list of study tools