French Handwriting

Many resources exist that will help you read French records. One of these is the Reading Handwritten Records Series of free online classes available at FamilySearch. It includes tutorials on
 * the French Alphabet
 * Key Words and Phrases
 * Reading French Records.

Another resource is the French Records Extraction Manual, with this linked Table of Contents. You will be able to practice on actual documents.

FRENCH RECORDS EXTRACTION MANUAL

Chapter 1: OLD FRENCH RECORDS

Chapter 2: PARISH CHRISTENING AND CIVIL BIRTH ENTRIES

Chapter 3: MARRIAGE ENTRIES

Chapter 4: OTHER ENTRIES

Chapter 5: FRENCH HANDWRITING AND SPELLING

Chapter 6: NAME IDENTIFICATION

Chapter 7: GENDER

Chapter 8: DATES

Chapter 9: PUTTING IT ALL INTO PRACTICE (Practice Activities) Section One Section Two Section Three Section Four Section Five Section Six: Answers

APPENDIX A: FRENCH OCCUPATIONS LIST

APPENDIX B: COMMON ABBREVIATIONS

APPENDIX C: ANSWERS TO SELF-EVALUATION EXERCISES

GLOSSARY