Tiy’s Language Log (French/German)(TAC15) (Language Learning Log) Language Learning Forum

Tiy’s Language Log (French/German)(TAC15)
Tags: Total Annihilation Challenge (TAC) \| German \| French
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Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log

20 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5469 days ago
821 posts - 1273 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: French^B1

Message 17 of 20

13 January 2015 at 4:58am | IP Logged

Hi Tiy,

Welcome to the French team. We're around the same level it seems. I have passed a B1 exam
but i've recently read some B2 graded articles without much difficulty, so like yourself
my reading level is probably closer to B2 whilst my speaking not fantastic (no problems
reproducing with courses, but speaking on the fly French is a tad trickier). Anyway good
luck with you French TAC 2015!

PM
1 person has voted this message useful

Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 5002 days ago
3277 posts - 6779 votes

Speaks: Czech*, French^C2, English^C1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

Message 18 of 20

17 January 2015 at 6:54pm | IP Logged

Hi teammate!

Great to have you around. I wish you lots of success and un on the road.

A few thoughts:

I think joining the Super Challenge is a good decision. Devouring tons of native input
might help you with most goals you've mentioned.

Should you be able to understand tv, those RFI easy news will be too easy for you. But
you are choosing quite a steep learning curve, Engrenages are among the most difficult
tv series in a foreign language I have watched. Perhaps, to make yourself readier for
it, you might try some others as well. A good original series is Profilage. It is fun,
not stupid, and with easier language (less slang and shouting, somehow the characters
are easier to understand in my opinion). Or you might start with a good quality
dubbing and make it a stepping stone towards the originals. Our wikia has some
exemples and some of them even with tips on finding precise transcripts or subtitles.

On finding books. There is an awesome source people sometimes forget due to focus on
the great tools given us by the internet. I am speaking about libraries. Perhaps your
municipal library doesn't have such "high level" French books but you might try your
nearest Alliance Francaise. The one in Prague (called Institut for historical reasons
but it is part of the network) does have very good selection of books on various
aspects of the French language, including some on translation. Hopefully, yours will
have such books as well. Or university libraries often offer such literature and many
of them are open to external readers as well.

But I agree with what was said: You need to practice, practice and practice. And read
a lot. Translation is not just a machinelike work, it requires strong grasp of the
language with many nuances, sometimes you just "feel" one option is better than the
other. Reading a lot will surely help develop many of the needed skills.

As you mention tasks you will need to pass for your A levels and whatever else, it is
very important to get all the information in time. What exactly will you be asked to
do, what genres to write or translate, what are common mistakes students make, how
much time will you have. And prepare accordingly.

By the way, your French writing seems to be really good, from the bits I've seen so
far, I would in general expect worse from high school students. Mine was worse at your
age ;-)

I am looking forward to reading your log.
2 persons have voted this message useful

Tiy
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 3673 days ago
16 posts - 21 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German

Message 19 of 20

18 January 2015 at 9:39pm | IP Logged

Cavesa wrote:

Hi teammate!

Great to have you around. I wish you lots of success and un on the road.

A few thoughts:

I think joining the Super Challenge is a good decision. Devouring tons of native
input
might help you with most goals you've mentioned.

Should you be able to understand tv, those RFI easy news will be too easy for
you. But
you are choosing quite a steep learning curve, Engrenages are among the most
difficult
tv series in a foreign language I have watched. Perhaps, to make yourself
readier for
it, you might try some others as well. A good original series is Profilage. It
is fun,
not stupid, and with easier language (less slang and shouting, somehow the
characters
are easier to understand in my opinion). Or you might start with a good quality
dubbing and make it a stepping stone towards the originals. Our wikia has some
exemples and some of them even with tips on finding precise transcripts or
subtitles.

On finding books. There is an awesome source people sometimes forget due to
focus on
the great tools given us by the internet. I am speaking about libraries. Perhaps
your
municipal library doesn't have such "high level" French books but you might try
your
nearest Alliance Francaise. The one in Prague (called Institut for historical
reasons
but it is part of the network) does have very good selection of books on various
aspects of the French language, including some on translation. Hopefully, yours
will
have such books as well. Or university libraries often offer such literature and
many
of them are open to external readers as well.

But I agree with what was said: You need to practice, practice and practice. And
read
a lot. Translation is not just a machinelike work, it requires strong grasp of
the
language with many nuances, sometimes you just "feel" one option is better than
the
other. Reading a lot will surely help develop many of the needed skills.

As you mention tasks you will need to pass for your A levels and whatever else,
it is
very important to get all the information in time. What exactly will you be
asked to
do, what genres to write or translate, what are common mistakes students make,
how
much time will you have. And prepare accordingly.

By the way, your French writing seems to be really good, from the bits I've seen
so
far, I would in general expect worse from high school students. Mine was worse
at your
age ;-)

I am looking forward to reading your log.

Thank you for the advice, Cavesa.

Speaking of the Alliance Francaise, I am quite familiar with the Institut in
London. I was actually there yesterday for a philosophy discussion and luckily
for me they were having a book sale! I managed to buy quite a few books at a
very low price (even cheaper than Ebay, if you add postage and packaging). Very
useful for someone on a student budget! My local library has very few
monolingual French books but my school is well stocked, so I will take advantage
of those. Currently, however, I have 10 or so French books in my room waiting to
be read which means I have no shortage of reading material.

As for television, I will try and see if I can find dubbed/subtitled episodes of
Profilage. I might not be able to start watching it immediately as the school
season has started and I need to catch up with books for the Super Challenge but
it might prove handy for the holidays!

1 person has voted this message useful

PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5469 days ago
821 posts - 1273 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: French^B1

Message 20 of 20

25 August 2015 at 4:43am | IP Logged

Hi Tiy,

Are you still out there? Still learning French? I'm just dropping you a line to let you
know that many of the French learners are quiet for some time now (like yourself) but
many are also continuing our learning on the alternative " how-to-learn-any-language.org
" website created for improved reliability when this site crashed for days. Feel free to
come on over and join in on the learning! (corny I know). Or you can just remain here, or
do nothing of course :) I hope you are well.

regards,
PM

1 person has voted this message useful

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