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Yet another study schedule, comments? | ||
Tags: Study Plan | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4819 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 17 of 46 11 October 2013 at 10:46pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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@PeterMollenburg:
Slight variations on emk's book theme (depending on what suits your learning style, or just as something else to try) -(If not already mentioned): - graded readers ... you could think of these as native material made easier for the learner with limited vocabulary. With luck, you may find them in a library. - parallel text (of a book of the kind that emk refers to). But you may have to buy this. Depending partly on how well it's laid out, the latter could help to keep the flow slightl.y better than even a pop-up dictionary, plus you only have one translation to worry about (not secondary meanings that you have to decide which is most appropriate). The pefectionist in you might want to know every possible meaning of that word, but I'd try to resist that temptation, in the interests of keeping up the flow. You can always go back later when you've finished the book (with a well-earned feeling of satisfaction of course) and look up the more obscure meanings of the more obscure words. :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5467 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 18 of 46 12 October 2013 at 2:04am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I was probably hoping for praise with my methods, but I did not know what the responses would be like. If I knew the answers why would I ask. Giving advice does not mean it's obligatory to take that advice. I was really looking for appraisal of my methods not specifically asking for alternative/better methods, mind u I was definitely allowing for advice and definitely wanting it, but like I said I am not obliged to take it. Nevertheless I will keep it all in mind and utilise some of the advice here. It's been said time and time again the BEST method is the method that gets you there in the end. I might be stubborn but I will implement some advice on this thread, but mainly once I get through the courses (which I enjoy and cost me a fortune). I'm slightly offended by the abrupt nature of your comments, but at the same time they are perfectly logical queries. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4135 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 19 of 46 12 October 2013 at 3:11am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I didn't use any programs at all when I started learning Spanish. Honestly, until I started reading HTLAL I wasn't even aware that most of the programs used by members even existed! The closest that I came to a "course" was Destinos, the Spanish equivalent of French in Action. I didn't have any of the additional material, but just watching the show (about 3 or 4 episodes per week) helped me enormously. I started learning Spanish at the end of May. My current level is somewhere around a B2, and my goal is to reach a very solid C1 by spring. I'm not against programs. In fact, I'll almost certainly be using one to get started with Tagalog next year. But I don't think that they're the only - or even the best - way to learn. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| lingoleng Senior Member Germany Joined 5289 days ago 605 posts - 1290 votes | Message 20 of 46 12 October 2013 at 7:15am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Praise your methods?? I see only one method: methodical use of a schedule. Some people want to learn, others want to have a schedule. Or do you mean your five beginner courses/methods? I think ten might be better, so no praise there, either, sorry. Asking for advice implies that one is open for suggestions. You prefer to insist on your deficiencies. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5467 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 21 of 46 13 October 2013 at 12:36pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I will certainly do this, iI'm not sure when tho. I have MANY ebooks (audio, bilingual and normal) of which le Petit Prince is one (I have children's books right through to adult, and as mentioned earlier a massive amount of French magazines. Many in the ibooks section of my iphone 5. Reading (graded reading) is definitely part of my plan, but I'm not going to start it just yet. I will add tho I do read quite a large amount of websites in French. I surf the net a lot and I often (prob 40% of the time will try to read the information in French first, I will aim to step this up to near 100%). I have commenced my plan. I want to reiterate 5 hours a day is my goal, i will NOT make this every day. 3 hours is my likely average but i'll pursue it and see how I go. I'm very determined now with the feedback on this forum to get through my courses (and i'm realising these courses are just as important stepping stones in my personal path to my goals as the end goals despite their apparent flaws and slow pace). Perhpas they aren't great and perhaps I should read sooner rather than later but I will keep you posted (i'm holding myself accountable).
According to AF de Melbourne my level is definitely B1 but not B2. As per the document you provided the link for i'm inclined to agree with that.
Very useful points. I have been trying to implement this strategy more and more. I'm getting out the flashcards in spare 'lost time' moments on my mobile. I'm watching Yabla clips while eating breakfast. I'll definitely increase my use of French web pages (wikipedia is great for that). Thank you very much for your advice emk, it's much appreciated. I'm a strange individual perhaps in some ways and perhaps many on here can't fathom why i want to soldier on through these courses. I guess we all have our ways, but like i have said your advice and the advice of others is not falling on deaf ears by any means. It demonstrates that my methods are not ideal. Yet they do work for me, however as I get through my goals of finishing off these courses, and I will, I will definitely increase the percentage of native material until it's the majority of your work. Thank you for your considerations and i will be coming back to log my progress and refer back to some of the information everyone has provided here. PM/Steve. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5523 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 22 of 46 13 October 2013 at 3:35pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
OK, lets assume you're a reasonably solid B1, then. Looking at your list of courses, here's what I see: * French in Action: This starts out as a beginner course, obviously, and I see a lot of people using for A1 & A2. I can't figure out if anybody uses it B1 students. But as far as I can tell, it focuses heavily on travel and daily life. These are very much A2/B1 topics. You won't make it to B2 unless you start dealing with more abstract content, such as newspaper articles, essays defending a viewpoint, and conversations that involve more than just small talk and tourist stuff. * Assimil NFWE: This is almost certainly way too easy at B1. At most, you could quickly review this course for useful idioms. But you'd get a lot more out of at least the first half of Using French, and you could even start flipping through Business French to see if you're ready. * FSI Mastering French Level 1 (then 2). Shortly after I passed the DELF B2, I flipped through units 20–24 of FSI Basic (which should be the end of "level 2" of your course). While I found the emphasis on rare irregular verbs rather challenging, I thought the grammar in the last few lessons was just barely sufficient for B2. For example, FSI covers the subjunctive fairly late, but a typical B2 exam expects you to use the subjunctive comfortably in actual conversation (or at least fake it). Thus, I doubt that any solid B1 student would be well-served by FSI units 1–12, except maybe as review. * Fluenz French and Hugo French. You're only in unit 2 of the first course, and you've already completed the second once before. Again, I'm not seeing a real challenge here. So if we assume that the AF and the COE checklist are right, and you're really at B1, then I'm almost certain that your courses are too easy. You appear to be a B1 student who's dividing his time and efforts between 5 courses at roughly an A2 level. This is not a recipe for rapid progress! You'd be better served by materials one step above your level, which would force your brain to adapt much more quickly. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| lingoleng Senior Member Germany Joined 5289 days ago 605 posts - 1290 votes | Message 23 of 46 13 October 2013 at 4:36pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Good luck, then. (Maybe it is possible to go through the courses you had already done in the past first, as Cavesa suggested, iirc. It should make things easier and not be against the spirit of your general plan.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6142 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 24 of 46 19 October 2013 at 3:57am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I've checked out the latest version of the course (3rd edition), and it's a lot more advanced than most people would expect. The first part, lessons 1 to 26, cover about 5,000 words and expressions. The basic course hasn't changed, but they've updated it with numerous articles from more recent publications. If the OP has the latest edition, I would advise sticking with the course. It has about 80 hours worth of audio in addition to the television series. My main concern with the latest edition is that it's too colloquial, and the learner might learn some very low brow expressions. In lesson 8 it has a joke from the French actor Coluche,
I really don't think a beginner should learn foutre at this stage. Edited by DaraghM on 19 October 2013 at 4:04am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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