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Mutant’s French/German log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Mutant Groupie United States Joined 3903 days ago 45 posts - 60 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 1 of 13 02 October 2014 at 8:25pm | IP Logged |
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Background
I started learning French about six months ago. I began my French odyssey with Assimil's New French With Ease, an absolutely wondeful book that made me believe that I could indeed learn to speak French. Fast forward six months, and I sucessfully "completed" Assimil about a week ago. I am now working my way through FSI French Basic Course, reading through Essential French Grammar, and speaking French almost every day with my tutor via Skype. I watch French dubs of my favorite shows whenever I can, and have been reading First French Readerin my spare time. I've also been working on some Anki and Memrise decks for French, although not as often as I should. I am very excited by the progress I have made, and can't wait to take my French to an even further level. I have been wanting to learn German for a long time as well, but I promised myself I would stagger my languages and not begin German until I had finished New French With Ease. Although the French language has grown on me, I initially only viewed it as a necessary tool for the would-be polyglot to have at their disposal. German is truly interesting to me, and that's why I was so excited to start Assimil German With Ease about a week ago. I've also been supplementing this with watching German TV, listening to German radio, and studying a basic German deck on Memrise. I'd like to follow the same path that I feel worked pretty well with French. Luckily, my French tutor also speaks German so I have someone to practice with. So, that's where I stand today. I am currently on the seventh lesson of German With Ease, and the third unit of FSI French. I will update this log whenever I can and I welcome all input and suggestions from those of you who have tackled one or both of these languages before! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4901 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 2 of 13 02 October 2014 at 9:18pm | IP Logged |
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Hello Mutant, and welcome to the logs!
It sounds like you're making excellent progress with your French. I also used NFWE, and I'm using FSI. It took me nearly 3 years to finish NFWE, and I'm guessing FSI might take me as long! But the slower progress is mainly because I have been doing a lot of reading, watching and listening. When you can, you should try Le Petit Nicolas, which is popular among French learners here. The audiobook is also very well done (although the audiobooks of the rest of the series aren't as good). As for German, I assume you're aware of the mountain of free learning resources on the Deutsche Welle site? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mutant Groupie United States Joined 3903 days ago 45 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 3 of 13 02 October 2014 at 9:36pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you Jeffers.
Yes, I have seen some of the resources available on the Deutsche Welle site, just trying to make time for it all! Thank you for reminding me about Le Petit Nicolas, I'll have to try that one out! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mutant Groupie United States Joined 3903 days ago 45 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 4 of 13 03 October 2014 at 1:02pm | IP Logged |
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I am really going to make it a point to write in this log daily, although I'm sure that's not realistic.
French I worked on Unit 3 of FSI for about 30 minutes and skimmed through Essential French Grammar before my tutor called. We spoke for about half of the hour in English, half in French. I really need to stop being so damn lazy with my Anki decks. Since I don't work tomorrow (although I do have school) I'm going to try to get them done tonight. German Assimil lesson 9, and this morning at breakfast I am going to work on Memrise. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4525 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 5 of 13 03 October 2014 at 2:41pm | IP Logged |
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Good luck! look forward to following your progress.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mutant Groupie United States Joined 3903 days ago 45 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 6 of 13 04 October 2014 at 2:02pm | IP Logged |
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French
I worked on Unit 3 of FSI for about 30 minutes this morning. I think if I really discipline myself and get in another hour after school I can finish this unit today. I really was disappointed for a while in this course, it seemed so easy (compared to the last two weeks of Assimil, which got pretty tough for a bit), but now I'm starting to see more complicated drills and it feels like good practice. I watched "The Cleveland Show" in French yesterday and I think I understood about 70 percent of it. I'm slowly getting to the point where I can relax and enjoy native materials, and that feels really good. German Lesson 10 of Assimil, and I'm going to try to squeeze in some Memrise this morning. I have school today but we take frequent breaks so hopefully I can make time for some Anki and Memrise. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mutant Groupie United States Joined 3903 days ago 45 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 7 of 13 07 October 2014 at 2:02pm | IP Logged |
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French
Finally made it to Unit 4 of FSI. I have to say, I have a love/hate relationship with this course...some days it's the most boring thing on the planet, and some days I really have fun with it. I've been trying to read a bit from First French Reader. This is certainly NOT a beginner's text, but I can understand a good deal of it, and it's giving me a first taste of French literature. I also discovered LingQ, and am using it for French. It's a lot of fun to play with, and it's another useful tool to add to my collection. German On lesson 13 of Assimil. I'm still using Memrise, and I also starting playing with Duolingo, which is really addictive. Again, Assimil/FSI are the backbone of my learning plan, but apps like LingQ, Memrise and Duolingo can be a great way to have fun and continue practicing on the go. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mutant Groupie United States Joined 3903 days ago 45 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 8 of 13 18 October 2014 at 1:40pm | IP Logged |
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German
German is quickly becoming my favorite language of all time. I don't know what it is, it just feels "right", like it's mine, like I'm "meant" to speak this language. I could see German becoming the one language I would like to take to perfection, or at least as close as I can get. The grammar is a bit harder than French, but I really don't mind studying in and in fact I find it very interesting. I'm on Lesson 23 of Assimil, and still using Duolingo, Memrise and LingQ as suppléments. French Every day, a little more progress. I had a Skype session with my tutor today. I was afraid it was going to go poorly because I haven't really slept much the past two days and my brain feels like it's turning to mush, but actually the opposite happened: when we began talking, the French flew from my lips without much thought or struggle. Even my tutor commented on the improvement, and I really think it's all the reading and listening I've been doing. I'm still working on FSI, Unit 5. I think once I finish Unit 6 I'll take a little time to review everything before I start Unit 7. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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