redflag Senior Member Australia Joined 3831 days ago 123 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Danish, Indonesian, French
| Message 33 of 86 08 January 2015 at 12:29am | IP Logged |
Most of the French books, DVDs etc I plan to get through this year (and one ring in):
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tomgosse Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3981 days ago 90 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French
| Message 34 of 86 08 January 2015 at 12:56am | IP Logged |
redflag wrote:
Most of the French books, DVDs etc I plan to get through this year (and one ring in):
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Looks like a good collection of books.
Bon courage,
Tom
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redflag Senior Member Australia Joined 3831 days ago 123 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Danish, Indonesian, French
| Message 35 of 86 08 January 2015 at 8:17am | IP Logged |
Indonesian: Unit 1, Colloquial Indonesian.
French:
Days 5 and 6 Glossika
Sentences 50-100 Glossika dictation (REALLY bad on getting the accents right)
About 6 units of Babbel
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Straya Diglot Groupie Australia Joined 3606 days ago 57 posts - 73 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchA2 Studies: Polish
| Message 36 of 86 10 January 2015 at 6:29am | IP Logged |
Hi redflag!
Im interested to know what you think your level in french, although i must appologise for
not searching for that detail myself.
You've got more books french books than my local library,
Bonne lecture et bonne chance!
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redflag Senior Member Australia Joined 3831 days ago 123 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Danish, Indonesian, French
| Message 37 of 86 10 January 2015 at 7:59am | IP Logged |
Hey Straya. Weak A2. Better in reading, weaker in speaking/listening. Almost nonexistent in writing. I got by
during five days recently in New Caledonia using just French (mostly) at the hotel, restaurants, shops etc but it was
very far from perfect. I tested A2.4 - the last A2 level before B1 - in an Alliance Français de Sydney online test but I
must have fluked a fair bit I think.
I like buying books more than I like studying them. You should automatically get a bump in knowledge from just
having the commitment enough to buy I think, seems unfair somehow you actually have to do something with them.
... ;-)
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tomgosse Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3981 days ago 90 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French
| Message 38 of 86 10 January 2015 at 12:21pm | IP Logged |
redflag wrote:
I like buying books more than I like studying them. You should automatically get a bump in knowledge from just
having the commitment enough to buy I think, seems unfair somehow you actually have to do something with them.
... ;-) |
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I think that knowledge should be proportional to the weight of books. More "smarts" per pound.
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PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5465 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1
| Message 39 of 86 10 January 2015 at 11:46pm | IP Logged |
Hey redflag,
Good luck with your language learning in 2015! Welcome to Team français :) I have a few questions...
New Caledonia- More details please! I'm really eager to hear (read) what you really thought of it. Did you
travel far from Noumea? Did it seem like standard French? Could you consider a long stay there? Was it
expensive? Removing your rose-coloured French language on location glasses, is it a nice place to visit (from
a person who's not learning French perspective), what's the geography like? (hilly?), does it feel relaxed- ie
not just those on holiday but the locals too, did you pick up on any underlying racial tensions (I've heard
whispers)..,,
just really curious :)
PM
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redflag Senior Member Australia Joined 3831 days ago 123 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Danish, Indonesian, French
| Message 40 of 86 11 January 2015 at 12:57am | IP Logged |
The short version is I adored it and would happily live there. I certainly want to return, possibly next year to do a two
week course at CREIPAC (like a local Alliance Francaise).
I was there for five nights only and only in Noumea. I bought a hotel+flight deal on Expedia back in September I
think for $1000 AUD. If you buy the flight separately I think it's usualy around $600-$700 (Air Cailin codeshare with
Qantas) My hotel was the cheapest on offer on my theory that on holiday you don't spend much time in the hotel
and thought budget it was fine. It was right in the main beachy tourist area of Anse Vata, which was glorious,
beaches, palm trees, incredible blue skies. It's less than three hours flight from Sydney which is a pretty big
drawcard for me, I was really surprised to learn earlier last year that it was so close.
It seemed like standard French but honestly I'm not good enough to really tell and I assume in touristy places the
locals would moderate any non-standard elements anyway (tourists from Metropolitan France are the biggest group
of tourists, followed by Aussies and Kiwis.) I did buy a post cade and a coffee mug with local slang and phrases on
it, I'll try to scan in the card on Monday and post it here for people to see. And there is a little Assimil book about
Caledonian.
It was pretty expensive yes, by which I mean probably the same or a little more than spending your time in the
touristy areas of Sydney and Melbourne. Mains in restaurants $25-40 etc. There were cheaper options, like I just
went to the boulangerie le matin and bought some croissants and pain au chocolat and went and sat on the beach
for petit dejeuner which was well less than $10 AUD. But yeah, you won't save money versus holidaying in, say, Bali
or Phuket. There are some really great restaurants.
I did not personally notice racial tensions although of course I wouldn't and of course they exist (better than the 80s
though is my impression from trying to get a grasp on the politics.) When I arrived it was late arvo January 1st
and Anse Vata and Baïe des Citrons beaches were totally full of people, not tourists but locals - Kanaks,
Melanesians/Polynesians and Europeans - out enjoying the holiday and picnicking on the beach. That was a very
pleasant and relaxed feeling that never really left me for the rest of the week. Over the week I saw quite a lot of
mixed-race families. Obviously that is a superficial observation but all I can offer from my little holiday. The peace
accords provide for an independence referendum sometime between 2014 and 2018 so obviously that is an ongoing
issue, as is and economic inequality between Europeans and Kanaks.
It's actually quite hilly around the city and in the trip from the airport. I was hoping to do some randonee-ing in the
hills but it didn't work out. Outside of Noumea the main tourist attraction is Amedee Lighthouse which is apparently
very spectacular but I didn't go out because I just thought it would be a whole day trip surrounded by English not
French.
Taking off my French-coloured glasses ... I do think it's worth visiting if you have realistic expectations about the
cost and the fact that it is a touristy place but that does not also entirely revolve around tourists. For example,
Sundays in the Noumea centre are totally closed and dead. Like seriously it was like Sunday arvo in the small country
town I grew up in, fire a canon in any direction with no fear of hitting anyone! It was a bit inconvenient for me as I
wanted to do something but I also quite admire the fact they don't change their preferences and culture just for us
blow-ins. Since most of the non-French tourism is via cruise ships in port I can imagine if you were just in town for
8 hours and everything is shut you wouldn't be very impressed. Also very French, everything outside the super
touristy strips shuts for lunch!
In conclusion, if you like this view from the bus stop outside my hotel, it's definitely worth a visit ....
Edited by redflag on 11 January 2015 at 1:17am
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