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TAC 2011 - Team KEN - French and German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6358 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 49 of 66 26 July 2011 at 2:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
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A good choice Adrean. It feels good for me to be able to say that for the past 2 years "I've never forced myself to learn languages". -On my free time I only want to do things that I naturally want to do. :)
So now you can sit back, enjoy any other interest that may start to sparkle (or maybe even relax and use the awesome French skills that you've built up, without trying to improve). Whenever the inspiration returns, you sure have a VIP seat reserved. -You're great! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1 | Message 50 of 66 12 October 2011 at 12:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm just listening away to a podcast which has been with me for a long time now. It's
called 'Carnet Nomade', it's on once a week on France culture and it's usually about an hour long. It's difficult to say what it's about. It's not a travel program per se...for example the progam I'm listening to right at this moment has for theme 'partir' (to leave). The host often meets writers, poets, singers and they talk about the city/country they live in. They also talk about life journeys or how a particular writer or book has intertwined with a person's life. The program is often in North Africa especially with the so called Arab Spring, but they occasionally focus on a French town, such as Bordeaux a few weeks ago. The program has a very hushed quality and it's perfect when I'm doing some light re-arranging/cleaning. Collette Fellous, the host, has a nice way of letting people speak and asking open ended questions. Besides listening to podcasts I've pushed on with much with my film watching. I'm trying to get in my 50 or so French films a year. I did have a bit of a patch there where I probably saw just a few films in 4 months. However now, I find switching on a French film very rewarding. I've had a few nice surprises; I've been a long time fan of Francois Truffaut and I've seen two or his less available films and found Misissippi Mermaid to be excellent in it's own way. I've finally got around to seeing Cyrano de Bergac which made Gerad Depardieu known to American audiences. He gives a great performance. Last night I saw a film called Gabrielle, which I found quite good for a recent film from a director I didn't know before hand. My German is not existant at the moment. The thought of traditional learning with a book and beginner lessons fills me with anxiety. I haven't done anything with German for quite some months. I went to the Austrian/German club yesterday for Octoberfest, but no spark. I've watched the videos by the great heads of state i:e Prof. Arguelles, Fluent Czech, Steve Kauffman, Benny, some guy in Thailand...but they couldn't get me motivated. Haven't given up though, I think a matter of when, rather then if...... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ummagumma Senior Member IrelandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5257 days ago 217 posts - 241 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 51 of 66 12 October 2011 at 1:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Great stuff
Your stage of French learning sounds like a fantastic place to be ... dealing with native material, getting updated on current themes in french society and culture and also delving into that vast bastion of french cinema. I can see why you are not exactly enthused about starting up your German again! I'm sure you'll get into it once you get going again though. And it would be good for my own selfish reason too to read about someone else tackling "The awful German Language". I think French is the top contender for my next language and reading your post enforces this! But I better stop daydreaming - I don't want to get ahead of myself .. first I need to get German up to scratch! Viel Spaß beim Französischlernen (..und endlich auch Deutsch!) Paul Edited by ummagumma on 12 October 2011 at 1:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6358 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 52 of 66 12 October 2011 at 8:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
This sounds like a show I would like! :) Cultural/philosophical discussions and all kinds of arts and drama tend to become so much more involving and interesting when they are in French. It must be the magical French touch.
It's good. Keep on planting the seeds. :) Small inspirational videos and sparks build up, and I'm sure your accumulated German inspiration will eventually burst into a hardcore learning energy burst. Btw, did you try some LR on the total newbie-level? I think it's great fun, and a nice way of sneaking up on a new language without doing anything 'serious'. Edited by M. Medialis on 12 October 2011 at 8:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1 | Message 53 of 66 18 October 2011 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I had a desire to branch out and read literature which focused on happiness and self-
development after listening to a series of podcasts on 'le bonheur'(happiness) by Swiss station RSR and the program being 'On en parle'. It's something I have never delved into before but I thought perhaps a bit of expert guidance and reflection would be beneficial for a change. I was intrigued by the simple steps for a happier life discussed during the program, but isn't that usually how it goes? Naturally my first inclination was to track down books written in French. I sent an order away to amazon.fr and a week later I had 5-6 books. I'm reading a book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called in French 'Vivre: La psychologie du bonheur'. It's slow going at the moment as I try to process things. It seems a central idea is to be in constant control of your conscious and to find what you love. I immediately thought of language learning and the learners on this site. I have experienced, in a way, that deep concentration when learning a language which gives me great joy, others may find it playing chess, or climbing a mountain. I know Fluent Czech and the woman who introduced us to Listening-Reading talk often about the joy one should feel when learning. I am completely d'accord with them. Besides this I've done a few tentative lessons of German Assimil. I'm going to try and do 30 minutes or so of German study 5 days a week. Of course I'm going to be in full concentration mode and love every minute of it! On a final note and completely off topic note I saw two films this week. A Japanese film 'Flavour of Green Tea over Rice' by Ozu and a Swedish film 'Summer with Monica' by Ingmar Bergman. Not really related to my language studies but these films were so great I just had to recommend them to anybody who would listen. ------------------------------------------------------------ --------
Yes I did. I L-Red an abridged 'Le Petit Prince' (Der Kleine Prinz?) I am familiar with the story which helped. I will definitely be doing more L-R and as soon as possible.
It IS a great place to be. I have found a niche of things which I can put under the 'enjoyable' banner but there is the bonus of being language enriching. I would love to reach eventually this level in German 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| aloysius Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6241 days ago 226 posts - 291 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, German Studies: French, Greek, Italian, Russian | Message 54 of 66 18 October 2011 at 10:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There are so much great talk radio in French (as well as in German), and since I'm on the verge of reaching a sufficient level of listening comprehension in French to get something out of shows like 'Carnet Nomade' this is certainly something to look forward to.
I'm sure you will enjoy learning German when the time is ripe (maybe now?). Your experience with learning French should work as a great comfidence booster and I'm sure L-R will take you a long way. Just pick some stories that you are familiar with. BTW, I've been searching for Der Kleine Prinz audio book for a long time and then a couple of weeks ago I found out that German Audible now has several versions. Keep on writing. It's always interesting to read your log. //aloysius 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 6169 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes Speaks: FrenchC1 | Message 55 of 66 30 October 2011 at 2:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The week that was...
I saw Midnight In Paris the other day at someone's advice. It's the newish Woody Allen film with Owen Wilson. Must say I enjoyed it overall. I noticed one thing which was a little peculiar, there seemed to be no subtitles even though there was a little bit of French being spoken. It felt great to be privy to these exchanges when perhaps other movie goers did not catch the little bits said. There were several notable American actors showing off a little French. One comes to mind was Kathy Bates during the film. It seems also I'm in a very small minority in that I don't 'get' Marion Coutillard. Can someone please explain. It's coming year end and I've been making up for lost time especially in regards to German. I'm powering through the Assimil lessons, though not very thoroughly. I'm also doing about two Pimsleur lessons a day. I'm looking at entering an evening class and further ahead about joining a technical college class next year. Classes will be twice a week and it will be good to break up what is often a monotonous mid-week. This idea hit me very suddenly but these ideas are pending. Watch this space. End of year time means end of year goal time. I'm reading five books at the moment. Yes that's right five! I seem to be going nowhere fast. If I put a book down for a month or two does that mean I'm still in the middle of it? My goal is therefore to finish four of these five books. One is a genuine door stopper and I've been dating it on and off for the past 6 months. I've been very flippant My next goal is to reach 70 French films this year. I've watched 50 up to now and 20 in two months is quite a lot but I'm going to give it a go and try to beat the last couple of years totals. Something I neglected this year was to make contacts and meet French groups and stuff. I won't say this will change immediately but should be a work in progress. --------------------------------------------------- @aloysius Thanks for the audio books for Der Kleine Prinz. I was looking for ages for a copy and I got a very quick abridged version. I will check out the site you sent shortly. I realize as well that German will offer so much in terms of material once I get to a good stage in the language. Thanks for your comments they are much appreciated. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 56 of 66 30 October 2011 at 4:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Great to hear you're hitting these last couple of months head on. And I know just what you mean about the pass-the-book situation...most of mine have been taking turns eating dust with assorted bookmarks sticking out like feathers in their hats for ages. I know I should stick with each one to the very end before starting another, but I'm a devil for one-night bookstands and literary tapas. :)
I think 70 films by the end of the year is an excellent goal too. What's your record so far? I'll be studying as many Russian films as I can lay my hands on for the next 6 week challenge and hope to make up for lost time. I've also been thinking about watching Midnight in Paris as well (maybe after the challenge), as my girlfriend has been dropping subtle hints here and there for weeks now! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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