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Swift’s Log - French and Russian | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4610 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 1 of 91 21 April 2012 at 11:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hello everyone! I've been lurking on these forums for a few weeks since I found them,
and recently I joined and made a few posts. Anyway, here is my story with French in all it's boring, minute detail! I started "learning" French at the age of 13 when I moved from the US to Ireland. I came in late to the first year of secondary school (basically highschool). The only available foreign language was French, so I had to take it. I remember very little of those early days in school, mostly because I was so overwhelmed by the culture shock of living in a new country where most people saw me as an anomaly. Never mind trying to learn French, I was just trying to understand the accents of the people around me! I can remember enjoying learning French when I did pay attention, even from the early days. Because it was my first foreign language just the concept of a different way of speaking and thinking interested me. Over the next three years I did varying amounts of work for French on and off, but it was only school stuff (I am not a big fan of the way languages are taught in most schools). So for three years I learned the three basic tenses, basic grammar rules, and simple phrases to help you write something like a postcard. There is a big exam in third year in Ireland called the "Junior Certificate". It isn't really that big, just something to test your knowledge from the first three years of secondary school. I did pretty well in my French exam with a B in Higher Level (surprisingly no one in my school got an A). After that I entered TY (Transition Year), which is basically a year in which you do very little at all in school. That meant I did almost no French, except for some basic revision when I had a few French classes. Next came 5th year, the year in which study resumed and everyone realised they had forgotten how to learn and work after a year in TY. As a result of school arrangements, I had to take French as a subject outside of school. I chose it at the time more as a second language requirement rather than because of my enjoyment of it. I was (and am) lucky enough to have a lesson once a week with a teacher that happens to be a close friend of my mother's. Unfortunately, my learning suffered because of other subjects. While I enjoyed learning more French, I was much more focused on my other subjects at school. I almost never did French homework, unfortunately. I know now that not having regular contact with a language is the easiest way to forget it. Usually I would only do anything French- related during my lessons, resulting in frequent frustration on my behalf (not to mention half-assed apologies to my teacher). Near the end of 5th year my lessons stopped completely, and I did no French for nearly 8 whole months. At the start of 6th year (the final year of secondary school), I had decided that I would teach myself ordinary level French with the aim of getting a pass in the exam, just in case I needed it for University. Months passed and I did nothing, becoming more afraid of it each time I thought about it. About 9 weeks ago I realised I had to do something, so I started working. I began by doing a mock paper (basically a fake version of the exam I will have this summer) with no revision. I felt ashamed when I realised I couldn't even remember the past tense! So I began to do at least a little bit of work each night. A lot of stuff came back to me pretty quickly, like it was under some pile of junk in my brain and I just had to dig it out. I began to notice that being consistent with the language made it a hell of a lot easier! The mock paper came back and I got 83%, which came as a shock. I began to wonder what I could do with more work. I contacted my teacher (hell, my friend!) and we began having lessons again, with the aim of me passing the Ordinary Level exam. I remember the first lesson back, I was having so much difficulty understanding her, and she blatantly told me "now is the time to start working". I took her very seriously, and within a few weeks I had done all of the past exam papers and was at a pretty high standard for ordinary level. I began to listen to French podcasts, and even made a post on a French forum to speak with Francophones on Xbox Live (an online gaming service). Then, I took the bold choice to switch to higher level French. More and more, I realised I was really enjoying the language. Now that I was learning it outside of school (this was a new concept because like I said, I didn't do much work at all in 5th year), I could do everything my way. I didn't have to go at a snail's pace for the people who couldn't be bothered; in fact I could go extremely fast! I also didn't have to do stupid things like write out lists of vocabulary, learn phrases instead of just being able to know how to create them, etc. Also, I was able to do more than just the school curriculum, which in my opinion is far less interesting than native materials. Even when you don't understand much of it, the sound of a foreign language is intriguing. This Easter break, I revised an entire book and spent most days doing something related to French. Talking with natives has been amazing in so many ways, and I did a lot of it at Easter. Recently I had my speaking exam, which went very well. To be blunt, it was a piece of cake after talking to natives. If you haven't already noticed, I am not a big fan of the way languages are taught in school. The fact that after 6 years of learning most people in my school aren't even at a B1 level in French is a travesty! On to the present situation! I am pretty much done with French in school. I am doing preparation for the higher level exam, but a lot of it is below my current level (of course it still helps me to correct mistakes, etc.). This summer I will be transitioning to native materials and more advanced books. Right now, my intention is to try to apply directly for undergraduate study in France next year. I currently have a very solid B1 in French (having looked at a checklist, I am verging on a B2). I know it will be very hard and I have a year of difficult work ahead of me, but I am encouraged by the amount of progress I have made in the past three months. Not to mention the fun I've had too! Why is this my goal? Well, the more French I do the more I become intrigued by it. What better way to learn more about a language than to go live in the country where it is spoken? There is also the adventure aspect. I've already made one big move in my life; now that I'm an adult, I'd like to do it again! This summer I'll be making a trip to Paris with some friends, so I'm sure that will give me some ideas about the country/ let me see if I really want to live there. Also it will be awesome to test out my French. I also would prefer living in France as opposed to learning the language in University. The latter just doesn't appeal to me, especially after what I have been able to do by learning nearly on my own. I'll continue to update this thread as things progress. It will probably mostly be milestones, but who knows. Thanks for reading! Edited by Swift on 03 July 2013 at 1:11am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4610 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 2 of 91 23 April 2012 at 8:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hello again! Below is a summary of my recent experience with comprehensions and
articles (the journal entry branches out quite a lot thereafter). In the past few days I have done about 12 comprehension questions from past Leaving Certificate exam papers. These basically consist of extracts from French newspapers (journalstic comprehension), and extracts from short stories (literary comprehensions). It is usually pretty easy to just answer the questions, which are related directly to the content of the article. Still, I like trying to understand as much as I can, within reason. Especially because I know that I am reading native material, meaning I can trust it very well for idiomatic expressions and proper use of language. As a result, I have ended up spending around an hour on some of these articles, just looking up new words and taking note of relevant ones. I find verbs the hardest to remember for some reason. Perhaps it is because I am no longer learning verbs with simple and short translations, e.g. être, mettre, savoir, etc. Instead I am learning verbs with longer translations and more niche uses, for example: -patauger (to splash about, i.e. if one was swimming) -rompre (to break up with someone) -se fondre (to melt into, to blend into) These are all really exciting words to know because they will help enrich my vocabulary with deeper, more complex meaning. However, sometimes I fear that I might be taking the wrong translation! I've also stopped writing down translations that I haven't seen used in action; I tend to rarely remember them, and it's probably better to learn a word through use than through seeing it in a dictionary. I am also at the stage where I am becoming increasingly aware of the fact that pretty much each word (especially verbs) has several meanings. This makes me realise that I take my knowledge of context for granted in English! It is kind of amazing how many meanings of the same word the human brain can store, especially when one takes colloquial use into account! I have felt impatient at times lately, wondering how I will ever learn the many meanings and contexts of one verb. But then I realise worrying is the worst thing I can do; being patient and enjoying my learning experience is the best way to go! I have also been trying to read at least one article a day on the léquipe website. Their articles aren't usually more than a few hundred words, but they always have some good vocabulary that I don't know. At the moment, they suit me perfectly. It has been a little hard to keep up this habit lately though, considering all the other reading I have been doing. Edited by Swift on 23 April 2012 at 8:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5393 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 3 of 91 26 April 2012 at 1:40am | IP Logged | ||
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Some of those basic verbs (like mettre) can have tons of meanings which depend on the proposition
used, if it's reflexive, etc. Some vocabulary books work through them: I entered phrases from one into SRS and ever since I've been more sensitive to which preposition a verb takes when I read. I guess we don't have it as bad as people learning phrasal verbs in English though. I notice that papers love their idioms and precise verbs so you'll get a lot (as I still do). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4610 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 4 of 91 27 April 2012 at 1:08am | IP Logged | ||
Yeah, a look in a dictionary will give you a lot of meanings for them! I just go with the meanings I know, any try to learn knew ones when I encounter them, kind of like you said. You're right, I certainly take them for granted, considering I had to look up (there one is!) what they were. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4610 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 5 of 91 27 April 2012 at 1:34am | IP Logged | ||
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Journal entry: A Day of Speaking, Vocabulary Methods
Today I had a lesson with my friend. It went really well; we managed to speak pretty much only French for nearly forty minutes from the minute I walked in the door. It kind of makes me proud, considering that 3 months ago I had to ask for most sentences to be repeated. I missed a bus back home, which meant I ended up staying at her house longer, which translated to more talking time. I always leave my lessons feeling like I didn't get enough time to talk about everything I would have liked to, even after 2 hours. So, it was good to have some philosophical chats about languages in both English and French. Every lesson my speaking seems to get a little bit better, making me long for the day when I'll be able to explain the more abstract topics we converse over using only French. After I got home, I went on my Xbox and spoke with one of my French friends. It was great, especially because study has kept me from going online much at all for the past few weeks. Overall, a great day of speaking that helped give me some more confidence! I was starting to get a bit worried if I could still speak well after doing so many comprehensions. Recently I've felt the need to try different methods for learning vocabulary. I've been using old-fashioned lists of A4 paper, one word per line, since I started French. While it isn't horrible, it is starting to feel inefficient. Thus, I decided to take look at what other people had to say on these forums. I found some good advice and a great thread on the subject. I've already read some of it. I think I'll be trying out a mix of methods for a while to see what I like. I might even just keep the lists as a sort of a book to record the words I learn. I've started off using an SRS program on my phone. So far I haven't used it much, but it seems like an interesting way to avoid the problems of lists: memorising the order, and not being able to review things completely at random. I am also unsure of how much vocabulary I'll be taking down in the future. It might be better to only take down words I am unsure of that I encounter several times. I am now at a level where I can understand the gist and usually some of the finer details of an article without any help. Also, using the dictionary too much slows me down and frustrates me. I've decided that from now on I'll read through articles first before thinking about using a dictionary. I just wasn't using my reading skills by translating the first word I didn't recognise. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nekouma Triglot Newbie Germany Joined 4659 days ago 23 posts - 30 votes Speaks: French*, English, Japanese Studies: Korean, Hindi, German | Message 6 of 91 27 April 2012 at 10:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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Bonsoir :)
You have started a nice log. Personally, when I hear "patauger", it's linked to "boue" or "eau" (in my brain :)). "Il a tellement plu hier qu'on patauge dans la boue aujourd'hui." "Les enfants pataugent dans l'eau." (mais ne sont pas forcément en train de nager). J'espère que tu passeras un bon moment à Paris, mais il y a aussi d'autres villes qui pourraient être bien pour étudier. J'aime bien Lyon, perso. Bon courage ! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4610 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 7 of 91 27 April 2012 at 11:51pm | IP Logged | ||
Ah d'accord, merci pour tes conseils. Merci, je suis sûr qu'il sera une expérience formidable! Oui, sans doute je pense aux autre villes, pas seulement à Paris. Je préférerais trouver une grande ville peu chère. Peut-être il est impossible! En tout cas, probablement pas Paris! Quand même, la faculté est très importante aussi. Edited by Swift on 01 May 2012 at 12:03am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4610 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 8 of 91 01 May 2012 at 12:37am | IP Logged | ||
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Log: Essays, Books and Music.
Essays In the past few days I've switched from the comprehensions to writing essay style pieces. Again, I am focusing on past exam questions, as I will be until mid June. I am still doing many other things outside of the school side of the language. In fact, I prefer doing those things as I find them more fun and because I think they usually give me a greater benefit. Nonetheless, even if I am very confident for the exam, I will somewhat begrudgingly carry on with past questions! Overall, I like the essay questions a lot. I think it is really good to have to make my thoughts cohesive and logical in French. It'll be another important step to getting to B2. The questions are usually on social issues, e.g. crime, drugs, immigration, unemployment, etc. You are generally asked to give your opinions on and solutions for the problem/ topic, but sometimes you can be given the floor to just talk about it in general. The answers have to be a minimum of 75 or 90 words. Personally, I find that it is usually hard to adequately discuss a topic without writing more. That is to say, present it, give your opinions, give your solutions and finally conclude the piece. I am definitely getting better at answering these questions. At the start, I found myself writing far too much, often blabbing on about things remotely related to the question. I often had to do re-writes. Lately, I've started doing short plans at the top of my page like I would do if I were writing a very long essay in English. Results have been much better. Another positive is only writing French that I know is "good" French. It's good to make mistakes and learn from them, but for an exam question I want to have everything make complete sense so I can pick up top marks. Thus, I've tried to write only things that I know make sense, as opposed to taking more risks. Sometimes simpler is better. Music Phew, now something else! I've recently downloaded some French music. There is an artist called Max Boublil who seems to be very popular on the internet. He is also a comedian and his songs are usually quite rude in nature. I figure that music will be good for learning more colloquial language. The repetition should also help me listening comprehension. It's not like a tape in school; you don't really realise you're hearing the same thing again because you actually enjoy it. My friend/ teacher thinks that there might be bad effects though, considering some music artists can have bad grammar and pronunciation. I think that's what she meant, at least. We didn't talk extensively. Speaking of music, I have learned a lot of slang and verlan recently. I just learned how verlan works yesterday: how fascinating! It's interesting that a lot of verlan words are commonly accepted in French. I don't think there is really an equivalent in English, which makes it all the more interesting! Books Lastly, I recently ordered some French novels from Amazon to help me keep improving my French this summer! After having done about a dozen literary comprehensions, I think I'm ready to make the jump. The books are "Le Grand Cahier" et "L'Etranger", which I was lucky enough to find in a thread on these forums for simple French novels. I look forward to reading them! One last note: I've started writing entries on lang-8. Seems like an excellent website, and yet another great way for me to supplement my learning. It's also great to help the largely Asian audience there that is learning English. It's nice to see that the internet can be something good and reciprocal where everyone benefits. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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