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French: Ron’s Learning Log

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PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 41 of 68
23 April 2014 at 3:50am | IP Logged 
rlnv wrote:

The book binding is horrible, stiff and now falling apart from usage.


Funny you mention that Ron. My original Hugo French in 3 Months book is taped down in so many places. I
constantly kept having to tape pages together that were coming away from the binding and trim them as they
no longer fitted flushly into alignment with the rest of the book. Consequently I bought a second copy which is
barely holding together too.
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rlnv
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United States
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Studies: French

 
 Message 42 of 68
23 April 2014 at 5:37am | IP Logged 
PeterMollenburg wrote:
rlnv wrote:

The book binding is horrible, stiff and now falling apart from usage.


Funny you mention that Ron. My original Hugo French in 3 Months book is taped down in so many places. I
constantly kept having to tape pages together that were coming away from the binding and trim them as they
no longer fitted flushly into alignment with the rest of the book. Consequently I bought a second copy which is
barely holding together too.


In stark contrast to the excellent binding and quality pages of Assimil!

Jeffers wrote:
Hi rlnv, I've been watching your progress on the Learning Based Challenge, and I just spotted your log, so I thought I'd have a look over it. Now I plan to definitely follow your progress. I use a lot of the same methods you use, although I've never tried Fluenz. But I also love both Assimil and FSI. FSI clicks well with me when I go for a bike ride or walk for an hour or so. I have also used Pimsleur on and off, and have recently completed the first half of level III.


Thanks for reading my log! I'm also interested in other opinions of FSI, so I'll be stopping by to read your log. I'm only now digging in so I'd like to know how others are using it. I don't recall seeing mention of anyone in this forum completing FSI French in its entirety. I'm sure there are people that have done it, but I suspect they are few. Maybe we will be some of the first to that claim.

Jeffers wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion of Planète Terre; I've added it to my basket. Last August I bought the box set Le Peuple des océans + Océans. I've watched one episode, and it's very good, but I've been saving the rest for the Super Challenge. I also bought Les p'tits diables saison 1 partie 1 which I highly recommend if you want something more amusing. The language is more colloquial, but there are recognizable patterns in the stories, and it's not hard to figure out what's going on.

I also have a recommendation for your Kindle:
Le Petit Nicolas. The stories are short and funny.
And to go with it:
Le Petit Nicolas CD is absolutely wonderful listening. The reader does a brilliant job capturing the spirit of the stories. Although at times it gets a bit fast, even without understanding everything it is really funny.

Sorry if I've given you too much spending temptation!


Yes you have given me spending temptation! Lets call it inspiration. :) I need more easy early material, so I will order Les p'tits diables saison 1 partie 1, and I'm definitely going to be looking through the various options for Le Petit Nicolas. I recall seeing people mention it several times, and I think it will be a good add. So many good choices!

Edited by rlnv on 23 April 2014 at 5:40am
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Jeffers
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United Kingdom
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Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 43 of 68
23 April 2014 at 12:47pm | IP Logged 
This website has text and audio of several books, including two Petit Nicolas books. I'm not sure if it's a legal website, but it does link back to the official website.

EDIT: Here's another website with text and audio of Le Petit Nicolas. This one has interactive quizzes.
Le Petit Nicolas

However, I still prefer having the books on kindle for the convenience (I hate reading at my computer) and for the popup dictionary.

Edited by Jeffers on 23 April 2014 at 1:51pm
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rlnv
Senior Member
United States
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Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 44 of 68
25 April 2014 at 7:09am | IP Logged 
Okay, I finally put my fear aside and scheduled a 30 minute lesson with a tutor from France next Wednesday. But I reserve the right to cheat by making some preparation notes on what I will say the first time. If we work well in our session, then I'll probably do many more sessions with her.

I think I would have found an excuse to not schedule it, but for Jeffers words of wisdom given to me in PM's log -PMs Anti-Procrast. Log: FR 2ème/Tm Oranje. Quoting here as to not hijack PM's log.

Jeffers wrote:
rlnv wrote:
I'm supposed to schedule a tutor for my commitment for the April Learning Challenge but I don't really feel ready. I might just wait another month or two and let the French swirl around a bit in my head, and progress in my methods a bit further.


You know the saying, tomorrow never comes? From what I've read in your language log, you are as ready now as you will be tomorrow. What real difference will another month make? Whatever level you make it to, you will realize there is much more to learn. If signing up for a public challenge isn't enough push, what will be enough push in a month or two?

On the other hand, I know exactly how you feel. Signing up for a language partner is one of my goals for this year, but frankly I'm mainly concerned about what to say. I'm not that social either. If nothing else, I would like to encourage you to sign up so I can hear about how it goes, LOL.

And Peter, I definitely appreciated your waffle.


Thank you Jeffers for giving me the kick I needed. :)

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Mohave
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justpaste.it/Mohave1
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 Message 45 of 68
25 April 2014 at 7:24am | IP Logged 
rlnv wrote:
Okay, I finally put my fear aside and scheduled a 30 minute lesson with a tutor from France


Congratulations! Can't wait to hear feedback on the session!
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rlnv
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3949 days ago
126 posts - 233 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 46 of 68
25 April 2014 at 7:32am | IP Logged 
Mohave wrote:
rlnv wrote:
Okay, I finally put my fear aside and scheduled a 30 minute lesson with a tutor from France


Congratulations! Can't wait to hear feedback on the session!


No matter what happens, it should be interesting! She says that English can be used in the first lesson to determine objectives and goals, and then from there out it's French. I think that will work just fine for me. I'll be studying hard between now and then!
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Jeffers
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United Kingdom
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 47 of 68
25 April 2014 at 9:28am | IP Logged 
That is wonderful news about the tutor! I don't think it's cheating to make preparation notes. That seems to me to be a valuable part of the learning process, and doing so before hand gets you more value out of the money you're investing on your tutor sessions.
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PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 48 of 68
25 April 2014 at 9:37am | IP Logged 
rlnv wrote:
Mohave wrote:
rlnv wrote:
Okay, I finally put my fear aside and scheduled a 30
minute lesson with a tutor from France


Congratulations! Can't wait to hear feedback on the session!


No matter what happens, it should be interesting! She says that English can be used in the first lesson to
determine objectives and goals, and then from there out it's French. I think that will work just fine for me. I'll
be studying hard between now and then!


Good luck Ron. I'm actually quite pleased you have made this step that I haven't yet taken myself. So, like
yourself I aim to follow Jeffers words of wisdom quite soon, but ironically once I've finished a couple more
courses I'm almost done with. Let us know how it goes. Is she French, Canadian or other? You could have
delayed it, but it seems to me that like myself sufficient ground work has already been covered in order to
take the plunge without any damaging effects and with plenty to gain. I'm really looking fwd to hearing all
about it.

PM


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