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Beginning the French journey

  Tags: French
 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center Post Reply
33 messages over 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5  Next >>
linguaholic_ch
Triglot
Groupie
IndiaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5046 days ago

69 posts - 96 votes 
Speaks: English, Hindi, Bengali
Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, French

 
 Message 1 of 33
04 March 2014 at 1:57pm | IP Logged 
Bonjour tout la monde( Hello everyone ),

I am new to this forum and I would like to share with you about my French journey.This
is my first choice in language learning and I love French. Although I will not get time
this month as my exams are not yet over, but here are the resources I would use next
month:

Assimil New French with Ease.
Duolingo (already on level 8)
Hugo French in 3 Months.


For grammar, I am a bit frightened on what to do. I have a grammar book by Webster, but
it is not enough.A major problem I am facing is finding someone to practice with here
in India. I don't find it worthwhile to go to Alliance Francaise. I have tried Verbling
but the attempt was in vain.

I will be obliged for your help.

Regards,
Chayan
1 person has voted this message useful





emk
Diglot
Moderator
United States
Joined 5530 days ago

2615 posts - 8806 votes 
Speaks: English*, FrenchB2
Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 2 of 33
04 March 2014 at 2:43pm | IP Logged 
linguaholic_ch wrote:
For grammar, I am a bit frightened on what to do. I have a grammar book by Webster, but it is not enough.

Two excellent sources of information on French grammar are:

Essential French Grammar (link to Amazon India). Short and clear, with lots of example sentences. This covers most of the stuff you'll need to know up through B1, with an emphasis on providing an overview of all the regular forms, and a summary of the most common irregular forms. Very inexpensive, at least in the US.

french.about.com. An excellent site, with in-depth articles on many aspects of French grammar. Free.

linguaholic_ch wrote:
A major problem I am facing is finding someone to practice with here
in India. I don't find it worthwhile to go to Alliance Francaise. I have tried Verbling
but the attempt was in vain.

Yeah, Verbling has definitely gone downhill, at least for finding language partners quickly. I've had much better luck with iTalki recently, but French lessons from community tutors usually cost US$5–12/hour. For some people, this is very reasonably priced; for other people it's going to be very expensive.

Another way to find language partners is to correct lots of essays on lang-8, and make friends with people there. Good luck with learning French!
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tastyonions
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4663 days ago

1044 posts - 1823 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Spanish
Studies: Italian

 
 Message 3 of 33
04 March 2014 at 3:18pm | IP Logged 
How recently did you try Verbling? I have had great luck with it, personally, by using the "Community" section. Native speakers are somewhat rare, especially on weekdays, but there are plenty of people who speak very well and could give you great practice at conversation.

I usually make a French group every morning around 6:30 or 7:00 AM US Eastern time with the tagline "Ici on parle français", if you are interested.

Edited by tastyonions on 04 March 2014 at 3:20pm

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linguaholic_ch
Triglot
Groupie
IndiaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5046 days ago

69 posts - 96 votes 
Speaks: English, Hindi, Bengali
Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, French

 
 Message 4 of 33
04 March 2014 at 4:43pm | IP Logged 
Thank you so much emk, for the Dover Grammar book. It looks cheap. About.com is indispensable when I use Duolingo. I have an Italki account but it is not helpful. I will try Lang 8 soon.

Tastyonions, merci pour ton offre. I know about your group and I even saw it today. But my introvert nature makes it difficult to speak especially when too many people connect. Anyways, I will try to engage in the group after my exams finish this month.

Merci beaucoup pour le encouragement.
1 person has voted this message useful



yantai_scot
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4800 days ago

157 posts - 214 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German

 
 Message 5 of 33
04 March 2014 at 7:43pm | IP Logged 
Very good luck to you. I'm using Assimil and Hugo too except that I'm learning German.
I'll be very interested to hear how you find the French versions.
1 person has voted this message useful



Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4907 days ago

2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 6 of 33
05 March 2014 at 12:50pm | IP Logged 
I think Assimil + Duolingo + Hugo is a great combination. As you say, a decent grammar
will be useful for filling in the gaps.

I would only suggest that you also start some form of listening to real native material
in some way, right from the beginning so you get used to how it really sounds. Find good
music, watch tv/films, listen to the Journal en français facile on the Rfi website, etc.
Just a little bit regularly will really help in the long run.
4 persons have voted this message useful



linguaholic_ch
Triglot
Groupie
IndiaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5046 days ago

69 posts - 96 votes 
Speaks: English, Hindi, Bengali
Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, French

 
 Message 7 of 33
05 March 2014 at 1:31pm | IP Logged 
Thank you Jeffers. Recently I have been watching TV5 and saw two telefilms with
subtitles. My brain is slowly starting to adapt to French phonology. I have also watched
Amelie and 8 Women, which were wonderful. I will definitely RTFi. Merci beaucoup.
1 person has voted this message useful



Antanas
Tetraglot
Groupie
Lithuania
Joined 4810 days ago

91 posts - 172 votes 
Speaks: Lithuanian*, English, Russian, German
Studies: FrenchB1, Spanish

 
 Message 8 of 33
05 March 2014 at 2:38pm | IP Logged 
You can begin reading real French right from the start with French for Reading
It contains almost all (if not all) the grammar a student of French will ever need.

It does not contain practice exercises, though.


1 person has voted this message useful



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