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Learning French - best study plan? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| polywannabe Newbie United States Joined 5316 days ago 35 posts - 43 votes Speaks: English* | Message 9 of 27 13 May 2010 at 12:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Rufus,
Thanks for letting me know about the BBC videos. I think that's it's not so much that I don't have the time to watch FIA, I was just under the impression that the videos went with a workbook and were not beneficial on their own - However, it sounds as though you guys use the videos to supplement other programs. I think I just have to become accustomed to the idea that I can go through several programs concurrently. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| bushwick Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6245 days ago 407 posts - 443 votes  Speaks: German, Croatian*, English, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese | Message 10 of 27 13 May 2010 at 10:00am | IP Logged | ||
I haven't gone through the whole FIA series, but the ones I got through were able to transmit a great deal of information. And actually, unlike many programmes, they are far from boring, one reason probably being that it teaches you to understand an aspect of the language in mere minutes; the results come quite fast. I never used the workbook, or textbook, however I did hear they are quite useful. Using the programmes you have shouldn't be so confusing; Michel Thomas is quite short and concise so you can move through his lessons very fast (if I would be consistent in doing them, I could have done the beginner's course in a week). Assimil, of course takes time, probably even more if you are using the tapes (which I don't with my Assimil Dutch). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kricket Diglot Newbie France Joined 5317 days ago 6 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 11 of 27 13 May 2010 at 10:01am | IP Logged | ||
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I learned French starting with a few high school and college courses, but after that it was all through interaction with French speakers. Initially it was through daily emailing, and later through chat and then finally I moved to France and got the verbal part down. For me, the emailing / chatting stage was invaluable - you have the time to look up words / craft your response, but you're still being active instead of passively learning.
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| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7104 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 12 of 27 13 May 2010 at 10:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I'd definitely recommend French in Action. I used to watch them on my HP PDA on my daily commute on the train. They are in WMV format so you would need a portable device capable of playing such files but it will be worth the effort.
I'm not sure the workbooks are actually necessary, get hold of the transcripts - and the supplementary audio if you feel like it, although I've never used it myself (but plenty of others have). Check out this thread for the transcripts (and audio) and this one for downloading the video files. I'm not a great fan of Pimsleur as a whole (I nearly lost the will to live doing Spanish I-III) but I think it can be very useful for developing a good accent early on. The other resources you've listed are also good. Michel Thomas I found excellent for Oral Production and I'm a great Assimil fan. It's now my first port of call for language learning. Having said that, if there was a "Dutch in Action", I'd bin the lot and use that instead - I rate FIA that highly. Andy. Edited by Andy E on 13 May 2010 at 10:21am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Desacrator48 Groupie United States Joined 5309 days ago 93 posts - 127 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 13 of 27 14 May 2010 at 7:58am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi everyone,
This is my first post after discovering this wonderful site. Basically I hope to use this site to keep me motivated to learn. I felt this thread would be most appropriate for my first post. I am just beginning to learn French. My primary tool is the Pimsleur I-III series. I am on Unit I, Lesson 9 right now, and I plan to finish the whole thing in the 90 day time slot. I have no experience with Assimil nor Michael Thomas, but I find Pimsleur to be very good so far as simply a beginning tool for someone doing self-study and would rather not do workbook-type work but primarly listening and speaking. Thanks to this thread, I have discovered the French in Action series online. And since I can access it for free, I will start from the beginning today and use it concurrently with Pimsleur. My only question right now for you guys is at what level of French do you think I might be at after completing Pimsleur I-III and really familiarizing myself with French in Action? And what could I do next on a self-study basis after Pimsleur and FIC to continue improving my French? Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mrhenrik Triglot Moderator Norway Joined 6080 days ago 482 posts - 658 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, French Personal Language Map | Message 14 of 27 14 May 2010 at 9:37am | IP Logged | ||
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I'd strongly recommend Assimil. Combine that with some L-R with texts from
bilingual-texts - I'd recommend Le Petit Prince. That's been a great start for me. I might try MT eventually, but for now these two things have helped me gain very rapid progression in French. Just remember to do one Assimil lesson a day! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7104 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 15 of 27 14 May 2010 at 10:42am | IP Logged | ||
Assuming by "really familiarising" you mean complete the course :-), then Assimil would be an option but I would only bother with the advanced Using French course. Edited by Andy E on 14 May 2010 at 10:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5431 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 16 of 27 14 May 2010 at 3:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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The various suggestions so far seem very useful to me. I would like to add however that at some point you have to consider a visit to a country where the language is spoken. In North America the place to go is Quebec. This does not have to wait until you are fluent. Quite the contrary, I believe a visit when one is still in a relatively early stage is very exciting because the language comes alive. You'll see it on road signs, store windows; you'll hear it spoken around you; you'll have to deal with menus in restaurants every day. This can be really exciting and very stimulating. And you'll find that your knowledge takes a large jump.
This does not have to be a long visit. Just a little weekend jaunt could be very useful and exciting. Bring a dictionary and some study materials. In a sense you could set up your own little immersion program. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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