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French: Business, but not only

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352 messages over 44 pages: 1 2 35 6 7 ... 4 ... 43 44 Next >>
Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
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3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 25 of 352
13 July 2012 at 8:14pm | IP Logged 
I'm glad I added the words "(but not only)" in brackets because I decided to do Streetwise French instead. French for Marketing seemed intensive and I'd study Marketing as well, which I had already been studying a lot (in Portuguese, naturally) for an exam.

So, I'm currently on Lesson 3 of Streetwise French and I like it a lot. At the first day I couldn't understand a word of one of the guys, who seemed just to mumble and gumble, but now I'm slowly getting used to more of this. Now I understand the effect that listening regularly to a language does to one's understanding. There are several slangs in a row but that's what the book is intended for, so, if I don't understand a sentence because of the slang that is going to be introduced in that very lesson, I shouldn't worry. Textbooks are programmed for teaching you several new words at each lesson, and that's not what happens in real life, where you'll have much more of a chance of context, using synonims, asking for additional explanations etc.
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Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 5168 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 26 of 352
13 July 2012 at 8:16pm | IP Logged 
A cultural note kept me wondering: the young couple entered a small shop and said "Bonsoir messieurs-dames", in a rather loud way, meant to greet everyone. The book says it's essential to do that. Is that true? I didn't notice that when I was in Paris.
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Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 5168 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 27 of 352
06 August 2012 at 7:58pm | IP Logged 
I see that the final posts on this topic got lost. Well, I just have to say that I'm still learning through textbooks and I need to improve my listening. I'm currently doing Living Language Ultimate French Advanced after a quick refresh (mostly dialogue listening) at the Beginner-Intermediate one. Lessons at LLUFA are long but I think I can deal with them as I do understand French overall.
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Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 5168 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 28 of 352
09 August 2012 at 6:59pm | IP Logged 
Information that should be taken note of:

"The French film Nikita was adapted by the American film industry and called Point of No Return. Other popular American films that were based on French originals include Three men and a baby (Trois hommes et un couffin), Cousins [Cousin, cousine), A Man and a Woman (Un Homme et une Femme), and Sommersby (Le Retour de Martin Guerre).

(Living Language Advanced French)
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Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 5168 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 29 of 352
10 August 2012 at 6:33pm | IP Logged 
Une leçon sur décoration, ce n'est pas vraiment la chose la plus intéressante du monde, mais...eh bon, on continue. Je crois qu'il y a des mots que je ne connais pas ni même dans ma langue maternelle, c'est ça. Mais il y a d'autres mots et expressions importantes dans cette leçon aussi.
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Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 5168 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 30 of 352
13 August 2012 at 7:04pm | IP Logged 
Texts about business situations are the easiest for me to understand. I bet I owe this to Assimil's Le Français des Affaires. Currently at LL UF A's lesson 6.

One false friend (with Portuguese) I came across just kept me wondering:

décennie = 10 years
décade = 10 days

In Portuguese 'década' means 10 years and we don't have a word for 10 days in common usage, but 15 days are a "quinzena". We do have 'decênio' for 10 years too but it's not really used. A 'década' can also refer to a specific period like the 90's (Década de 90) etc.
1 person has voted this message useful



Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 5168 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 31 of 352
14 August 2012 at 6:31pm | IP Logged 
Just learned one French proverb that has an exact equivalent in Portuguese; those similarities keep popping up, I'm glad to see cultural affinities:

Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide.
Gato escaldado tem medo de água fria.

Still on business; I just learned that the book has only 20 lessons, so it's going to end sooner than expected, which is good. Today was an important lesson on something I'm always doing wrong: how to express how long you've been doing stuff.

EDIT: another very similar proverb:

Quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent.
Quando o gato sai, o rato faz a festa.

Edited by Expugnator on 14 August 2012 at 6:34pm

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Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 5168 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 32 of 352
17 August 2012 at 6:07pm | IP Logged 
Aujourd'hui j'ai très envie de manger des madeleines. C'est toujours étonnant que des petits gãteaux aussi délicieux soient vendus par des distributeurs automatiques à la prochaine station de métro. Je ne suis pas sûr s'on les vend dans ma boulangerie favorite ici au Brésil, mais il faut le vérifier quand même.


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