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French numbers ... arg | ||
Tags: Number System | French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Spinchäeb Ape Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4295 days ago 146 posts - 180 votes  Speaks: English*, German | Message 1 of 23 01 December 2012 at 11:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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The French numbers are easy up through #69. Starting with 70, they get bizarre. 70 = Soixante dix (or sixty and ten). Then 80 is Quatre-vingt (4 times 20). Then 90 is the really weird one: Quatre-vingt dix (4 times 20 plus 10). If that weren't bizarre enough already, you've got to remember to count the 70s and 90s by adding 11, 12, 13 etc. to the prior 10 denomination. In other words 71 is 60 plus 11, 72 is 60 plus 12, etc. Same thing with the 90s, but not with the 80s.
Wow, really bizarre. Please tell me this gets easier with practice. I think maybe I'll take a day and only work on the 70s without worrying about the others. Then take a day for the 80s, a day for the 90s, etc. These seem too confusing to try to #$%^ with all at once. I found out also that Swiss French uses a variant: septante (70) octante/huitante (80) nonamte (90) Wow, I wish the Swiss variant had caught on as the standard. It's way easier and more logical. I'm going to learn both the French and Swiss versions because I intend to visit both countries. I'm also going to Canada and may even live there. Does anyone know whether Canadians use the French or the Swiss version of the numbers? Please, please, Canada, use the Swiss variant. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5781 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 2 of 23 01 December 2012 at 11:47pm | IP Logged | ||
Sorry Spinchäeb Ape, no such luck, we use the France French version, but it seems to work reasonably well and everyone's math skills are kept in practice. You may find the attached link to audio practice with numbers of assistance, especially the ones which present an audio clip of random numbers. french.about.com - audio - numbers 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4532 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 3 of 23 02 December 2012 at 12:52am | IP Logged | ||
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I use septante and nonante, but say quatre-vingts. That's the standard in Belgium.
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| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6728 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 4 of 23 02 December 2012 at 1:38am | IP Logged | ||
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Fortunately, it does get easier with practice. At some point you just stop thinking,
and understand all these numbers automatically. I still have sometimes problems with longer numbers though. I also recommend using french.about.com, the random number (60-99) generator was my favorite (http://french.about.com/library/begin/bl-numbers19.htm). I was closing my eyes, and guessing the numbers. I practiced probably about 15-20 minutes a day for one or two weeks, and it improved my number comprehension immensely. In my own speech I say septante and nonante though, and if anyone gives me a strange look, I explain them that I've learned French in Switzerland. By the way, huitante is used in Switzerland indeed but quatre-vingts is more common. If I remember correctly, huitante is used mostly in the Vaud canton. Edited by Julie on 02 December 2012 at 1:38am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FELlX Diglot Groupie France Joined 4595 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 5 of 23 02 December 2012 at 1:40am | IP Logged | ||
Slightly offtopic, but note that the letter "m" in nasal sounds is only used before labials (b, m, p). Edited by FELlX on 02 December 2012 at 1:41am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5591 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 6 of 23 02 December 2012 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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You'll get used to it. The times when you automatically say a number correctly and then need to double-check because it seemed so easy are fun.
And whenever you feel like it's too complicated, take a look at this. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4490 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 7 of 23 02 December 2012 at 2:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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If there's any situation in your life where you have arbitrary numbers coming at you, try and use that. For example, I had a job for a while where I had to deal with numbered boxes, and each time I saw a box's number, I would try to remember the French word for it. Or you can also practice while driving or riding in a car, with the numbers of roads, exits, or addresses.
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| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4734 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 8 of 23 02 December 2012 at 11:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have found Pimsleur to be very good at practicing numbers. Unlike most courses where they just teach you to count, the numbers are used in more random orders, and they will ask you to say things like 65 followed by 75. For the numbers 1-20 they have a few sections where they ask you to do basic addition. Nothing has helped me more, and I've played the same "game" with my 10 year old son to practice his French numbers.
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