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How to adapt strategy when resources...? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| pengin Newbie United States Joined 3824 days ago 13 posts - 14 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Levantine) | Message 1 of 3 31 May 2015 at 3:37pm | IP Logged |
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I want to study French and Arabic, and it seems like it might be tougher than I thought!
When I studied Japanese or Spanish, I found a good comprehensive grammar book that had example sentences and translations in English and then did something of a scriptorium where I would do NL -> TL translation (orally and written) exercises. My thing is that will I be able to do this in French and/or Arabic? Already my preliminary research shows up that "written French" is slightly different than standard French esp. in terms of verb conjugations. Arabic I know uses MSA for written and different spoken. Are there any resources for French and Arabic that are good grammar books with plenty of useful example sentences for real life? Please and thanks for the help! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4666 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 2 of 3 01 June 2015 at 4:17am | IP Logged |
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French is not really that different. As far as conjugation, the verb forms used in the spoken language are just a subset of those used in the written language, so if you learn to write and pronounce them all correctly, you will have your needs covered. The differences are not at all anything to be frightened of.
People would probably look at you a bit funny if you busted out some passé simple or imparfait du subjonctif in a conversation. On the other hand, they might also be a little impressed, assuming you used it correctly. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 3 of 3 01 June 2015 at 1:45pm | IP Logged |
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As far as French goes, the difference between normal French and the literary styles are quite slight. And you'll find your knowledge of Spanish very useful. With that, you should have no trouble using monolingual sources early on, which tend to be the best sources available.
Very popular resource is the series Grammaire Progressive published by CLE. It uses normal French and (at least) the more advanced volumes point out differences between various registers of the language whenever needed. This grammar series is extremely good, clear explanations, tons of examples, useful exercises. THe only fault is that the key to exercises is being sold separately. Four volumes from the easily accessible elemantaire up to awesome and very informative perfectionnement. Other good grammars are being published for exemple by PUG, their l'Exercisier is a good choice once you get to the intermediate leveles but they've got some beginner alternatives as well. They tend to publish good material. Or by Hachette, again a very popular publisher, but I cannot give info on their newest grammar series as I hadn't needed it by the time it was in the bookstores. Reference grammars with examples but without exercises, that is something I haven't used that much and the best I've found is Czech based. However, I think something from Bescherelle could be a good option. I'd say the overall quality of French reference grammars is good, so don't be afraid to choose something based on layout that is pleasant and easy to use for you. A very good verb reference is Toute la conjugaison published by Albin Michel. There are explanations of various verb formations, the tables, when to use which verb form, examples, a long list of verbs with note about which model they follow. It is an exellent resource, however you might find it more suitable when you are a bit more advanced. I really recommend La Grammaire Progressive series for start. And if you use lots of native input from the intermediate stage on, you should have no trouble distinguishing what to use in conversation and what to use in writing. There are tons of resources that can help. And you might be ready for these quite soon, given your knowledge of Spanish. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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