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Innion’s French learning log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Innion Diglot Newbie Croatia Joined 4373 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English Studies: French | Message 1 of 7 12 December 2012 at 1:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Hello there forums!
I have been out here for a week, and I pretty much already like it in here. This is the forum where I have found methods/courses I want to study a language with, which is awesome. So, in this log, I will be posting and updating my progress, goals and my acquirements. These are the materials I will be using from now on, until completion of each one: Assimil's "New French with ease" (still got to find the way to order and obtain that course, as it cannot be acquired here in Croatia) Assimil's "Using French", which will be following the "with ease" one FSI French basic course (is there a way to obtain the books, I would feel much more comfortable with using the actual books) - heard it is boring, but at least it should help me FIA series (French in action; heard it had some textbook material which you would use to follow the series as it was progressing) - A series produced and aired in '80s in America as I have heard, people claim it helps a lot for listening comprehension. So, the materials I have listed here, I will be using them to acquire the knowledge of French. Now for the goals. -My main goal is to reach B2 level of knowledge in French, in under a year. (Do you think this is realistic expectation with the material I have listed above, and I am eager to learn it, as it is one of my dream languages? OR even better question, what level of knowledge (A2/B1/B2 perhaps) do you think the listed resources/materials will most probably drop me off on, what is the realistic expectation?) My current level is A1 only, and I have never studied French before, except this is my second year in high school, and I believe I have learnt the minimal of minimal, which I could have acquired in less than few months and not few years I have spent there, but the class and the will of people to learn French is nonexistent, that it would be impossible -My current goal is to go through and finish all of the listed material I will be updating this log AS soon as I obtain all of the materials listed (Assimil and FSI in particular), and PLEASE feel free to post here your thoughts, tips or any sorts of something you would like to share with me! Also, I would like to know (I BEG you!) the answers to the questions I have asked, as they will relieve me! Edited by Innion on 12 December 2012 at 1:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fezmond Groupie Korea, South Joined 4925 days ago 72 posts - 78 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, French | Message 2 of 7 12 December 2012 at 9:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I started about a month ago and have seen some progress with the materials you plan to
use. Assimil has been my main focus so far (despite the past two weeks) and I am up to lesson 22 now. I find it enjoyable and not too challenging so far but sometimes I wish I had a grammar book to confirm the rules I think are being applied. That said, it's certainly more fun than FSI. FSI is good for drilling the patterns into your head but can be mind numbingly boring for the most part. Drills after drills of the same thing can be effective but it is brutal sometimes. I don't really listen to the audio much but should do as the speakers are going at native speed it seems. As for obtaining the books, I don't know if you have access to a printer and lots of paper but you can find them legally online for download. FIA seems to be decent, though I'm just about to start the workbook and textbook for lesson 2. It's entertaining enough and is good to hear native speakers in a natural(ish) environment. Someone told me to download your favorite TV shows in French and listen when you have free time. You may not understand much but there will be some context with the images there and you at least get to hear the native sounds. I'm not sure how advanced B2 is but I'm sure it'd take a lot of hours to get there in one year. I guess the will to learn goes a long way and at least as you know English, there will be a ton of similar words or tricks you can learn (Michel Thomas for example). Good luck though, will keep an eye on this log for the future 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Innion Diglot Newbie Croatia Joined 4373 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English Studies: French | Message 3 of 7 12 December 2012 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks man, now just to get materials to get started. I will study every day for at least 2 hours, Assimil will
probably take about half an hour to absorb the lesson, and FSI a little bit longer. Wish Assimil would make english based Swedish course, but even if they don't I hope to learn it from the French based one after getting enough knowledge :). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5531 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 7 12 December 2012 at 2:17pm | IP Logged | ||
First, I want to make sure that we both mean the same thing when we talk about the CEFRL levels. You can find a really good CEFRL self-assessment checklist and read through the B1 and B2 entries. But here's a handy summary based on the DELF B1 and B2 exams: - B1 French is enough to travel around France as a tourist, and use French in most normal situations. For example, if you park illegally and you see a police officer writing you a ticket, you should be able to say, "Oh, no, I'm really sorry. I didn't know. What did I do?" and have a short conversation like that. The police officer will need to speak slowly and clearly, and you may make lots of mistakes and hesitate a lot, but you should be able to communicate. B1 is enough to socialize, and to be mostly independent in day-to-day life. - The DELF B2 exam is one notch more challenging. They'll ask you a question like, "Do you think single sex high schools are a good idea? Why or why not?" Then you get 30 minutes to think about what you're going to say, and to come up with examples. But you don't get to use a dictionary or bring any notes with you. Then you have to give a 10 minute presentation saying what you believe, and giving your reasons. And then you have to answer questions for the next 10 minutes. Your presentation doesn't have to be amazing—maybe the kind of thing you'd get a C- for in an American high school—but you need to make a point and defend it somehow. (There are tricks for giving presentations like this, fortunately. It's not as hard as it sounds. Judging from your writing, you could learn to do this in English pretty easily.) In theory, B2 is enough to do high school schoolwork if you work really hard and the teachers cut you some slack when grading. So when I speak of B1 and B2, that's what I mean. Which brings me to your question. The courses you've picked out should get you to a solid B1 within a year, especially if you practice your writing a little bit on lang-8 and your speaking on Skype, Verbling, or another site like that. (You can wait to practice your writing and speaking until after you've finished Assimil if you want.) The FSI course covers almost all of the grammar you'll need for B2, and there's lots of good study material in Using French, but these courses won't get you to B2 on their own. If you're really interested in business, you might have luck with Assimil Business French, especially if you do all the writing exercises. This would allow you to do B2-level stuff when talking about business, but you wouldn't necessarily have the breadth that's usually required for B2. So I think your plan would get you to a solid B1 within a year, no problem, and you would totally be able to travel around France and talk to people. Reaching B2 will be trickier, but it's possible. I made it from A2 to B2 in about 4 months, and you can see the whole story in my log. But I spent those 4 months working on French 20 to 30 hours per week and speaking French at home, and I spent much of the rest of my time brain dead. If you want to reach B2 in a year, you'll probably need to be a bit obsessive. Or you could spend 9 months getting to a solid B1, and then spend 3 months doing an intensive French course in France while living with a French family. Self-study courses work really great up to about B1. After that, you may still find a great course here or there, but much of your progress will come with practice and exposure and looking up stuff you don't understand. You'll need to speak and listen and read and write, and you'll need access to interesting native materials. But really, all that stuff is practically a reward, right? "Hey, I'm speaking French! And I just read a cool bande dessinée. And I ordered a television series on DVD. Let's see how much I understand by season 3!" Good luck with your studies! Edited by emk on 12 December 2012 at 2:18pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Innion Diglot Newbie Croatia Joined 4373 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English Studies: French | Message 5 of 7 13 December 2012 at 1:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks emk, I believe I would be able to spend around 4 hours studying French a day, as
you stated you were spending about 20-30 (I'm aiming at the max. number, meaning 30). I will be spending those hours more efficiently by learning French, than by playing games in my free time! You really helped me with this out, a lot of info, and you encouraged me even more! I will read through your whole log, and I'll make sure to update my progress as I go! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Innion Diglot Newbie Croatia Joined 4373 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English Studies: French | Message 6 of 7 24 January 2013 at 2:23am | IP Logged | ||
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A while has passed since I posted. I have finally gotten my Assimil's French with ease,
after ordering it a month ago. I will soon start doing the course, and then continue on a daily basis, as recommended. Damn school, when I finish the tests I can then concentrate more on learning the French language :/ . 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5394 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 7 24 January 2013 at 10:57pm | IP Logged | ||
Haha. It's either school or life. Or both! Something always gets in the way. =) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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