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My Quest to Learn French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5386 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 9 22 March 2012 at 11:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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"Things do not happen. They are made to happen" - John F. Kennedy
This is the big one that I have been continuously putting off for my whole life: learning French. Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Brian, born in 1991, and a History student in Ireland. When I was in school I learned Irish and German, and in my first year of college I did Spanish and Chinese. But this year I'm doing all History and want to focus on one language, and I want that language to be French, which I have always loved, but just didn't realize it enough. I've been a member of this forum for a while now, and it has been a great source of knowledge to me. More importantly though, perhaps, it has been a great source of motivation. By keeping this log I hope to keep myself motivated to study French, and hopefully inspire others and get advice along the way. Here's what I have in my okay arsenal for learning French so far: A good dictionary (Collins) Collins Easy Learning French Grammar Berlitz French flashcards An internet radio (to listen to French stations like Europe 1) My laptop for watching Euronews Some French books (novels, a guide to Paris) Newspapers and magazines like Le Courier I have very little knowledge of French at the moment (my goal is complete fluency, however long it takes), so if you have any tips then please post them here or PM me. At the moment I'm thinking of getting a course (like Assimil) or a good vocabulary book. I also need to watch way more French movies (instead of just Amélie...) and listen to more French music (Daft Punk definitely doesn't count). I was also thinking of getting a French penpal to practice my writing. I know I have the time, even with college and other pursuits like learning the piano, getting my driver's license etc and my intention for this thread is to post once a week for the next few months. I have dramatically reduced my time watching television (almost none now) and time spent on the internet. My biggest weakness in sleep: honestly, I sleep about ten hours every night, and those extra few hours are the biggest waste of time in my life. I need to experiment to see how much I really need to get by. Six? Eight hours? I'm also thinking of experimenting with biphasic sleep. I know I can do it this time (have been learning French on and off since 1998 when I was six and I have no intention of letting it slip again), so wish me "bonne chance" and we'll begin together. :) "Do not wait; the time will never be ''just right.'' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." - Napoleon Hill Edited by brian91 on 22 March 2012 at 11:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| B-Tina Tetraglot Senior Member Germany dragonsallaroun Joined 5469 days ago 123 posts - 218 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Polish | Message 2 of 9 22 March 2012 at 11:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hey Brian,
good luck with your language project! I'm also back to learning French, trying to raise my level from B2 to C1. Just some thoughts: (Born in 1991 and already being a student? Gosh, I DO feel old now... ;) I think Assimil is quite a good idea. If you have advanced knowledge of another foreign language, you might want to try to learn French by your L2. Have you tried out memrise.com? (I think we recently had a thread about that website here.) It tries to turn learning with flashcards into fun, and I think it's quite addictive in a positive way. A French TV series I enjoyed was "Spirals" ("Engrenage"), which is available with English subtitles (though admittedly quite violent at times, not always for the faint at heart). And if you want to start off slow, you can still watch "The Artist"... :) As for sleep: if you have a smartphone, google "Gentle Alarm app". It tries to wake you up, well, more gently, and I found that to be true - I certainly am much more fitter and awake now with less sleep. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Michael K. Senior Member United States Joined 5671 days ago 568 posts - 886 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto | Message 3 of 9 22 March 2012 at 11:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Good luck, Brian.
I took 2 years of French in high school, and a nine week course in 6th grade, and enjoyed it. It's a great language. How are your history classes? I wish I would have studied history at university, but I did business instead, and know I'm doing writing. I've heard 9 hours of sleep is the recommended amount of time to sleep, but I don't remember where I heard that. Just don't try to cut back too much too soon. Bonne chance. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5386 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 4 of 9 23 March 2012 at 12:14am | IP Logged | ||
Danke Schoen :) At twenty I feel kinda old sometimes; how I long for the days of being 17. :D Thanks for the tips! My alarm at the moment is a Limp Bizkit song, but it still doesn't get me up, so maybe I should get a gentler alarm! Good luck in your own quest to learn French. :) Edited by brian91 on 23 March 2012 at 12:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5386 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 5 of 9 23 March 2012 at 12:22am | IP Logged | ||
History is great; I never get bored with it, and I find the French revolution particularly fascinating. Nine? I guess I'm not too far off after all lol. I'm using this as my main source of information and inspiration right now: How to Be an Early Riser 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gatsby42 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4583 days ago 55 posts - 72 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 9 23 March 2012 at 12:34am | IP Logged | ||
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Good luck with your studies Brian. Few things are more rewarding than learning a
language. It's like trying to ride the world's hardest mechanical bull; it'll kick your ass for the longest time but once you tame it, it'll spout rockets burst out of the ground and take you on a journey through space. At least, that's my visual metaphor of the quest for fluency. All kidding aside, French is a great language. If I ever feel thirsty for more after I become fluent in Spanish, it'll probably be the language I try next. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4630 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 7 of 9 23 March 2012 at 7:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Bonne chance, and let's begin together! After about a decade of relatively unfocused language learning, during which I repeatedly refused to study French, I myself also just started studying French with Assimil a week ago.
Allons-y! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| polyglossia Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5346 days ago 205 posts - 255 votes Speaks: French* | Message 8 of 9 25 March 2012 at 2:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Brian ! See you're in ireland ! Are you in Dublin ? I have been living in Dublin for 8 months now and I desperatly need someone to improve my englisk... I'm looking for an English/french exchange but so far, all the people I met just gave up (their French was kind of "not at the level", so we used to speak English all the time)...
If you're in Dublin, thanks for contacting me ... good luck with French... Not an easy language... :) 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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