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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
 songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 9 of 243 21 January 2011 at 5:10am | IP Logged |
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And today's programming is being brought to you by the letter S: S, S, S!
Rosenthal says Rule Two was an easy rule for him to arrive at. Certainly, it was a wonderfully simple one for me to learn: Singular nouns ending in S are masculine. Rosenthal has two pages of examples (grouped by word endings). Herewith, a select few: - le tapis, le mois, le palais, un atlas, le dos, le virus, le cours, le gars, le sens, le succès, le temps, le pays, le fils. Exceptions noted by Rosenthal: vis, souris, brebis, fois. Reference: Saul H. Rosenthal, The Rules for the Gender of French Nouns. Edited by songlines on 21 January 2011 at 5:40am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 10 of 243 31 July 2011 at 5:08pm | IP Logged |
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The title for this log should really be "French and Indolence". After a seven-month hiatus during which I had only sporadic stints of actual study, I'm going to make a real push during the August TAC challenge.
Since I can confidently say I'm not above lower-intermediate level in French, I'll stick with that language for the six weeks of the TAC. Next step: signing up for a Twitter account... Edited by songlines on 31 July 2011 at 5:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 11 of 243 10 August 2011 at 9:09am | IP Logged |
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The 6WCBot certainly helps to spur one on. I forgot to add the #French tag for my first tweet, so at first it didn't "count" my session as time on my target language. - A relief to finally move up from last place in the rankings!
Somewhere on the 6WC thread I believe an Htal member posted "equivalencies" for less intensive sessions. Not sure how my TV watching rates (and I'll be happy to downgrade it if that's the appropriate course of action), but I'm watching/listening to it quite actively. I tape the French news (I'm in Canada, so that's easy - for now; but also see note below), then listen to it with my laptop open to the online dictionary at Wordreference. Type in unfamiliar words that I want to remember. At the end of the session, I use the "back" buttons on the browser to review the words, read the definitions, and type selected vocab into my Quizlet sets. From there, it eventually gets transferred onto my Flashcards++ app on the iPod. Canadian TV broadcasters will be moving to entirely digital broadcasting at the end of the month, so - until I upgrade from my ancient analogue TV and TV-top antenna (currently no cable subscription, no satellite) - I'll have to go TV-less. But am not quite ready to go *permanently* TV-less yet, though I generally watch very little. Have so far resisted getting a cable/satellite subscription as I hate the way we're forced to buy "packages": paying for all kinds of channels we don't want, just to get the few we do. Unfortunately, because of my hearing (I need the closed captions), watching the broadcasts online won't be a viable long-term strategy. If only there was a "French only" package... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 12 of 243 11 August 2011 at 8:49am | IP Logged |
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Not a bad day, all in all. A mix of things: vocab work with Quizlet/Flashcards++; a return to Assimil (yay!); and news, both online and on the tv. Sadly, the news viewing is generating less happy additions to my vocab, such as "les émeutes" (rioters).
I love my iPod: it makes the flashcards so easily accessible, ready to dip into anytime I have a free moment. And the audio for Assimil's similarly handy; I used to have - old technology alert - a CD Walkman; This is a vast improvement. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 13 of 243 15 August 2011 at 12:08am | IP Logged |
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Currently in the middle of the pack for the 6WC rankings, which is certainly better than down at the bottom, where I was just last week. But, as the school reports might say, "can certainly do better".
So far, have managed to do about 30 minutes' French each way during my commute to work, plus 30-60 minutes at home. But will be back on my bicycle next week (and will need all my attention on the road), so any gains in fitness-time will offset by lost language-study time. So, for the remainder of the 6WC period (which conveniently finishes just as the Toronto Film Festival starts), I've suspended almost all of my Holds (currently numbering two-dozen-plus) on English-language books at the library; will focus on French-language news sources; and try to carve out a little room in my schedule for actual study of grammar. - Perhaps a modest (but thereby achievable?) goal of conjugating practice on a few verbs each day...? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 14 of 243 16 August 2011 at 4:52am | IP Logged |
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Reminder to self: when getting French language DVDs from the library, check to make sure they do have closed captions in French, rather than subtitles in English. If there are only English subtitles, I'll inevitably switch them on, and end up using them as a crutch.
Watched two French films: Après lui, with the Catherine Deneuve as a mother who, having difficulty coming to terms with her son's death, develops something of a fixation on the son's best friend; and Eden à l'ouest, by Constantin Costa-Gavras (he of "Z" fame), about a young illegal immigrant, washed up on the Mediterranean coast, trying to make his way to his perceived "Eden" of Paris. The first had the afore-mentioned subtitles; and the second had suprisingly little French dialogue. I've accordingly downgraded the time recorded for them to 15 minutes each. Another reminder to self: watch a cheery, upbeat French film or two next time. Have also been catching up on my French news, having from time to time saved both the transcripts and sound files for RFI's "Le journal en français façile", but that's hardly a ball of laughs either. Edited by songlines on 16 August 2011 at 4:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 15 of 243 18 August 2011 at 5:29pm | IP Logged |
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The usual news stint, and flashcards. Added ten words from the news to my flashcard sets. Notable words: tergiversation (equivocation), which I vaguely knew the meaning of in English, but hadn't realized was a French word; ferroviaire (rail; as in rain transport), which has a tricky spelling, with the "iai" combination. Also la hâte (haste), which has a similar English to French pattern as "la pâte", for pastry.
I've also realized, in my vocab study, the source of some of J.K. Rowling's names/vocabulary in the Harry Potter books. For example, "Dementors", those horrifying creators who suck joy and will out of people, may to be related to "dementir" (to deny). I have two copies of Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass/Northern Lights", one in French, and the other in English. But instead of starting on "Les Royaumes Du Nord", I got sidetracked into re-reading the entire book in English. ("Just one more chapter...") On the plus side, it'll be fresh in my mind when I do eventually begin "À la croisée des mondes". Edited by songlines on 18 August 2011 at 5:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5207 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 16 of 243 19 August 2011 at 5:27pm | IP Logged |
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Transferred a set of my flashcards (la Colle française) from my Quizlet dashboard to my Flashcards++ app on my iPod; and started a set for the genders of French nouns, using Rosenthal as previously mentioned. So that's another couple of hundred new cards to work through. Edited by songlines on 19 August 2011 at 5:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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