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Learning french...movies/tv | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio |  | |
| The-teacher Newbie Canada Joined 4461 days ago 17 posts - 21 votes Studies: English* | Message 1 of 7 29 August 2012 at 2:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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Good morning,
Im currently in the early stages of learning french after not seeing it for numerous years since high school and I was hoping to ask the resident experts of HTLAL for advice. I picked up Heroes the tv show which has french language and subtitles and was hoping to ask what is the best way to use this resource. Ive read several threads on this forum related to such topics but didnt quite get the answer as everyones experiences differ. If Im in the early learning stages(listening is still difficult to pick up) what is the best way to go about using these dvds. French language and subs.....french language English subs....english language french subs?? the reason I ask is the spoken french on the dvds appears somewhat frequently to be different than the subtitles used which is somewhat confusing. Do I just listen and try to pick up simply by continued input? or do I shelf them until my skills are more developed? Any advice from you language vets would be much appreciated! Thanks The-teacher(now the student) Edited by The-teacher on 29 August 2012 at 2:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5382 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 2 of 7 29 August 2012 at 7:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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For Heroes this site has transcripts for the first 9 episodes (should be exactly what is said though I've found them to be different sometimes). I searched for a site with all the episodes but couldn't find one though there could be one out there. I found that the DVDs for Chuck have subs that are pretty close to what's said (sometimes they drop stuff for space and every once in a while they use a different word). And French series that have subs will be exact though they'll be a bit harder to follow than a dub and will use a lot more slang. I heard the Canadian Kaamelott DVDs have French and English subs which could be useful though they use A LOT of familiar language.
As for how to work with subs I say you can really just switch it up. Each combination has its purpose. If your listening is still quite weak you may need English subs just to aid in comprehension. Or you can watch in English with the French subs to become familiar with the material and through reading you'll pick up a ton of vocab. French with French subs (or better, the transcript) will be quite beneficial for your listening comprehension, though without an exact transcript when you're not already very advanced you will miss some stuff (try typing out your own transcript for some scenes as an exercise). And at advanced level I find that English subs are useful again to see how they translated the show, especially colloquial language. So go ahead and watch the show many, many, many times with different combinations and I think you'll find that your comprehension and your knowledge of colloquial French will improve a lot. And if your level is still low don't feel ashamed to supplement with learner resources (Assimil, French in Action, podcasts) as well as easier native materials such as a newscast or young kids' programming. You could also try some audiobooks such as with the Listen-Reading method (you'll encounter passé simple but it's not hard and the purpose is simply to develop your ear). 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| The-teacher Newbie Canada Joined 4461 days ago 17 posts - 21 votes Studies: English* | Message 3 of 7 29 August 2012 at 8:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks a lot sctroyenne - I really appreciate the advice! I'm still very early in my learning and am currently on
lesson 39 of assimil nfwe and cd 7 of Michel Thomas, both seem to be great resources so far. I'll try out what you had mentioned and I like that it can build comprehension but also vocab while being entertained. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5523 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 7 29 August 2012 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | ||
I feel your pain. It's hard to find good French subtitles. In the very beginning, you're probably going to want to look for recordings aimed at students, preferably ones with transcripts. You can use them exactly how you'd use an Assimil lesson: Read, listen and repeat, and look up any words as needed. Once you finish Assimil, you may want to try out newscasts, documentaries and children's television, all of which tend to be spoken slowly and clearly. If you like science, for example, check your cable package for the Explora channel, which has tons of cool stuff. I wish we could get it down here on our side of the border! Newscasts and documentaries work especially well because they use a large amount of Latin-based vocabulary. Some other good resources include: RFI & News in Simple French TV 5 French resources One Thing in a French Day The next level of difficulty is probably a dubbed TV series. I'm currently working my way through Buffy contre les vampires, which is very well dubbed and a lot of fun. But the best thing about Buffy is that you can download a full 7 seasons worth of transcripts, courtesy of French fans. To order the box set, all you need is an Amazon account. If you have a regular Amazon account, you can just log into Amazon.fr and ask them to ship it: Buffy 8-season box set 7 seasons of transcripts The great thing about a long series is that you get familiar with the characters' voices and any specialized vocabulary, so you can do a lot of learning without having to start over every time you watch something. And if Buffy isn't to your taste, you can sometimes find scripts for other series on Hypnoweb. Just use the popup menu near the upper left to select a series, look for a link to the list of episodes, and look for something with a script in "VF". Hypnoweb For something more advanced than a dubbed TV series, ask sctroyenne. I'm still working on Buffy. :-) As for actually using any of these resources, I personally prefer a mix of "intensive" activities (using transcripts, trying to understand everything) and "extensive" activities (camping out on the couch and occasionally hitting the rewind button, or even leaving the French news on in the background). Frankly, extensive activities are more fun. But if I add intensive activities to the mix, I get better a lot faster. I wish you the best of luck with your French project! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| microsnout TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Canada microsnout.wordpress Joined 5462 days ago 277 posts - 553 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 5 of 7 29 August 2012 at 11:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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Since you are in Canada you have access to all the video content on http://tou.tv
but unfortunately with no subs or transcripts. They now have the compete season 2 of "30 Vies" which is 120 episodes of 20 min each. The story is based in a Montreal high school. You will likely find the teachers easier to understand than the students who make great practice for very informal talk. There is also a lot of documentaries on the site which are much easier to understand due to the professional narration and absence of slang. The site http://offqc.com contains many short videos with transcripts all demonstrating particularities of Canadian/Québécois French with more being added almost daily. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5253 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 6 of 7 30 August 2012 at 12:15am | IP Logged | ||
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A French teacher friend of mine asked me to find Simpson's transcripts in French for her. I found Most of 20 Seasons of the Simpsons French Transcripts available for free download.
Bon Courage! Edited by iguanamon on 30 August 2012 at 12:22am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| The-teacher Newbie Canada Joined 4461 days ago 17 posts - 21 votes Studies: English* | Message 7 of 7 30 August 2012 at 2:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks guys for all the advice and suggestions, undoubtedly some good resources. EMK - i may also be a
Buffy convert and pick up that box set at some point, I remember watching that show when I was younger and it was entertaining! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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