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My Adventures in French (TAC15) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5007 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes  Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 145 of 163 12 March 2015 at 2:13pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Garyb described it perfectly, I think you are just in the intermediate plateau, which
is an unpleasant place. One more detail about it. I think we tend to overestimate the real significance of the worse days. You know, it's like someone who has never tasted chocolate (or a beginner). They don't miss the taste. But someone who knows it and loves it suffers when they are suddenly forbidden to eat it (a metaphore for an intermediate who knows what it feels like to speak better, to understand more and to have fun in the language). Such a person simply misses it. I hope the chocolate metaphore doesn't sound too stupid. I just wanted to say that we often base our expectations of our own performance on our best moments. And of course we fail to deliver the same results every day in such a case. What helped me during my loooong French plateau was having fun with the skills I already had and trying to notice the progress of my lowest points. It's not always easy though. Or another thing: read your old log posts and compare your troubles then and now. You've made tons of progress, Mohave! :-) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Mohave Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Mohave1 Joined 4005 days ago 291 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 146 of 163 23 March 2015 at 2:27am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Cavesa - as I noted in your log, the chocolate example is perfect. Thank you so very much! --------------------------------------- I got off-track with my Super Challenge Goals during Feb and the beginning of March, but I will get caught back up with my goals - again. While I did some French everyday, I seemed to have had a stall in my motivation - much like some of the others noted recently in their logs. I have been dying to read Les Liaisons Dangereuses , and so I thought maybe that would give me more motivation - and it seems to have done the trick. I had said that I would participate in March Team Français Output Challenge. Besides doing my Language Exchanges and writing (a fair amount) to prepare some interesting subjects for them, I haven't done much. I am wondering since many seem to be having motivation issues, how about something fun for an April Challenge such memorizing a French song? I'll post this in the team log. Super Challenge (Double) Reading: Goal Mid-March: 107 Current: 97 Completed L'Immoraliste par André Gide. I really like André Gide's writing style. However, as I mentioned previously, I just felt I was covered in slime while reading this book (because of the protaganist's morals) although it is also a journey of self-discovery and introspection. A recommended read! Started Les Liaisons Dangereuses par Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.. I enjoyed both of the American movies based on this book, Cruel Intentions and Dangerous Liaisons, and this has been on my French to- read list for a while. I've only read 20/175 letters, but it has not disappointed! It is a much easier read (so far) than I anticipated. Be sure to checkout Dangerous Tweets here. The book, in 175 English-language tweets (one for each letter), is legally free in iBooks or in PDF form at the link. Watching Goal Mid-March: 107 Current: 100.4 Continuing with Buffy Contre Les Vampires, I watched an episode without following the transcripts per Cavesa's advice in the team thread. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I understand, but I am still missing some of the finer details. I also watched Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pas Ça . Listening: I have really enjoyed listening to some new (to me) podcasts. My newest discovery is Monumental (Radio Télévision Suise). From the site: Les lieux mythiques fascinent et questionnent. A travers un décryptage historique, architectural et culturel, Monumental part à la découverte de sites légendaires. Une émission de Johanne Dussez. Very clear and very interesting, easy to understand. Au Cœur de L'Histoire , mentionned here previously, is one I listen to frequently. I have not counted my podcasts towards the Super Challenge yet, trying to stay with Movies and or TV series. I completed 6 Language Exchanges. I need to complete Pimsleur 4, and continue with my grammar exercises. Edited by Mohave on 23 March 2015 at 2:30am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4907 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 147 of 163 23 March 2015 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Good to catch up on your progress, Mohave. I agree with what others have said about your intermediate plateau. I would add one point: there's a great difference between being able to "access" intermediate materials, and being able to fully function at an intermediate level. The difference between my first attempts to read Le Petit Nicolas, and the ability I now have to pick up a new Petit Nicolas book is immense, and yet I don't think I can function at the level of those books in terms of the other 3 skills (writing, speaking, listening). Being intermediate is like climbing a hill: the next rise looks like the top, but when you get there you see you've still got another rise to climb. The only way to know you've made progress is to look back and enjoy the view!
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| Mohave Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Mohave1 Joined 4005 days ago 291 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 148 of 163 22 April 2015 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I hadnt realized that a month has passed without an update to my log. I promise to go through and get
caught up on everyone's logs. While I have done something French most days, it has not been a priority this last month. I have been focused more on my health and that of my parents. The day after we returned home after my FIL's death, I had a routine Dr.s appointment where my blood pressure was sky-high. I declined to go on daily meds, and have focused on lifestyle changes. I have managed to reduce my BP by 20-30 points. (I followed the advice in the book Blood Pressure Down by Janet Bond Brill - highly recommended). We also went back to assist my MIL, my mother, and go to MD Anderson with my Dad. He had been clear of cancer for the last six months, but they found an old tumor had started growing again. He'll be starting treatment again. With all my nervous energy of waiting on the final radiology report and treatment plan, I found myself focusing on exercise and health-related topics, and organization projects in the home. I exercise most days and found a Pilates class that I really enjoy. I seem to be dealing better with my emotions this round. Reading - most of my French reading of late is non-fiction health articles which hasn't counted for the SC. I feel PM's pain on thinking back to the earlier discussing and the SC, but my interest/short-attention span has been better focused on non-fiction articles. I'd love to find a non-fiction health book in French to read. What I have found out during the last month is that I am really comfortable reading many different topics in French. I still don't know some vocabulary, but there seems to be a growing comfort level on my part despite any focused study of late. I re-started Les Liasions Dangereuses which I' almost halfway through and is a favorite French read so far. I'm behind (again) in the SC (double for me), but hope to get caught up (again - sigh). Watching/Listening - several episodes of Buffy Contre Les Vampires and Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pas Ça. I've started watching both of these shows without subtitles. Sometime I feel my listening is quite high, and other times, if I feel I missed an important point or have lower comprehension, I'll either re-listen in English and then re-listen in French for Buffy, or rewind and put on the hearing impaired subtitles for Fais Pas Çi. Either way, I feel like this approach is working for me. Grammar, Writing, and Speaking/Language Exchanges. I have completed more Grammar work, and will probably sign-up for the upcoming six-week challenge with the goal of completing that book. I wrote a few emails, and when they are more complicated than normal, I use BonPatron as a way of double-checking myself. I was excited to see that in my last email, I only made one error (gender). I continue to do some language exchanges, but really should focus on Pimsleur etc again 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5474 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 149 of 163 23 April 2015 at 2:51am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Very wise move :)
Not good news, but hopefully with the reading you've been doing you're starting to feel a little more empowered if not so much with your father then at least with the control over your own health.
Oui, c'est comme ca... Si je pouvais compter tous les articles et des choses que j'ai lus en francais surtout sur la sante ma position sur le rang du SC amerliorait beaucoup je crois. En outre ma motivation pour lire encore plus augmenterait aussi. il parait qu'il y a toujours des limites avec ces defis. Mais c'est la vie. Si je trouvais quelque chose que je croyais t'interesserait (un livre electronique sur la sante peut-etre) est-ce que tu voudrais que je te l'enverrais par courriel? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Mohave Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Mohave1 Joined 4005 days ago 291 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 150 of 163 30 May 2015 at 3:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Bien Sur! Merci Beaucoup! Je peux t'envoyer un petit message avec mon courriel. --------------------------------------------- May has been a great month for French for me. I was surprised that a month had gone by already and I hadn't updated my log. It was not for a lack of using French, but rather really nothing interesting/different than previously documented. Good News: I completed a Super Challenge! Bad News: I signed up for a Double Super Challenge, and, like others have mentioned in their log, I've gotten behind these last few months. It's a lot to catch up, but I think I can still get it completed on-time. Reading: May EOM Goal: 130 Current: 107 Currently Reading: Train D'Enfer Pour Ange Rouge par Franck Thilliez. Just started - more to come. This French author is new to me and recommended by a French penpal's wife. I gave her a list of favorite American authors who have books translated in French, and she gave me a list of authors/books that she loves to read. I was excited as all of her recommended authors are new to me. We plan to discuss the books we read at a later date. Finished Reading: . "Les Liaisons Dangereuses par Laclos" Highly Recommend!! What a naughty read! One of my fave French reads. I used a parallell text, but I found I really didn't need it as it was a fairly straight-forward read. Watching: May EOM Goal: 130 Current: 120 I've seen another jump in listening skills. I'm still watching "Buffy Contre Les Vampires". In the middle of season 2, I took the "leap of faith" that Cavesa mentioned, and I stopped using transcripts or subtitles. I am getting around 80% - 85% - so I get the big things, but still miss some of the small details. If I miss something important, I listen to a few sentences in English, and then re-listen in French. I can usually understand then. I've also watched "La Vie en Rose", "Les Femmes du 6ème Étage" (Netflix), et "2 Automnes, 3 Hivers" (Netflix). I enjoyed all three of the movies. Speaking: . Completed 3 Language Exchanges/week in the month of May. I also completed several Pimsleur IV units. Only six to go Summer Plans/Goals 1) Get back on track for the Super Challenge 2) Complete Pimsleur French IV and V 3) Complete Exercices de Grammaire en Contexte Intermediaire (currently ch 10) 4) Complete Grammaire Progressive du Français. Intermediate Best Wishes for your continued language learning! Edited by Mohave on 30 May 2015 at 3:10am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 151 of 163 30 May 2015 at 3:18am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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You're multi-track method is rocking Mohave!
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| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4907 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 152 of 163 30 May 2015 at 5:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Looks like you're doing brilliantly!
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