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Spending money to learn. The trade-off | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| microsnout TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Canada microsnout.wordpress Joined 5476 days ago 277 posts - 553 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 25 of 30 10 January 2011 at 9:54pm | IP Logged |
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Yes I can see the distiction between those two phrases now - maybe I was too quick to select it as an example.
However, the expression "au fur et à mesure" I hear all the time - if I spent all my time watching TV I am sure it would come up at least once a day. The other expression I have only heard once - in a Yabla video. If you are still listening, what do you think of these expressions ? common in daily speech or not. ni une ni deux à plein régime damer le pion à qqn à armes égales à fait école ne serait-ce que Edited by microsnout on 10 January 2011 at 11:24pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5435 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 26 of 30 11 January 2011 at 2:20am | IP Logged |
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My own take on these expressions is that they are all in use in spoken Quebec French, but the real question is really in what milieu, professional context and language register. All speakers have their individual style that consists of a repertoire of expressions, among other things. If I look at these expressions, there are some that I haven't used in a while, not because they are not in use, but because a) I haven't had the occasion to use them and b) they are not part of my style. For example, instead of "à plein régime", I might prefer "tous azimuts". (Some might people may quibble about their equivalency, but let's say I prefer the latter.)
I think register is really important. I find in certain kinds of meetings verbal sophistication is important. Without wanting to sound vain, pretentious or stuffy, you probably want to use a variety of speech that is more on the formal side. But you may want to throw in some casual notes to lighten things up. This morning I presided a meeting of business executives and we had to elect various officers. If I look at the kind of speech used during the meeting, I'd say that it ranged from casual banter and ribbing among friends to the formal language of agendas, minutes, reports and technical commentary. Something that is really important in any kind of formal situation is precision and accuracy and the ability to play with words. What always strikes me when I hear second language speakers struggling in these situations is something that I call "running out of gas". By that I mean, they just don't have the words and the grammatical skills to convey nuances and articulate their message. So, either they switch to English (or whatever language) or everybody else tries to cut through the fog of approximate French in order to figure out what was really meant. Edited by s_allard on 11 January 2011 at 2:22am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Naomi Chambers Newbie United States thepolyglotexperienc Joined 5076 days ago 23 posts - 30 votes Speaks: Spanish Studies: FrenchC1, Swedish | Message 27 of 30 11 January 2011 at 10:37pm | IP Logged |
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This is my policy on how much money I spend on language learning. Many of you will not
like this, and maybe even resent me for it, but this how I go about it. 1. I buy used language books on Amazon. 2. I ask a friend of mine to download Pimsleur, Living Language, Teach Yourself and Rosetta Stone. 3. I use all the programs on a regular basis. I pay for the books, that is it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6664 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 28 of 30 12 January 2011 at 3:30am | IP Logged |
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It's all a matter of your individual budget and what matters to you. Perhaps your target language is another key factor.
Buying the most expensive or the largest quantity of materials is usually no greater guarantee of better results. One thing I'm willing to spend money on is a good two-way dictionary. I have used Internet foreign language dictionaries, but there's just something special about a dictionary in print. Some of the words and phrases I find on my way to looking up something else are often as interesting and helpful as what I was looking for in the first place. I'm also partial to pictorial dictionaries. They are no less visual than some highly touted software programs, and they are much less expensive. I also think books of verbs can be very helpful and convenient. Recently I've discovered a translation Web site that I've been using as my personal language lab. It's not foolproof, but for a free resource, it's not bad. Wikipedia is a great "beyond the dictionaries" resource. For example, if I want to know the name of a movie or book in one of my languages, I just look it up in English and click on the name of my target language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| polyglHot Pentaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5071 days ago 173 posts - 229 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish, Indonesian Studies: Russian | Message 29 of 30 12 January 2011 at 12:14pm | IP Logged |
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I wouldn't pay to learn a language, however I do buy the proper materials. For Russian I
bought a new cellphone and keyboard with Cyrillic, as well as some books. Unless you include travel expenses I'd say I don't spend much. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BlondGirl Groupie United States Joined 5562 days ago 49 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 30 of 30 15 January 2011 at 7:38pm | IP Logged |
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I have spent so much money on learning resources over the years that traveling to a country where I will be immersed in the language seems cheap in comparison. Plus, having a date that is looming ahead has made me more determined to work on improving my skills every day instead of being a permanent slacker. Nothing makes you learn the material like an upcoming test! My test will be 4 weeks in the home of a family where no one speaks English at all. I have less than 6 weeks left to prepare and am really, REALLY inclined to stick to my guns in my efforts to learn. :) :) :)
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