Beginning French Help!! (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

Beginning French Help!!
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

MichaelM204351
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5444 days ago
151 posts - 173 votes

Speaks: English*, Biblical Hebrew
Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish

Message 1 of 6

21 April 2010 at 6:21pm | IP Logged

Recently, I bought New French With Ease. I want to learn French in order to access other languages which I would like to learn (Hebrew, Greek, Swahili, etc.). I did the first lesson without much difficulty, but I can't get past the 2nd lesson. I can't produce the sounds or anything.... Any suggestions?

I am also doing Assimil German With Ease, but I already had two years of College German when I started.
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Arekkusu
Hexaglot
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Canada
bit.ly/qc_10_lec
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Speaks: English, French*, German^C1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto
Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian

Message 2 of 6

21 April 2010 at 6:26pm | IP Logged

You are still in what Assimil calls the passive phase. I think this is supposed to be a put up and shut up phase.

Edited by Arekkusu on 21 April 2010 at 6:26pm
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Kampernaut
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5382 days ago
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French

Message 3 of 6

22 April 2010 at 9:34am | IP Logged

MichaelM204351 wrote:

I can't produce the sounds or anything.... Any suggestions?

The sounds of which words or phrases in particular?

Arekkusu is correct about the passive phase in that you shouldn't be trying to understand the grammar or
actively trying to commit anything to memory. However the objective of this passive phase is to become familiar
with the sound and cadence of the language. I think this is why one is instructed to repeat the audio out loud. I
think therefore that you should pay close attention to getting your pronunciation as close as you can to the
audio provided it does not detract from your enjoyment of the process.

It might help if you avoid reading the French text when trying to emulate the audio. I found that my mind
wanted to read the French as though it was English and that this inhibited my reproduction of the sounds.
Instead, try reading the pronunciation guide at the foot of the French text or simply putting the book aside.
Once you can get a close approximation to the sounds then you can start reading the French text whilst
speaking aloud and eventually you will read the French without trying to speak it as English. The audio for the
initial lessons is very slow which is excellent for a newcomer to French.

There is no doubt that French pronunciation is very tricky for native English speakers with many sounds that we
are simply unaccustomed to producing with our voices. If you google "French pronunciation" there are copious
amounts of tips available to help you overcome these obstacles that you might find useful.

It is however very important not to become too bogged down in it so that the lessons become a chore and
unenjoyable. That will defeat the purpose of this passive phase which is to let it wash over you and get your ears
and voice accustomed to the new sounds and words (as Arrekkusu pointed out).

Just have a laugh at yourself for being so clever as to immediately spot that there are dramatic differences
between sounds in French and English when you are only at the second lesson! ;-)

Stick with the course. It's good.
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MichaelM204351
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5444 days ago
151 posts - 173 votes

Speaks: English*, Biblical Hebrew
Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish

Message 4 of 6

22 April 2010 at 4:01pm | IP Logged

Thanks for the tips! Incidentally, I finally got through the 2nd lesson yesterday. I just put the lesson on repeat for like an hour and a half while I was doing other things and shadowed the material...
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Emme
Triglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 5347 days ago
980 posts - 1594 votes

Speaks: Italian*, English, German
Studies: Russian, Swedish, French

Message 5 of 6

22 April 2010 at 10:13pm | IP Logged

Kampernaut wrote:

[...] However the objective of this passive phase is to become familiar
with the sound and cadence of the language. I think this is why one is instructed to repeat the audio out loud. I
think therefore that you should pay close attention to getting your pronunciation as close as you can to the
audio provided it does not detract from your enjoyment of the process.

It might help if you avoid reading the French text when trying to emulate the audio. I found that my mind
wanted to read the French as though it was English and that this inhibited my reproduction of the sounds.
Instead, try reading the pronunciation guide at the foot of the French text or simply putting the book aside.
Once you can get a close approximation to the sounds then you can start reading the French text whilst
speaking aloud and eventually you will read the French without trying to speak it as English. The audio for the
initial lessons is very slow which is excellent for a newcomer to French.

[...]

I second Kampernaut’s excellent advice.

@MichaelM204351
Good to hear that you made it through lesson 2. Anyway, should you find that you still struggle too much with French pronunciation, I would suggest you take a look at the free FSI Introduction to French Phonology.

http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=French%20Ph onology

It’s a ten-chapter course designed with English speakers in mind. It uses a few short dialogues to explain and drill the different sounds of French. A lot of attention is given to help the learner avoid common pitfalls for native English speakers tackling French. As a drill-base course you may find it boring, but it’s rather short. You could probably go through a chapter every day (or every couple of days) and it would take you no longer than two or three weeks to finish. You could give it a try and see if it works for you. Good luck!

P.S. There should be no space in the link.

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MichaelM204351
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5444 days ago
151 posts - 173 votes

Speaks: English*, Biblical Hebrew
Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish

Message 6 of 6

22 April 2010 at 10:18pm | IP Logged

Emme wrote:

@MichaelM204351
Good to hear that you made it through lesson 2. Anyway, should you find that you still struggle too much with French pronunciation, I would suggest you take a look at the free FSI Introduction to French Phonology.

http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=French%20Ph onology

It’s a ten-chapter course designed with English speakers in mind. It uses a few short dialogues to explain and drill the different sounds of French. A lot of attention is given to help the learner avoid common pitfalls for native English speakers tackling French. As a drill-base course you may find it boring, but it’s rather short. You could probably go through a chapter every day (or every couple of days) and it would take you no longer than two or three weeks to finish. You could give it a try and see if it works for you. Good luck!

Thanks! That's a great idea. I actually enjoy FSI. I use their program for Hebrew and sometimes German (for grammar practice).

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