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Upcoming French Exam - Advice?

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ImNotHere92
Newbie
Ireland
Joined 5659 days ago
3 posts - 3 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, Irish, Icelandic

 
 Message 1 of 6
28 February 2010 at 11:05pm | IP Logged 
Hi all!

I'm a big fan of these forums, they've really gotten me interested in language learning. I've picked up some great hints and tips for studying, but this school year has thrown me a bit off track.

Basically, we have a god-awful teacher this year. I'm been studying French here in Ireland for nearly five years now with the same teacher, but she left on maternity leave and her replacement just doesn't have a clue (corrects homework incorrectly, ignores grammar, never knows noun genders, doesn't spell things, doesn't give us homework, doesn't ever speak or let US speak french in class) As a result, my French has really slipped. And next summer I'm taking my major school-leaving exams and I NEED to get an A in french to get the college course I want.

I will be basically teaching myself for the next year, and I'm not sure how to go about it. So far I've been doing excercises in my school textbook, but I'm not sure when i make mistakes, since I've caught so many mistakes in work I've handed up to my teacher before. i also subscribed to a french language podcast, and got an audiobook of the first Harry Potter in french, which I'm slowly working my through, and i read french newspapers online and make vocab lists. But it just doesn't feel like enough.

So, advice?

Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated.

1 person has voted this message useful



datsunking1
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5584 days ago
1014 posts - 1533 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French

 
 Message 2 of 6
28 February 2010 at 11:45pm | IP Logged 
How good is your french? I would suggest French with Ease by Assimil if you're not very confident or need a really good review :)

try to learn 10 new words a day, and how to use them. 10 days = 100 new words!!

If you truly love the language, studying will not be a chore. You'll love it. :)

My favorite method is music. I love listening and then looking up lyrics and actually understanding the song. It's a HUGE part of language learning for me.

He's a french rap song. (one of the only I know) that you might enjoy :)

Sniper- Brule

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajNXKN9e0X0

I have virtually no knowledge of french so I can't help you in the grammar department...only in the learning process. :D there are many talented and intelligent members here that would be more than happy to help you.

Welcome to the forums :)

best of luck to you!

Jordan
1 person has voted this message useful



Sprachprofi
Nonaglot
Senior Member
Germany
learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6469 days ago
2608 posts - 4866 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese

 
 Message 3 of 6
01 March 2010 at 10:18am | IP Logged 
You should find a French friend whom you can talk to online, preferably in voice-chat
(Skype or Paltalk).

I dropped French after 2 years of barely-worthwhile French teaching at school, and then
didn't do anything French for three years, just sometimes heard some from Quebecois
friends who stubbornly refused to use their perfect English. After graduating from high
school I went to visit Quebec and fell in love with it. When I came back, enrollment
for Anglistik (English studies) was already closed and I enrolled for
Romanistik (Romance language studies, esp. French) instead. I had three months
to prepare for the initial exam. I started speaking French to my Quebecois friends,
made sure they always spoke French, worked through www.polarfle.com , wrote a couple
texts for them to correct - and was one of the best in that exam, even though the
majority had taken 7 years of French classes and more intensive ones.
1 person has voted this message useful



William Camden
Hexaglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 6271 days ago
1936 posts - 2333 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French

 
 Message 4 of 6
01 March 2010 at 2:28pm | IP Logged 
I have mentioned it before, but there is a good site at www.wordprof.com for learning French vocabulary. It contains about 9,200 words, ranging from very basic to advanced. It has its drawbacks (the software only accepts one right answer, even though there might be more than one, and the site seems particularly directed at British schoolchildren) but it is still worth it.

For other tips, search through this forum.
1 person has voted this message useful



DaraghM
Diglot
Senior Member
Ireland
Joined 6150 days ago
1947 posts - 2923 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian

 
 Message 5 of 6
03 March 2010 at 6:00pm | IP Logged 
ImNotHere92 wrote:
her replacement just doesn't have a clue (corrects homework incorrectly, ignores grammar, never knows noun genders, doesn't spell things, doesn't give us homework, doesn't ever speak or let US speak french in class)


I think this matter should be raised with either the school or the department of education. I know from personal experience that a bad teacher can cause serious problems for the student. This person doesn't sound like they're qualified to teach French, and you have every right to expect a competent teacher coming up to your leaving cert. If you can afford it, you could consider grinds nearer the time.

As for free resources, join a library, and get your hands on the Assimil and Michel Thomas courses. If your willing to subject yourself to a slightly tedious regime, you could also check out the various French FSI Courses.
1 person has voted this message useful



Johntm
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5421 days ago
616 posts - 725 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 6 of 6
03 March 2010 at 7:07pm | IP Logged 
DaraghM wrote:
ImNotHere92 wrote:
her replacement just doesn't have a clue (corrects homework incorrectly, ignores grammar, never knows noun genders, doesn't spell things, doesn't give us homework, doesn't ever speak or let US speak french in class)


I think this matter should be raised with either the school or the department of education. I know from personal experience that a bad teacher can cause serious problems for the student. This person doesn't sound like they're qualified to teach French, and you have every right to expect a competent teacher coming up to your leaving cert. If you can afford it, you could consider grinds nearer the time.

As for free resources, join a library, and get your hands on the Assimil and Michel Thomas courses. If your willing to subject yourself to a slightly tedious regime, you could also check out the various French FSI Courses.
My advice would be to sleep in French class, and study French the right way on your own, but if her replacement is there long-term then definitely try and get her replaced.


1 person has voted this message useful



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