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French For A Frustrated Francophile | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Quinn Senior Member United States Joined 6172 days ago 134 posts - 186 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian, Spanish | Message 1 of 9 17 August 2007 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I decided to start writing periodic logs on my struggles to master French. "Publishing" my assumptions and methods might force me to think them through in a more systematic way and I'd very much welcome any advice, encouragement and/or constructive criticism you might have.
First, a quick recap - I took two years of French in college about fifteen years ago, where I was an enthusiastic, though mediocre student. French was one of my favorite subjects, but between a full load of classes, work, and playing in rock and roll bands, I just didn't devote the time required to really acquire the language. I also took one semester of Latin in my senior year, but spent the semester completely lost and barely escaped with a 'C.' Consequently, my formal study of languages ended on a pretty discouraging note. Time passed and lacking the opportunity to use my French, I lost much of what I'd learned. However, the desire to learn to think in a new language and to access an alternative to mainstream American culture never left me, so now I'm back for round two and determined to really 'get' French this time. Currently, my core program consists of FSI (I just finished Unit Three) and listening to "Le journal en français facile" on Radio France International each day. I'm moving slowly through FSI to ensure that I really master each unit before moving on. With RFI, I generally read the transcripts as I listen to the broadcasts. Honestly, the announcers on RFI speak so fast that most of it goes by in an incomprehensible blur and I find it disheartening that this is the "easy" French broadcast! However, for all my shortcomings, as a musician I have a great ear which allows me to mimic nuances of pronunciation fairly well. If nothing else these broadcasts are helping me get the language 'in my ears.' I'm having much more success with FSI. It is a bit dry, but I'm encouraged by how quickly the basic grammar is coming back to me and the instructional format is clearly working well for me. Last night my wife and I watched the François Truffaut film, "Day For Night" which we really enjoyed. (Fortunately, Netflix seems to have a decent selection of French films.) I also want to get some French music. I'm thinking of picking up a Serge Gainsbourg compilation and a while back someone recommended MC Solaar to me, so I'll probably pick up one of his albums, too. I'm also open to other suggestions anyone might offer on music and films. I just got Barry Farber's "How To Master Learn Any Language" from the library and am finding that helpful. I'm definitely going to get some flash cards and start using them in my free moments. I'm finding this forum very inspiring. I admit I'm not the brightest star in the galaxy, but the fact that so many of you have mastered multiple languages, including many of the notoriously complex ones makes me feel that French cannot be an insurmountable challenge for me. I hope someone finds this log interesting and/or beneficial and I look forward to any feedback you might offer. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6540 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 2 of 9 17 August 2007 at 6:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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You could also try adding Assimil's French courses (With Ease, Using French) or French In Action to your learning. They are two great courses that are good alongside FSI.
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| Quinn Senior Member United States Joined 6172 days ago 134 posts - 186 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian, Spanish | Message 3 of 9 17 August 2007 at 7:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the recs!
I've heard good things about both programs. I think I remember reading that there are FIA videos posted online, so I will try to track those down. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6540 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 4 of 9 18 August 2007 at 10:05am | IP Logged | ||
FIA videos: http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Quinn Senior Member United States Joined 6172 days ago 134 posts - 186 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian, Spanish | Message 5 of 9 18 August 2007 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Great! Thanks a lot.
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| tmesis Senior Member Mayotte Joined 6497 days ago 154 posts - 146 votes Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 9 18 August 2007 at 2:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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- Edited by tmesis on 17 February 2008 at 2:47pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Quinn Senior Member United States Joined 6172 days ago 134 posts - 186 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian, Spanish | Message 7 of 9 27 August 2007 at 7:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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A belated thanks for the link, tmesis. I will explore that site thoroughly.
This past weekend I went through my collection of books and found some to trade to this great used bookstore near my house. I picked up a very concise and suprisingly clear Oxford Guide to French Grammar, an ancient collection of Peanuts cartoons published in Belgium and two plays by Jean Cocteau. I was overjoyed to find that I can make out much of one of the plays (with some use of my dictionary.) I assume the fact that Drama makes little use of literary tenses is really helping. OTOH, the Peanuts stuff is almost incomprehensible. Cocteau easier to understand than Snoopy - who'da thunk it??!! I'm still working through FSI. I'm finding Unit 4 fairly challenging, so I'm taking my time moving through it and reviewing frequently. I'm also reviewing my flashcards daily. I've added probably 100 new words to my vocabularly in the past week or so! I started watching FIA too and am understanding most of it even without the corresponding books. I've also developed a pretty serious crush on Mireille, but anything that keeps me motivated to learn French can only be a good thing! I checked out some Yves Montand and Edith Piaf from the library last week and understand a little bit of it. RFI broadcasts still elude me, but I continue to listen daily as I feel it's good for my accent, if nothing else. I'll post another update when I have something exciting to report. As always, thanks for your interest. Edited by Quinn on 27 August 2007 at 7:15pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6540 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 8 of 9 28 August 2007 at 8:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Becareful with RFI broadcasts. Sometimes they have French speakers from Africa. That might hurt your neutral French accent if the speaker is using an accent from Côte d'Ivoire or somewhere else in Africa. They don't have them on often, but to be safe you could use something else instead of RFI (radio france, europe 1, etc.).
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