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Lianne’s TAC 2012 - The Romantics | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4905 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 17 of 33 25 January 2012 at 4:19pm | IP Logged |
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I started my level 2 French class last night. Oh my goodness. The teacher speaks to us in French. She basically only translates something if someone asks her what it means. Meanwhile, I and several of my classmates who came straight from level 1 with me stare at her all squinty-eyed trying to get the gist of what she's saying. Where the heck was level 1.5? To make matters worse, there are several people in the class who basically seem to speak French already, and they seem all happy about it, and I feel an irrational irritation towards them.
On the bright side, this should give me plenty of motivation to study during the week. Because I really need to step it up if I'm ever going to feel comfortable in this class. Other bright side: my teacher is bilingual, not someone who learned French as a second language, which is also a downside because that probably means she'll have "I don't know why, it just *feels* right" moments, but which also means she has a good accent for me to try to pick up (a St. Boniface accent if I'm not mistaken). So yay for that! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| blackdahlia Pro Member United States Joined 4519 days ago 64 posts - 66 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French Personal Language Map | Message 18 of 33 25 January 2012 at 4:31pm | IP Logged |
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Aww, I know that feeling.
I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually. In high school I took French 1, then went to French 3 the next year so I could follow the IB program. i just remember a whole lot more was taught in French and at first it was confusing and hard to follow. Eventually, my ear adjusted. What kind of class is it btw? A college course? Community education course? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4905 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 19 of 33 25 January 2012 at 5:00pm | IP Logged |
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All I did was go from level 1 to level 2, and level 1 was easy, so I didn't think I'd have a problem! It is a different teacher, though, so I suppose she doesn't know what's covered in level 1.
The classes are offered through the continuing education program of the school division. Every school division in the city has one, though I have a lot more options now than when I was in a little suburb division! That's also how I've taken ballroom dancing in the past. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5171 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 20 of 33 25 January 2012 at 5:04pm | IP Logged |
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Sometimes, the students are not evaluated properly, or else they simply pretend not to know anything so they can get into a less intimidating level. As a student, that is annoying (well, as a teacher too!), but it should also push you ahead, so make the most of it. If you absolutely must, you could ask her to translate more, but only after she said the French. Perhaps a simple sign (like lifting a finger) could be used to signify that you missed something. Could also simply be a different teaching style where she wants you guys to get more exposure. She probably has a good idea of what's taught in level 1.
This kind of thing is quite common for languages that are commonly learned in high school. A lot of people have a fair amount of passive knowledge or else haven't studied formally. Same for immigrant languages -- for instance, when I took Mandarin in university, most students were of Chinese decent and were either familiar with Mandarin or already spoke other dialects, so the class went super fast! Same with a Yiddish class where I appeared to be the only non-Jewish student. In this case, however, I spoke German, so that helped me more than their Hebrew or exposure to Yiddish. Edited by Arekkusu on 25 January 2012 at 5:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4905 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 21 of 33 25 January 2012 at 5:18pm | IP Logged |
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Actually, for these classes, we're not evaluated at all. Anyone can sign up for any level they want, so there isn't really a set standard for how much people should know in the class.
I'm sure she does want us to get more exposure, and I am thankful for that, but at the same time it's a bit much when I'm not even able to understand what she's talking about sometimes. And if I hadn't been doing Michel Thomas on my own, and had only taken level 1, I'd be completely lost. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4905 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 22 of 33 27 January 2012 at 7:56pm | IP Logged |
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I've decided to do the 6 week challenge in February for French. I did the 6wc once before, in August 2011, and it did not go well at all. A few days in, I was losing horribly, and basically gave up. But that was during a phase of not much studying that I was in. So I'm sure I'll do better this time!
As it happens, this 6wc is starting not longer after my level 2 French class started (right after my second class), and goes until almost the end of my class. So I think it will help me really make the most of the class. Here's my plan. I'm going to try really hard to finish Michel Thomas French Language Booster before Feb. 1. Then, for the challenge, I'll take a break from Michel Thomas, and do FSI. Maybe starting with the Phonology course, or maybe just jumping right into the Basic course; I'm not sure. Advice on that from people who've done FSI French would be appreciated! I haven't signed up yet, but I'll be doing that some time this weekend. If you want to follow my progress I'm @spockofvulcan on Twitter. I noticed Pesahson and Mani on the list! Are any other Romantics participating? Edited by Lianne on 27 January 2012 at 7:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4679 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 23 of 33 28 January 2012 at 1:45am | IP Logged |
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I've done FSI Volume 1 (Chapters 1-12), and am three chapters in to Volume 2. I say:
jump right in. I didn't do the phonology course, but I think that you are probably ahead of that stage already. I've always thought of the phonology as a "pre-course" (though I might be wrong). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 4905 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 24 of 33 28 January 2012 at 2:21am | IP Logged |
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I'm thinking you might be right, Kanewai. I had wanted to do the Phonology course first to improve my chances of ending up with a good accent, but now I'm thinking I'd rather have a St. Boniface accent than a France accent anyway, so maybe it wouldn't be that helpful. Anyway the Basic course has audio too, so it will still be helping me work on my pronunciation. Basic it is!
1 person has voted this message useful |
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