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Swift’s Log - French and Russian | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4401 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 33 of 91 10 July 2012 at 12:00am | IP Logged | ||||||||
A French woman I know recommended it to me. Seems like it would be a good way to learn French through immersion. I bought 4 books at fnac today for only €18 euro. I didn't read too many blurbs while searching for them. With all the noise around me and differing levels of French, I found myself forgetting what I'd just read very often. I went for books that caught my eye and that didn't seem to difficult. Interestingly, I spotted that the Game of Thrones series (called A Song of Ice and Fire before the TV show popularised its namesake) is broken up into many more parts here. Poor French people getting ripped off! I guess it could be for doing translations faster and thus more releases for fans. Also interesting were the dozen Philip K. Dick books translated into French that I saw. I had to tell myself "no, you're not ready!" I love science fiction and he is one of my favourite authors. Also had a really interesting conversation in a little pizza place. Don't remember if I already mentioned it, we went there before a few days ago and I talked to the Italian guy there about, oddly enough, social problems in Paris and people in general. It was more of the same today and it gave me interesting thoughts on the city. I don't know the issues here well but it was refreshing to find such an open person who didn't mind talking to a total stranger for more than just business. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5325 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 34 of 91 10 July 2012 at 12:16am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Go ahead. Buy them. You know you want to. ;-) And there's no cheaper way to buy French books than during a trip to France. Seriously, translations of your favorite books are a quick way to build your vocabulary. And there's nothing wrong with owning French books you can't read yet—you'll be ready soon enough. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5184 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 35 of 91 10 July 2012 at 4:11am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Check out Gibert Jeune bookstore (or book megastore more like it) at Place Saint-Michel.
Facing the fountain the building to your left has all the literature, including a bunch of used stuff. On your right and up a little ways past the fountain is the language annex. You may need a whole new suitcase... 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4401 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 36 of 91 10 July 2012 at 11:23pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Took your advice emk. I hadn't thought of it that way, thanks! I now have 5 sci-fi books in French.
Met up with sctroyenne to have a little chat this afternoon. I have to say I was nervous as it was my first internet meet-up, but I enjoyed it. I'm leaving on Thursday. I packed my suitcase really well and it looks like I still have lots of room for books. I'll see where €14 can get me in Saint Michel. I'm really excited to get home and start studying again, being here has given me some good motivation. Any recommendations for cool things to see or do for free in Paris on my last day would be appreciated (not shops, we've seen many). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5184 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 37 of 91 11 July 2012 at 2:19am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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It was great meeting up and I can honestly say I was very impressed by your speaking
ability - certainly better than mine right after I finished high school French. For some great free views: the rooftop terraces of Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores (yeah, more stores but not for shopping), Parc de Saint-Cloud, Parc de Belleville and/or Parc de Buttes-Chaumont and around sunset/after dark the steps of Sacre-Coeur. For more parks that don't really have views but are really pretty: Jardin du Luxembourg (very close to Place Saint-Michel) and Parc Monceau. Also, hang out on the quais of the Seine, Pont des Arts, and another sunset option can be the Champ de Mars. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| FELlX Diglot Groupie France Joined 4563 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 38 of 91 11 July 2012 at 10:35am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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By this nice weather I'd also recommend going to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont with a great view over Paris.
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| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4401 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 39 of 91 12 July 2012 at 1:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Well, here I am, fairly sober after a night of drinking with my friends. Today we saw Montmartre (where we had some of the best ice cream ever) and did a lot of walking around Paris. We saw the quais which I loved, save the dirty river. I also went to the book store in Saint Michel where I got 3 more books. Final count: 15. I would have liked to have begun a new language journey there. Next time I return to Paris I will be ready.
Overall I really enjoyed my trip here. I didn't speak as much French as I wanted, mainly as a result of my friends, but it was still fun as a vacation and as a somewhat lingual trip too. I leave Paris in a few hours with the motivation and the tools to reach basic fluency and beyond. The journey starts tomorrow when I arrive home... if I don't fall asleep first. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4401 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 40 of 91 13 July 2012 at 8:50pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Today I restarted "study". I've read 15 pages of "Le grand cahier", which I really
enjoy. Its chapters are only about 2 pages long, but I really like the writing style and the story. It's already cool seeing how much easier reading is than when I started "L'étranger". I also did some vocab. exercises which felt really good to get back into. While in Paris I realised that I knew every essential word and a respectable amount of the less obvious ones. Now I can slowly improve that. I finally dove into Campus France today after doing a lot of reading on it. I contacted them and was directed to the American offshoot and I'm now waiting on an email reply back. The 2013-2014 procedure probably won't start until December, judging the dates on this year's one. I have some worries concerning if things will work out for me which I won't go into detail about here as I don't know everything. But really, why should I let them get me down even if they do pose a problem? I'm enjoying myself so much with French; I'll find a way to do what I want to do. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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