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My Adventures in French (TAC15)

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shk00design
Triglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 4250 days ago

747 posts - 1123 votes 
Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin
Studies: French

 
 Message 65 of 163
18 June 2014 at 1:51am | IP Logged 
Found some sample videos on YouTube from Francais Authentique. Don't know how advance your
level is. Recently started listening to this guy talk in French.
1 person has voted this message useful



Mohave
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Mohave1
Joined 3813 days ago

291 posts - 444 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 66 of 163
18 June 2014 at 4:07am | IP Logged 
shk00deaign - Thanks for dropping by my log! I really enjoy Français Authentique podcasts, and I didn't
realize there was videos in this series! Thanks! For some reason, I started having a higher level of
comprehension earlier with these podcasts over others. I particularly enjoy the older podcasts from about a
year ago, and I particularly enjoy his explanations of French idioms. I lost the address, but perhaps you can
find it through google (or if I can find it, I will link back to it here), but fans of his transcribed the podcasts so
there are transcripts available for numerous of the older episodes that you can read while you listen. I also
really enjoy One Thing in A French Day, recommended by emk. I find this podcast a little more difficult, the
pace is faster, but it is very enjoyable!
1 person has voted this message useful



Mohave
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Mohave1
Joined 3813 days ago

291 posts - 444 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 67 of 163
18 June 2014 at 4:54am | IP Logged 
A quick update on what I have completed this week
- 7 FWT active lessons, completing thru Leçon 115 of 140
- 3 Pimsleur lessons, completing thru Leçon 26
- 2 FIA (31/32)
- 3 language exchange sessions on Skype for a total of 12 this month
- Approx 80 pages of Super Challenge Reading

Films
- Les Choristes Set in 1948, a professor of music, Clement Mathieu, becomes the supervisor at a
boarding school for the rehabilitation for minors. What he discovers disconcerts him -- the current situation is
repressive. Through the power of song, Clement tries to transform the students.   An excellent movie!

Extr@ French Episode 1. This series is designed for language learners, and is a "Friends" sitcom style
series. I was able to watch/follow it the first time I watched it just a few months after I started learning French.
I'm watching a second time to gauge improvement.   Also available for German, English, and Spanish, and
there are transcripts available. Available on YouTube

Some interesting vocabulary this week:
Être soupe au lait: to be quick-tempered
Raser:to shave and also to bore
Attendre quelque chose: to waiting for something, but s'attendre à quelque chose:to expect something

Also, two iOS apps that I have found useful:
1) Flashcards Deluxe I didn't want to spend $25 on the iOS Anki app having never used a flashcard
app before, and primarily using an iPad vs a computer, I had never gotten into a routine of using Anki.
PeterMollenburg recommended this Flashcards Deluxe, and I LOVE it! Using it for less than a week, it is
already making a difference in memorization of vocabulary. It's easy to make a deck, or import decks from
Quizlet, Cram or Anki. Also, there is text to speech capability, and you go reverse a deck and keep separate
statistics.

2) French Reader   French Reader has the ability to read PDF, non-DRM epubs, doc, among others
file types. It has a French-English dictionary, French-French dictionary, and the ability to link to Google
Translate to translate sentences, etc. However, this feature is also somewhat annoying as you have to enter
a captiva code. How I most use this app is to read news articles, etc. I use an App such that converts .html
files to PDF and then open it in French Reader. For example, I was able to read this very interesting article
given to me by my exchange partner, but clearly above my level.

Edited by Mohave on 18 June 2014 at 4:56am

2 persons have voted this message useful



PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5282 days ago

821 posts - 1273 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 68 of 163
20 June 2014 at 7:13am | IP Logged 
Mohave wrote:
A quick update on what I have completed this week
- 7 FWT active lessons, completing thru Leçon 115 of 140
- 3 Pimsleur lessons, completing thru Leçon 26
- 2 FIA (31/32)
- 3 language exchange sessions on Skype for a total of 12 this month
- Approx 80 pages of Super Challenge Reading

Films
- Les Choristes Set in 1948, a professor of music, Clement Mathieu, becomes the
supervisor at a
boarding school for the rehabilitation for minors. What he discovers disconcerts him --
the current situation is
repressive. Through the power of song, Clement tries to transform the students.   An
excellent movie!

Extr@ French Episode 1. This series is designed for language learners, and is a
"Friends" sitcom style
series. I was able to watch/follow it the first time I watched it just a few months
after I started learning French.
I'm watching a second time to gauge improvement.   Also available for German, English,
and Spanish, and
there are transcripts available. Available on YouTube

Some interesting vocabulary this week:
Être soupe au lait: to be quick-tempered
Raser:to shave and also to bore
Attendre quelque chose: to waiting for something, but s'attendre à quelque chose:to
expect something

Also, two iOS apps that I have found useful:
1) Flashcards Deluxe I didn't want to spend $25 on the iOS Anki app having
never used a flashcard
app before, and primarily using an iPad vs a computer, I had never gotten into a
routine of using Anki.
PeterMollenburg recommended this Flashcards Deluxe, and I LOVE it! Using it for less
than a week, it is
already making a difference in memorization of vocabulary. It's easy to make a deck,
or import decks from
Quizlet, Cram or Anki. Also, there is text to speech capability, and you go reverse a
deck and keep separate
statistics.

2) French Reader   French Reader has the ability to read PDF, non-DRM epubs,
doc, among others
file types. It has a French-English dictionary, French-French dictionary, and the
ability to link to Google
Translate to translate sentences, etc. However, this feature is also somewhat annoying
as you have to enter
a captiva code. How I most use this app is to read news articles, etc. I use an App
such that converts .html
files to PDF and then open it in French Reader. For example, I was able to read this
very interesting article
given to me by my exchange partner, but clearly above my level.


Wow you're doing well with FIA to get that far. I can't remember tho, are you using the
workbook & texbooks? (I asked the same of Jeffers).

I remember watching Extr@ German and French versions. How is the quality via youtube?
Transcripts easy to find? I endeavour to watch it some day.

Pretty much all your 'interesting vocabularly' entries are new to me. Wow, show's how
much I've still yet to learn despite the rediculous amount of flashcards I now have in
my deck.

All in all like I said to Jeffers today also, you're doing a great job Mohave, keep up
the good work!
1 person has voted this message useful



Mohave
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Mohave1
Joined 3813 days ago

291 posts - 444 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 69 of 163
25 June 2014 at 2:35am | IP Logged 
Hi PeterMollenburg,

Thanks for stopping by my Log, and the kind words. As For FIA, It started off as a primary learning source,
but is now a secondary source. I am watching the videos and I have the textbooks only. I wish I had the
audios, but I haven't found them within my budget!   But FIA has sure made a difference in my listening
comprehension. I started watching each video initially four times, but now generally watch each one twice;
once without the transcript and once with the transcript. I am planning to do a second wave, particularly with
the first 15-20 lessons where my listening comprehension was not as great.

Transcripts for Extr@ French Episode 1 can be found here:
http://www.channel4learning.com/support/programmenotes/netno tes/section/sectionid100665572.htm.

BTW, I really do like your Flashcards Deluxe App. In one week, I can already tell a difference! Thanks again.

-------------------------
Update: on the quality of the Extr@ French YouTube videos, it depends on which upload you use. Some are
fine and some are of a poor quality. As I re-watch this series for the Super Challenge, I will keep track on my
log of the better quality ones.

Edited by Mohave on 25 June 2014 at 1:26pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Mohave
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Mohave1
Joined 3813 days ago

291 posts - 444 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 70 of 163
25 June 2014 at 2:24pm | IP Logged 
A quick update on what I have completed this week
- 7 FWT active lessons, completing thru Leçon 122 of 140
- Completed Pimsleur II this week (Yeah for Me!) and started Pimsleur III
- Completed FIA thru Leçon 34
- 6 language exchange sessions on Skype for a total of 22 this month (includes meet-up)
- Approx 125 pages this week of Super Challenge Reading completing Percy Jackson/Le Voleur de
Foudre/Tome1

Book
Albert Camus,"L’étranger" I decided that I wanted to try to read French literature instead of so many of the
children's books I have been reading. This book is short, and is a classic in American schools as one of the
first literary reads in French class.

Films
La Fée (Netflix US streaming catalog). -- Do Not Recommend. I didn't enjoy this movie at all -- it is 90 minutes
of my life I will never get back. I only counted 45 of the 90 minutes for the Super Challege because of lack of
dialogue. The only plus was that I had good comprehension.

Vocabulary
I have averaged 30 min/day with Flashcards Deluxe. Some new vocabulary for the week:
Faillir (Only used in the past participle) + infinitive: means "to very nearly do something"
E.g. il a failli mourir: he very nearly died

Faillir à + noun: means "to fail in/at" or "to fail to keep":
E.g.,    Il a failli à sa parole: He failed to keep his word.

Fluent in 3 Months Benny Lewis
I am about 1/2 way through FI3M, and found it to be a worthwhile read. While so much of the advice is not
necessarily new because of all that I have picked up from our experts here at HTAL, there was a couple of
things that resonated with me. As an example, Benny suggested "Mini-Missions". This has inspired
me to focus on some of my long-standing grammar issues, that frankly, I should have addressed ages ago.   
One of my most frequent issues is the incorrect use of c'est vs il/elle est. Here is the best (and most straight
forward) explanation I have found: http://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/cest-versus-il-elle-est. A Mini-Mission of
a few short sessions/exercises fixed this up! Next weeks Mini-Mission: connaître vs savoir. I think I have this
down, but I want to do some focused drills to make sure I do.


Edited by Mohave on 25 June 2014 at 2:27pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Mohave
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Mohave1
Joined 3813 days ago

291 posts - 444 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 71 of 163
02 July 2014 at 2:15am | IP Logged 
Another month completed and here is my summary of my studies in French.

1)   FWT: I have 13 active lessons left! I can't wait to finish FWT! I can see myself doing some sort of
third wave down the road on the later lessons. The last 30-40 lessons are demanding, long and tough, but
easier to get through this wave.
2)   FIA: completed 4 lessons this months. I had planned to complete more.
3) Pimsleur II. Completed. I really enjoyed the later lessons in Pimsleur II, especially lesson 24
working on "y", "en", and savoir vs connaitre. Good drills!
4)   Language Exchange/Meet-ups: I completed 25 sessions.
5) Super Challenge Reading for June/Total To-Date. 390 pages in June or 7.8 book units/896 pages
total, or 17.9 book units
6)   Super Challenge Watching/Listening for June/Total to Date: 559 minutes or 6.2 film units in
June/9.7 film units total

Here is my Super Challenge Graph (I hope I did this right!):
: Here is the link
until I can figure out how to post the image:
http://www.languagechallenge.surrealix.com/participant.php?u sername=MLuvs2Travel

Some fun Québécois/French idioms from one of my language exchange partners:
- tomber dans les pommes (France)/cerises (Quebec): to faint/to pass out
- Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours de l'avoir tué: equivalent to the expression don't count your chicken a
before they hatch
- Avoir plusiers cordes à son arc:To have several strings to your bows; to be multi-talented
- C'est une histoire dormir debout tellement: non-sense/fairy tale

Update: Based on commenta from Arnaud25, I have made some slight edits to show that these idioms are
used in France, as well as Quebec. Also, the French use tomber dans les pommes (not cerises).

Edited by Mohave on 03 July 2014 at 2:25am

1 person has voted this message useful



Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 4815 days ago

3277 posts - 6779 votes 
Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

 
 Message 72 of 163
02 July 2014 at 6:20pm | IP Logged 
I liked La fée. :-D I saw it at the french film festival in Prague a few years ago and warched it once more later.

Great progress, you're obviously on the right path.

Do you like Camus? The book is a classics and always in schools but you haven't said anything about your
feelings towards i. If you like it, it is a great choice. If you are not that excited about it, leave the realm of the
usual school books and dive in the paradise of BDs and light genres ;-)


1 person has voted this message useful



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