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My Adventures in French (TAC15) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Mohave Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Mohave1 Joined 3813 days ago 291 posts - 444 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 17 of 163 15 January 2014 at 2:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have finalized travel plans to Guadeloupe (Caribbean island) in March and to Belgium this fall!!! Two
opportunities that really give me focus on goals on studying my French. For Guadeloupe, I will have completed the passive wave in FWT and have about 30 days left in the active way. So I have 60-70 days to really focus before I leave. Already, I have traded emails in French to ask questions/firm up arrangements, etc. Its nice to know that while far from perfect, I can accomplish basic business transactions in writing and be understood. I really need to focus on speaking though. I can sit down and have a relatively decent conversation (for me) one day and then the next, stumble all over my self!!! This weeks efforts: I have completed through FWT lesson 102 (passive) and lesson 46 (active). A few interesting points from this week: - user quelque chose: to wear something out - user de quelque chose: to make use of something - douter de quelque chose: to Doubt something - se douter de quelque chose: to suspect something Savez-vous nager ? : can you or do you Know how to swim? - il sait jouer du violon: he can play the violin - il peut jouer: he is allowed to play/he may play Language Exchange: I have two Skype sessions this past week, and went to my "meet-up" at the library. After having a six-week break during the holidays of having regular language exchanges, I am really fumbling around!!! My partners are the best suffering through my French! I continue to trade several emails each week. Engrenages with English subtitles: I watched five episodes this week. I maybe get 33% of the French. The speech is fast with a lot of slang and legal words. I am going to complete the few episodes I have left in season 4 and then re-watch this fall. This has been my favorite French show/film that I have watched so far. OSS17: I watched half of this film so far with English subtitles. I'll save my thoughts until I complete the whole film. 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 18 of 163 15 January 2014 at 10:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's great news! Such awesome travel opportunities! Are ou going on your own or with friends or family? Taking your loved ones can be a lot of fun but sometimes, it is more of an adventure and better speaking opportunity when you are alone.
Engrenages is an awesome show but it is quite a difficult one. I usually have no trouble and understand as comfortably in French as in Czech or English but there are moments when I miss a few details here and there and, in general, it is noticeably more demanding to watch Engrenages than any other show I have watched so far (including others originally in French). As long as I keep focused, I am fine. So, I see your 33% as a great result! It won't take long before you are at much higher % in Engrenages and you should already have a much higher % in easier shows. Thanks for the inspiration, I think I'm going to introduce something like "curiosities of the day" part in my log as well :-) 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 19 of 163 16 January 2014 at 12:03am | IP Logged | ||
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@Cavesa. Thanks so much for stopping by my log and for your encouragement, For both trips, my husband
(who does not speak French) will be with me. I am a little worried that I may feel the need to speak English when he is with me, but he has also been very supportive of my language learning adventure. I love Engrenages and can't wait for season 5 to be available! Hopefully by then, maybe I will be able to watch without subtitles! Edit: I should note that I just attempted to watch an Engrenages without subtitles, and fell flat on my face!!!! I only understood the slow, clear dialogue, which are few and far between! Oh well, off to study some more! Edited by Mohave on 16 January 2014 at 7:10pm 1 person has 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 20 of 163 21 January 2014 at 12:49am | IP Logged | ||
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Hey Mohave,
Guadeloupe, ça c'est très intéressant! C'est une île qui m'intéresse beaucoup. J'espère que ça sera un bon voyage là-bas pour vous.. Engrenages, je n'ai jamais entendu parler de cette série jusqu'à BonnVivante en a parlé (je ne lis tous les posts sur HTLAL). Alors je l'ai commandé et maintenant je l'attends. Eh bien, bonne chance avec vos études! Et merci aussi pour votre message sur mon log Petermollenburg 2 persons have 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 21 of 163 21 January 2014 at 2:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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Vous vs Tu
I had an interesting exchange with a language partner from France last week on the usage of "vous" vs "tu". To set the stage, this was the second language exchange on Skype I had had with this particular gentleman. He is also very focused on his language goals. We are both in our late 40s and get on well. We start off the language exchange in French, and in the first five minutes, he very directly asked me why I was using "vous" with him instead of "tu". I explained that I had met him once previously, and that I understood the "vous" form was correct in this instance and indicated I was showing respect, being polite, etc. He told me that, in this case (language exchange) I was incorrect, that I was creating "distance" by using "vous", and to use "tu". I was frankly quite surprised by this exchange as I always thought I would be called on the carpet for using "tu" inappropriately, and not "vous"!!!! I did speak to my québécoise language partner that I have been working with since October the next day about this. She was a little surprised someone would ask why I was using "vous" at a second meeting, and just didn't handle this by using "on peut se tutoyer?" Any other experiences with "vous" vs "tu" at the wrong time? Do you use "vous" or "tu" with your language exchange partners? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4164 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 22 of 163 21 January 2014 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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There is nothing like a future trip to make you learn! Have a great time, and tell us your impressions!
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5338 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 23 of 163 21 January 2014 at 5:55pm | IP Logged | ||
OK, this advice is intended mostly for North Americans, and it's not 100% correct. Let's imagine that you're speaking to a man named James Smith: "tu" = "James" "vous" = "Mr. Smith" This will give you the right answer much of the time: 1. Children generally refer to adults as Mr/Ms/vous. 2. Adults normally refer to children as first name/tu. 3. Most people refer to their friends as first name/tu, unless they're weirdly formal. 4. Most polite people refer to adult strangers as Mr/Ms/vous. 5. There are huge geographical and situational grey areas. Overall, the French use vous in more situations than people in the US use Mr/Ms. 6. Some people will be really upset if you call them first name/tu. "Excuse me, but who the hell are you?" 7. A few people will be upset if you call them Mr/Ms/vous. "Oh, that's much too formal!" Better to default to "vous" if there's any doubt, and apologize if you run into somebody who's aggressively friendly. What about the exceptions? 1. "Tu" is almost always the default online. Laurent Joffrin recently got upset about being referred to as "tu" online, and it got a little messy (more here). 2. Topito has a hilarious discussion of the subject, including what to do when in prison, when studying aromapathy, or the morning after a one-night stand. 3. Quebec tends much more heavily towards "tu" than France. 4. According to Assimil Business French, there's old tradition of using "tu" with people who went to the same university, regardless of age or relative position. But apparently it's complicated. Anyway, I hope that helps, or at least amuses you. :-) 4 persons have 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 24 of 163 22 January 2014 at 12:56am | IP Logged | ||
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@emk -- This is the BEST, and most useful, explanation I have come across on this subject! I don't know if
there is a way to do a sticky or a wiki page with this info, but I find it enormously helpful, and believe it would help others. I also really enjoyed the links!!! Thanks so very much! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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