Obsolete sections of old language courses?

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Agorima
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Re: Obsolete sections of old language courses?

Postby Agorima » Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:19 pm

Today I am stumbling across a specific lesson about how to order at a restaurant, in a language learning book printed first in 2017, so it's not old as some courses mentioned in this thread.
But with the corona madness going on, this lesson could be already obsolete now, because the restaurants are at risk of being closed forever.
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Le Baron
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Re: Obsolete sections of old language courses?

Postby Le Baron » Wed Feb 10, 2021 11:09 pm

I just looked up this strange word 'restaurant'. Apparently you used to be able to go somewhere else, pay a person called a 'chef' to cook food for you and then eat it there with other strangers!

Wild.
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Re: Obsolete sections of old language courses?

Postby Cainntear » Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:36 am

David27 wrote:It’s not just the scenarios, but language patterns, how it’s structured and overall vocabulary that is needed to learn. The vast majority of the language used in those scenarios are still words, and the grammar is still the same, so even though you won’t find yourself in that identical position, the language will still be useful.

However, if the course has been built around situational dialogues, it's surely because the author of the course believes that's relatable scenarios are a necessary thing for a learner, and has structured the course around that concept. If they're wrong about that, why even bother with the course in the first place...?
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Re: Obsolete sections of old language courses?

Postby Le Baron » Tue Feb 16, 2021 4:48 pm

At the weekend I dug out an old Linguaphone French course I have in order to lend it to someone who has been pursuing French during lockdown. She asked for it. I've never used the course myself I just bought it very cheaply at a book market a few years ago. After I dug it out of the storage room I flipped through it to have a look at the content; it's the 1971 edition, one following a French-Canadian family who go to France.

I found this strange dialogue between the excessively surly son of the family and some family acquaintance:

They meet at the Eiffel Tower and he tells the endlessly bored and dissatisfied boy that there are things he can do in Paris, like e.g. visiting the sewers:

Monsieur Levoisin: Vous pouvez visiter les égouts.
Paul: Les égouts?
Monsieur Levoisin: Oui; nous pouvons les visiter ensemble.

He then explains how nasty and dark they are, with rats and a terrible smell. But after saying they could visit it together he immediately changes his mind with...

Monsieur Levoisin: Oh, pardon! Je ne peux pas vous accompagner cet après-midi. Ma femme m'attend a la maison.
Paul: Ça n'a pas d'importance.
Monsieur Levoisin: Je voudrais tellement pouvoir vous accompagner.

And then...

Paul: Tant pis, Monsieur Levoisin. Où se trouvent-ils, ces égouts?
Monsieur Levoisin: Ils sont assez loin d'ici: l’entrée est près de la statue de Lille, sur la place de la Concorde.
Paul: Oh, c'est loin!
Monsieur Levoisin: Mais non. La place de la Concorde est tout près. Vous avez besoin d'un plan.

So in an exchange of two sentences he says it's far away because the entrance is at the place de la Concorde, then when the boy agrees that it's far away, he immediately contradicts him and says it's not far away, but that the place de la Concorde is actually very close! And all he needs is a map.

It ends with him giving the boy 10 francs and advising him to buy a national lottery ticket. :lol:

I listened to the audio to see if I'd missed any tonal nuances indicating he was joking or didn't expect the boy to agree to visit the sewers and had to make an excuse, but no. I find it a bizarre dialogue and I wonder if someone following the course would be puzzled by it since you have enough bother trying to learn without being led astray by incoherent scenarios. I now wonder if it's wise to let the young lady leave with this course.
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Re: Obsolete sections of old language courses?

Postby ilmari » Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:20 am

They meet at the Eiffel Tower and he tells the endlessly bored and dissatisfied boy that there are things he can do in Paris, like e.g. visiting the sewers

Today you can visit the Musée des égouts: https://www.paris.fr/equipements/musee-des-egouts-5059
ּBut you will have to wait until it reopens, Covid oblige...

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71499/Musee-des-egouts-de-Paris:
You can follow the history of the sewers, from the days of Lutèce to the present day, through a 500m underground path. A unique way to discover Paris, an exhibition showing the water cycle in Paris and its history. Numerous models and machines used in the past as well as today.
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