Language patzer, French

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Language patzer
Yellow Belt
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Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
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Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:29 am

I have finished the 13th lesson out of 26, of Hugo's book (exercises included of course). It goes on smoothly, and soon it will be done. I expect a solid grammar review out of this, as well as the beginning of writing practice .

I have to think about what I will do after that. I know it all began with FSI, but since then I discoverd the Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises, which is 4 dense manuals of wonderful things. I read the introduction and this method corresponds exactly with how and why I want to learn French. It's as if I ordered it myself. It is not only about language (the full language experience, no holding back), but also about culture and litterature. I mean, it's perfect. But it is not quick (understatement...), and I don't know how long it takes for you to achieve oral fluency.

Which forces me to seriously rethink about my goals. Why did I begin studying French again? Is it to get a C2 diploma? Is it to visit France and amaze everyone with my dialogue? Is it to deeply learn french, and unlock an entire culture? All of it? And how much time am I willing to give myself in order to get to whatever goal?

Right now here is the answer. I want everything, the fluency, the culture, the deep knowledge, the works. If I ever get there, I'll take the test. I am willing to study as long as it takes, because I am really enjoying the ride. At the very least I will be able to keep a journal that nobody in my home car read :lol:

You know, I don't think there is another language that will have me so involved. I want to learn german and italian as well, but assimil will do for them.

So, after my grammar revision, Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises it is, as long as it takes. Yes, I will be reading books, watching films, listening to songs and complementing my learning with everything I can, but I will use that manual as the basis. I am so happy I found it!
4 x
Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished

Language patzer
Yellow Belt
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 am
Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
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Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Sat Dec 12, 2020 7:50 am

Sadly my reports are boring. Still on the Hugo's book, so untill it's done I will not mention it again. It gets more difficult as you move on, but that's fine.

As for the Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises, I took a closer look at it and it is indeed waht I need right now. I also found some more info on it here on the forum, which was great.

I am fighting with wanderlust as we speek, where italian, spanish and german keep trying to squeeze in my schedule. Of course it's not happening right now. If and when I ever feel I am walking on solid ground with french, then maybe I'll see about italian....
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Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
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Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Language patzer, French

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:28 pm

You say you found Hugo online at archive.org? What title exactly did you look for? I am following your progress with the book, and am tempted :)
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

Language patzer
Yellow Belt
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 am
Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
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Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Mon Dec 14, 2020 7:27 am

Here are the lnks

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.135984/page/n21/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.212214/page/n5/mode/2up

One is the grammar and the second the exercises.

They are old but french hasn't really changed much. I am not sure with how many languages you can get away with such old textbooks.

Thank you for your support!
Last edited by Language patzer on Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished

User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Language patzer, French

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:48 pm

Language patzer wrote:Here are the lnks

One is the grammar and the second the excercises.

They are old but french hasn't really changed much. I am not sure with how many languages you can get away with such old textbooks.


Thanks a lot for the links. I appreciate them because on my own I just could not find them.
I agree French has not changed all that much. :)
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

Language patzer
Yellow Belt
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 am
Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
x 208

Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:22 am

I confess I haven't studied in three days.

That's not good, so I write it here to shame myself and decide to do some work!
3 x
Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished

Language patzer
Yellow Belt
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 am
Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
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Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:28 am

I continue my revision studying, so untill I finish the Hugo books I will not update again, because there is no point.

At this rate I will finish a little after Christmas, and then I will finally be able to really start with my french! I really hope that I will feel a bit more confident soon.

I saw a bbc comedy series, upstart crow, and I loved it. It reminded me of Blackadder, and it is all about Shakespeare. It was great fun and quite challenging as far as language is concerned. I recommend it!
2 x
Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished

Language patzer
Yellow Belt
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 am
Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
x 208

Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Wed Dec 30, 2020 7:06 am

Still continuing with that old Hugo's book! Slower than I calculated but always motivated!

I think I solved the problem of audio practice, since my chosen next course ( Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises) doesn't really provide adequate audio. I think that french in action will do just fine. I expect it to be boring but it's ok.

I bought a beautiful notebook that will become my french journal for 2021, to write about everything in it. Mainly I will try to use all new vocabulary and grammar.

The truth is prefer longhand in french, as the accents are so painful to find on the keyboard. I am not used to them yet!
4 x
Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished

Language patzer
Yellow Belt
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 am
Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
x 208

Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Sat Jan 02, 2021 6:31 am

I finished Hugo's book. I admit that I didn't do all the exercises, and that the subjonctif chapters I only simply read, but it's done.

I am already at the 12th chapter of Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises, and that goes very smoothly. Of course these first chapters are really easy, that's why they fly by. The grammar is elementary, although I have brushed up on quite a few words. Let's see how long I can keep this pace!
4 x
Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished

Language patzer
Yellow Belt
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 am
Languages: Greek native, English C2, French B2
x 208

Re: Language patzer, French

Postby Language patzer » Fri Jan 08, 2021 6:41 am

I am going through the wandelust trap here. I haven't really made any progress in french, apart from writing (with a trembling hand) in my journal, and watching a lot of french tv.

Instead

I found a book about turkish called Yunanlılar için Türkçe-ΤΟΥΡΚΙΚΑ ΓΙΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΕΣ, which is so well written that I started reading and without sweating I finished a couple of chapters. I actually learned the harmony of vowels without even trying, as well as other things. I don't plan on learning turkish, in fact right now I don't feel like studying it at all. But this is such an easy and comfortable book...

I suppose, since french for me is mostly a big revision, there might be room for one more, completely different language. It feels doable. Right?

No?

Am I doing it again, complicating things?
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Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaises
Book 1, finished


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