Carmody's Log for French
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:09 am
Carmody's Log
Background
• 3 yrs of French in high school
• This past sept. – dec. night school with my wife at a continuing ed course.
• 5 years of twice daily taichi private practice and weekly classes have taught me to learn how to relax and learn a discipline. I hope to apply that knowledge here. As a young high school student, tension and fear often got in the way of my learning and enjoyment of the French language.
• I used to think I was pretty good at self-discipline but reading people’s logs suggests to me that I don’t know the meaning of those words. I am very impressed by people’s dedication and learning process here.
• Since I am retired, I have hopes of applying as much time as possible to this language effort but my wk outs at the gym, 2x’s day taichi practice, and daily chores mean that my time will not be limitless.
• My goal is very different from many on this website in that I am really only interested in learning French. While many people here are true polyglots and I respect that skill set greatly, I am at this point only interested in learning French.
Current
1. I realize the importance of quantifying what I do and what my goals are. The SMART methodology is useful to help with that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria
2. Also reviewing the methodologies of different members here is helping me on those issues.
3. My current daily study schedule is as follows:
......a. 45 mins. reading of the online French newspapers
...........i. During this time I do vocabulary bldg. based on the words that I find in the newspapers such as Le Figaro, Le Monde, etc.
............ii. I am using Quizlet for my flash cards plus the use of an Excel spreadsheet.
......b. 45 mins. on grammar built from multiple sources such as the U. of Texas, the book French Verbs and Essentials of Grammar by Simon Oudot, etc.
......c. I also listen to French newscasts or French audio books in the background while I work. After a month of doing this on a regular basis it is helping greatly to “loosen up” my ear and increase my comprehension
......d. I don’t recommend the “immersion plus French” cds for numerous reasons, one of those reasons being that it is too elementary for anyone here.
My learning methodology is hopefully an evolving one. I start out with what I have at the moment and build from there based on what works. Everyone works differently and I need to evolve the most efficient methodology for me.
My reading of Fluent in 3months was a very interesting experience and I learned a lot from it. In fact I am learning a lot from everyone here and as a newcomer see the need to apply myself with more vigor.
Future
• Duolingo- I have been on this a couple of times but will hopefully start a daily regimen of this.
• In March my wife and I look forward to attending Alliance Française and starting with the A1 level and hopefully by this time next year being at B1.
• I hope to build a skill base and from there apply it in both lang-8 and itaki. I have done 3-4 initial essays on lang-8 but need to find someone there to really work with long term.
............Obviously this will require me to Skype so I am looking now for the best Skype hardware and s/w for that purpose.
• I also hope to make my learning of French an enjoyable journey with an enjoyable goal. I don’t want to beat myself up on this as to unrealistic time frames and goals. While time frames and goals can help me, I don’t want to turn it into drudge work although hard work will of course be part of the journey.
Background
• 3 yrs of French in high school
• This past sept. – dec. night school with my wife at a continuing ed course.
• 5 years of twice daily taichi private practice and weekly classes have taught me to learn how to relax and learn a discipline. I hope to apply that knowledge here. As a young high school student, tension and fear often got in the way of my learning and enjoyment of the French language.
• I used to think I was pretty good at self-discipline but reading people’s logs suggests to me that I don’t know the meaning of those words. I am very impressed by people’s dedication and learning process here.
• Since I am retired, I have hopes of applying as much time as possible to this language effort but my wk outs at the gym, 2x’s day taichi practice, and daily chores mean that my time will not be limitless.
• My goal is very different from many on this website in that I am really only interested in learning French. While many people here are true polyglots and I respect that skill set greatly, I am at this point only interested in learning French.
Current
1. I realize the importance of quantifying what I do and what my goals are. The SMART methodology is useful to help with that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria
2. Also reviewing the methodologies of different members here is helping me on those issues.
3. My current daily study schedule is as follows:
......a. 45 mins. reading of the online French newspapers
...........i. During this time I do vocabulary bldg. based on the words that I find in the newspapers such as Le Figaro, Le Monde, etc.
............ii. I am using Quizlet for my flash cards plus the use of an Excel spreadsheet.
......b. 45 mins. on grammar built from multiple sources such as the U. of Texas, the book French Verbs and Essentials of Grammar by Simon Oudot, etc.
......c. I also listen to French newscasts or French audio books in the background while I work. After a month of doing this on a regular basis it is helping greatly to “loosen up” my ear and increase my comprehension
......d. I don’t recommend the “immersion plus French” cds for numerous reasons, one of those reasons being that it is too elementary for anyone here.
My learning methodology is hopefully an evolving one. I start out with what I have at the moment and build from there based on what works. Everyone works differently and I need to evolve the most efficient methodology for me.
My reading of Fluent in 3months was a very interesting experience and I learned a lot from it. In fact I am learning a lot from everyone here and as a newcomer see the need to apply myself with more vigor.
Future
• Duolingo- I have been on this a couple of times but will hopefully start a daily regimen of this.
• In March my wife and I look forward to attending Alliance Française and starting with the A1 level and hopefully by this time next year being at B1.
• I hope to build a skill base and from there apply it in both lang-8 and itaki. I have done 3-4 initial essays on lang-8 but need to find someone there to really work with long term.
............Obviously this will require me to Skype so I am looking now for the best Skype hardware and s/w for that purpose.
• I also hope to make my learning of French an enjoyable journey with an enjoyable goal. I don’t want to beat myself up on this as to unrealistic time frames and goals. While time frames and goals can help me, I don’t want to turn it into drudge work although hard work will of course be part of the journey.