Carmody's Log for French

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Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
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Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby Carmody » Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:47 pm

Also a source I forgot to mention that may be of use to us A1-A2 folk is l-avis-de-marie-f
http://www.podclub.ch/fr/emissions/l-avis-de-marie-f

Ok, it says it is B2, but for us beginners it still has some big things going for it:

1- There is the dictée and the transcript, with vocab lists at the back.
2- There is the style and enthusiasm of the writer
3- Most important of all, it is an on-going story of a young woman from a very provincial town in France as she lives her life, takes tests to be a teacher, travels the world, and gets married. She is one very gutsy young woman.

One of our members, Fortheo, mentioned this person or I would not have known about her. Thanks Fortheo.
3 x

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smallwhite
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Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Native: Cantonese;
Good: English, French, Spanish, Italian;
Mediocre: Mandarin, German, Swedish, Dutch.
.
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Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby smallwhite » Fri Dec 22, 2017 11:32 am

Carmody wrote:
I rate myself an A1 level speaker and really want to get to a B1 level.

smallwhite wrote:
Can you give 10 different examples of sentences in English that you wanted to but could not say in French, and that are A2 and B1?

Carmody wrote:
Did I answer the question? I am not sure.

I was wondering why you think there is a gap between your current level (A1?) and your target level (B1?), and what that gap consists of. I imagine there are things that you have tried to say, but couldn't. And I wanted to see what those things were; I wanted to see 10 examples of them.

For example, I was imagining a dialogue in Greek just now, but I didn't know how to express "the tap is leaking / the tap is running without stop". That's one example of what I've wanted to but could not say in Greek. With more examples, we can analyse
* am I really A1
* are my expectations really B1
* what is the gap between me and my expectaions
* and thus how to close that gap.
5 x
Dialang or it didn't happen.

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Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
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Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby Carmody » Fri Dec 22, 2017 3:00 pm

Rick
I had not heard those suggestions before; thank you very much for them both. Will implement them immediately.

smallwhite
Thank you for your very discerning question. At the moment I would say in general that my limited vocabulary, pronunciation, and Slow Speed of delivery are horribly embarrassing. But you asked for 10 specific examples and I will get to work on answering.

In fact everyone's advice seems very useful and I am grateful and of course need to apply it all in practice.
I can't believe how patient you folks are with beginners like myself. In fact you are one very empowering and enabling collection of people. You actually show me how to dig my own well so I can draw my own water. I am so fortunate to have you out there.

As a footnote to this discussion of my language skills, I have a Pen Pal/Skype Pal who sent me the following note this morning.(I have about 3 Pen Pals and a couple of Skype Pals.) She is a teacher of French literature at the high school level in Strasbourg, France and we correspond at considerable length on French literature. (Note: in her email she refers to a book entitled Mercure by Amélie Nothomb that we are discussing.)
Marie-Claude Fri 22 December 2017 - 00:01
Bonjour,

Merci pour cette belle lettre !
Je serai brève ce matin car,pour utiliser la métaphore, j'ai encore quelque chose sur le feu. Je veux dire que je dois finir quelques corrections et remettre un travail à mes lycéens aujourd'hui en fin de matinée. Ensuite, je dois aller chercher des cadeaux pour mes amis et, enfin, décorer mon sapin.

Je t'écrirai donc plus longuement la semaine prochaine après le réveillon de Noël et pourrai alors te faire partager ma relecture de Mercure.

Je dirais simplement aujourd'hui que tu ne dois pas être si modeste par rapport à la langue française et que tu as beaucoup de qualités dans ce domaine.

A très bientôt et passe de bonnes fêtes !
2 x

humerusthings
Orange Belt
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:40 am
Languages: English (N), Chinese (GCSE A levels), Korean (~A2?), French (A1), German (Beginner), Icelandic (Beginner).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7372
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Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby humerusthings » Fri Dec 22, 2017 4:23 pm

Hi Carmody,

I just found your log and it is very inspiring! Especially the part where you studied >800 hours of french!

Having taken a few lessons on italki myself, I think Italki would be really good for your goal of improving towards the B1 level! (the rate limiting factor being that it's expensive). It helps tremendously even for a near-complete beginner like myself, even though I did feel quite embarrassed when I dont understand the teacher well, haha. So don't give up!

Just curious, did you go for the Alliance Francaise class after all and how was it? Did you find it better to learn in a class situation or by yourself at your own pace at home?

And lastly, would like to thank you for this link below, which I found really useful!! :)
Carmody wrote:Also a source I forgot to mention that may be of use to us A1-A2 folk is l-avis-de-marie-f
http://www.podclub.ch/fr/emissions/l-avis-de-marie-f
1 x
: 19 / 40 Coffee Break French S3
: 88 / 113 Assimil French With Ease
: 3 / 16 Easy French Step by Step
: 33 / 100 Assimil German With Ease
: 4 / 20 Easy German Step by Step

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby Carmody » Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:30 pm

humerusthings » Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:23 am
Hi Carmody,

I just found your log and it is very inspiring! Especially the part where you studied >800 hours of french!

Having taken a few lessons on italki myself, I think Italki would be really good for your goal of improving towards the B1 level! (the rate limiting factor being that it's expensive). It helps tremendously even for a near-complete beginner like myself, even though I did feel quite embarrassed when I dont understand the teacher well, haha. So don't give up!

Just curious, did you go for the Alliance Francaise class after all and how was it? Did you find it better to learn in a class situation or by yourself at your own pace at home?

And lastly, would like to thank you for this link below, which I found really useful!! :)

Carmody wrote:
Also a source I forgot to mention that may be of use to us A1-A2 folk is l-avis-de-marie-f
http://www.podclub.ch/fr/emissions/l-avis-de-marie-f
humerusthings

Thanks for the note.

1-The 800 hrs. is not a big deal when you think of Peter Mollenburg doing 1000 hrs. last year. But I do what I can. I guess the big thing is not just quantity of time but quality of how it is spent. And the people on the Forum are helping me to be more efficient with studying more effectively.

2-I never went for the Alliance Francaise class after all. It is too far away, pretty expensive, and expensive parking. I also tense up in classroom situations and don't do well.

3-Are you studying French? What level are you?

4-l-avis-de-marie-f is a real gift to learners like me who wish to follow her journey. You get storyline, real life incidents, and a certain joie de vivre which is very endearing.

5-Welcome to the Forum. :)
0 x

humerusthings
Orange Belt
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:40 am
Languages: English (N), Chinese (GCSE A levels), Korean (~A2?), French (A1), German (Beginner), Icelandic (Beginner).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7372
x 238

Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby humerusthings » Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:43 pm

Carmody wrote:Are you studying French? What level are you?


Hi Carmody,

Thank you!

I'm just a beginner in French actually! Probably around A1. I started off a few months ago with Duolingo and Coffee Break French until I found this forum and Assimil French! I actually wanted to join AF classes in my country but I can't due to time commitments and also cost. But I think thanks to this forum and all the various resources I'll have plenty other ways to learn other than formal classes luckily ;p
0 x
: 19 / 40 Coffee Break French S3
: 88 / 113 Assimil French With Ease
: 3 / 16 Easy French Step by Step
: 33 / 100 Assimil German With Ease
: 4 / 20 Easy German Step by Step

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby Carmody » Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:51 pm

The people here are a tremendous resource.

What country are you from?
0 x

rlnv
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Posts: 228
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:07 pm
Languages: English
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Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby rlnv » Fri Dec 22, 2017 11:40 pm

Hi Carmody. I just wanted to stop in and congratulate you on your good and steady progress. It looks like you have a good balanced approach and those Skype sessions and pen pals will probably really help to round things out for you. Best of luck on your continued progress in 2018!

You've been racking up an increasingly long list of French books. I enjoy reading fiction myself and it is very satisfying to do so in French. You mentioned in a previous post that you were open to reading suggestions. Looking at your list, I wonder if you might be interested in a book by Marie-Bernadette Dupuy called Le chant de l'océan. I read it and found it absolutely exceptional. A bit melancholy, a bit sad, definitely very heart warming. The author has a way of transporting the reader into another space and time, unlike any other I've read. Anyway there are plenty of good books out there, and I'm sure you have a list, but just another one for you to consider if you are looking for something.
1 x

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby Carmody » Sat Dec 23, 2017 1:00 am

rinv

Hi Carmody. I just wanted to stop in and congratulate you on your good and steady progress. It looks like you have a good balanced approach and those Skype sessions and pen pals will probably really help to round things out for you. Best of luck on your continued progress in 2018!

You've been racking up an increasingly long list of French books. I enjoy reading fiction myself and it is very satisfying to do so in French. You mentioned in a previous post that you were open to reading suggestions. Looking at your list, I wonder if you might be interested in a book by Marie-Bernadette Dupuy called Le chant de l'océan. I read it and found it absolutely exceptional. A bit melancholy, a bit sad, definitely very heart warming. The author has a way of transporting the reader into another space and time, unlike any other I've read. Anyway there are plenty of good books out there, and I'm sure you have a list, but just another one for you to consider if you are looking for something.
Thanks so much for the suggestion. It sounds great.

Yes, I am always looking for suggestions. Probably the only genres I do not read are sci fi, murder, detective stories, and sports.

Thanks again.
0 x

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smallwhite
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:55 am
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Native: Cantonese;
Good: English, French, Spanish, Italian;
Mediocre: Mandarin, German, Swedish, Dutch.
.
x 4877

Re: Carmody's Log for French

Postby smallwhite » Sun Dec 24, 2017 1:06 am

Carmody wrote:smallwhite
Thank you for your very discerning question. At the moment I would say in general that my limited vocabulary, pronunciation, and Slow Speed of delivery are horribly embarrassing. But you asked for 10 specific examples and I will get to work on answering.

If you already know what your problems are, then you don't need to answer my question. I thought you said
Carmody wrote:I don't see how I can really progress.
I just don't understand how I can get to B1 from here.

Maybe you've found the answer since. Great!
0 x
Dialang or it didn't happen.


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