Dane learning French (and English)

[fromaalborg]

I've read this a few times now and I don't know what it means! Which are the 'big words'?

For example:
"une poire" = "a pear".
Easy enough to learn. Big word.

But take a word like "selon" (a preposition), I simply can't remember what it means, even if I put it in a sentence, look up the etymology etc.
It means "according to".

Another example of a small word could be the adverb "ainsi", which mean in this way/so/thus/like this.


Hope that makes sense!

[Iversen]

I am also from Denmark, and I had never heard or seen that interpretation of big and small words. I thought big words were bragging, and small words were grey and almost invisible to any normal language learner.

[Le Baron]

For example:
"une poire" = "a pear".
Easy enough to learn. Big word.

But take a word like "selon" (a preposition), I simply can't remember what it means, even if I put it in a sentence, look up the etymology etc.
It means "according to".

Another example of a small word could be the adverb "ainsi", which mean in this way/so/thus/like this.

Hope that makes sense!

I follow what you're saying (and I know what the words mean), but I don't completely follow why they are designated as 'big' and 'small'. Rather than e.g. common/uncommon or having more denotation than connotation; more easily represented with one-to-one real examples such as your example with a pear.

I'm not not criticising your method for yourself, I've just never seen it before.

[tastyonions]

I've read this a few times now and I don't know what it means! Which are the 'big words'?

For example:
"une poire" = "a pear".
Easy enough to learn. Big word.

But take a word like "selon" (a preposition), I simply can't remember what it means, even if I put it in a sentence, look up the etymology etc.
It means "according to".

Another example of a small word could be the adverb "ainsi", which mean in this way/so/thus/like this.

Hope that makes sense!

With adverbs I find it's easier to get a sense of them as part of locutions:

selon ses dires (= according to what he/she said)
selon moi (= according to me)
c'est selon (= it depends)

pour ainsi dire (= so to speak)
continuez ainsi (= keep doing the same thing / what you're doing)

[fromaalborg]

I follow what you're saying (and I know what the words mean), but I don't completely follow why they are designated as 'big' and 'small'. Rather than e.g. common/uncommon or having more denotation than connotation; more easily represented with one-to-one real examples such as your example with a pear.

I'm not not criticising your method for yourself, I've just never seen it before.

Hm, maybe it's just a metaphor. Like it easy to catch a big ball somebody is throwing to you, and hard to catch a small one.

Maybe it has to do with synesthesia? Like when I grasp the meaning of new word in immersion for the first time, the word often feels so tiny.

---
Thank you for the suggestion tastyonions.

[fromaalborg]

New:
- I only have one (French)Anki-deck - but I also add English and Danish sentences to it.
- It’s easier to recognize big French numbers now.
- Youtube started serving demonic popular content to me last week, when I was not logged in. I downloaded the Firefox-browser just to use Youtube logged-in on it. Don’t like giving Google my data, but the other way became clickbait-hell.

[fromaalborg]

When I take a nap/siesta, I realised, that I can turn on a French meditation tape. It gives me 5 minutes of French before I fall asleep, and 5 minutes as I wake up. And I can listen to the same tape again and again without boredom being a problem.
I'm thinking it might stack up over the years, and I feel a bit like an OG-ajatter, listening to French while I sleep

[fromaalborg]

- I have matured in my Anki use, so now I mainly use Again and Good. Fits well with the 0-3 cards I make per day.
- I have also learned to use the Undo Answer Card-function.
- Memrise say they will keep the course I use alive until next year, so that is nice. Probably don't need it afterwards anyway.

[fromaalborg]

I think I have added around 100 hours of pure French listening the last couple of months. I have felt improvement, but it has not been a magic bullet.
Now I will do a bit of educational content and dual-audiobooks again, for the sake of variety.

[fromaalborg]

Previously I could not use the Easy French videos, because I did not like to read the big-small subtitles. But now that my French has improved, I can use their videos. So I watched four last weekend. They are quite instructive, and it is good to have them in my tool kit.