Kat's French Learning Log

[Phantom Kat]

Writing Practice

Been a busy couple of days. Sister left, and we teachers had to go back to work before the kiddos come back on Monday. Thankfully, "work days" means working in your classrooms/lesson planning then dedicating some time to French during your lunch hour.

I worked with adjectives. matching number and gender it's going to take some getting used to. It's one thing to do it unconsciously in Spanish, it's another to think about it, write it, then going back and checking the noun. After practicing with some of them like petit and joli I started to work with the irregular ones, like frais.

Then I worked with -re verbs and used some like decendre, attendre, vendre, perdre, entendre in sentences. After going through all three verb endings I know I'm going to have to dedicate a lot of time afterwards to getting the different conjugations down, using the irregular verbs, and being able to recognize them in both writing and speaking. I'll plug them into flashcards, but I'll try to use them in writing.

Finally I started to take a look at prepositions. There's a lot of them, so I just started with à for now. Next step is to write to some sentences with those, using the different situations.

The Output Challenge

I'm up to 335 now. Whoop whoop!

[Phantom Kat]

Writing Practice

Practiced writing some sentences with à, such as when talking about going to a city or a building. I had to look some up clarfication about when to use à and when to use dans or en. From what I understand à is more of "at this place", dans is more of "in this place", and en is used in other occasions, like with all seasons except le printemps. I'll keep working on these before I dive into more prepositions.

I also worked on the futur proche and its negation. I wrote a couple of sentences with it, and I'm excited to make more. With this and the present tense I can start writing more about what I'm doing in my daily life, instead of just creating sentences with random subjects.

Assimil

I reviewed Lesson 9 and did Lesson 10. I mostly focused on listening and pronunciation since those aspects are the ones I don't practice often. As I was reading or following along I tried to keep track of all the grammar constructions that I've reviewed so far in my writing practice. Cette and ce popped up pretty often, as well as à and au. Along with those I saw a good amount of prepositions dealing with time, such as quelquefois.

I haven't been productive when it comes to Assimil. The passive phase makes me feel like I'm not doing enough or that I'm not retaining a lot. That means that when do I lesson my mind tends to wander a lot. I think I just haven't found my way to use Assimil. My next steps will be to review Lessons 1-10. With the book I'll concentrate on listening and pronunciation. Without the book I'll concentrate on using the most important vocabulary words from the dialogue in my writing practice. I'll try and create new sentences and also take sentences from the dialogue and do some substitution exercises (like the Exercises that are already in Assimil).

[Phantom Kat]

School is back in session. I'm tired all the time again. Then we had a field trip, and all I could concentrate on was, "I better not lose a kid in these caves."

Writing Practice

Luckily I had Study Hall, so I was pretending to do my work while I actually reviewed some French grammar. I did some practice with the passé composé. Not my best week for writing, though.

Speaking/Pronunciation

So since I mostly pick the languages I study through how they sound I decided it was high time to focus on my pronunciation. I began to practice with pronunciation videos from Learn French with Alexa on Youtube. I realized that I'm not that far off at all when it comes to the French R because that's what I've been using all these years when I flutter-tongue when I play flute. (I can't roll my Rs to flutter-tongue for some reason. My tongue just says nope.) I just have to reign in how much I emphasize it, especially when it comes after a vowel.

On the side I'm listening to French music covers and following along in the lyrics. I remembered that I can slow down a Youtube video to 0.75, 0.50, and 0.25. This is perfect to follow along and hear which letters are pronounced, how those vowel pairs sounds in different words, and where the liaisons happen. I'm keeping separate Google Docs with lyrics and marking up silent letters I kept forgetting and the liaisons.

[Phantom Kat]

Pronunciation/Speaking

So I've been practicing/singing the French version of "Shiny" from Moana and "Jack's Lament" from Nightmare Before Christmas. What can I say? My go-to listening in any language is always songs, and these are especially catchy. I start by going at around 0.50, following along in the lyrics and marking up any pronunciation notes. Then I try singing again and again at 0.50, then at 0.75. It's really been helping! I pay attention to each word, and I have time to really think about which letters are pronounced and which aren't.

I also went back to the sentences in my Writing Practice and practiced pronouncing them aloud, using an audio dictionary. I marked the liaisons, marked (s)'s that are pronounced like (z), and marked verb endings that are not pronounced (like -ent). It served as a good review for vocabulary and grammar structures that I've gone over. I also realized that I can make some good, educated guesses on how the words are pronounced.

Writing Practice

I went over the futur proche again. I read over possessive determiners to add more detail to my sentences. I didn't realize that in French the possessive determiners have to agree not only in number but in gender. Definitely different than Spanish. I also looked up the rules for using determiners on the days of the week to spice up my sentences.

I realized that I'm only comfortable using -er verbs not only in conjugating but just knowing them in general. Time to hit Tumblebooks or some French songs to get more verbs.

Miraculous Ladybug

So I'm going to have to give this cartoon credit for re-sparking my interest in French. I've been following it for around a year and a half now? Maybe two? I highly prefer the original French dub, and I just watched the newest episode. I was watching with English subtitles. However I was pleasant surprised by the phrases I could catch here and there without really trying. All that pronunciation practice has done wonders for my ears. French doesn't seem like a garbled mess of noises anymore (but what a lovely garbled mess it was to my ears!). Of course all that grammar study helped a lot, too.

I'm trying to find a place where I can watch the French episodes with French captions (unfortunately Netflix and the DVDs released in the U.S. don't have them). The auto-generated French captions on Youtube aren't half-bad actually, from what I can tell, but I would love for something more reliable. My best bet would be Tumblr.

Output Challenge

I've written 556 words so far. Nice!

[Phantom Kat]

These past two weeks have been a rollercoaster. It started off with a nice four-day weekend and devolved into a bout with the flu and the loss of my cat. I haven't really had the energy to do any serious studying until right now. For now, this is what I did:

Assimil

I reviewed Lessons 1-7. I went over the dialogues first by myself for meaning, and then again with the audio for listening and pronunciation practice. I reviewed the grammar notes and made sure they were things I had already covered on my own through writing practice

Tumblebooks: Lapinokio

This is the second time I went through the story, but this time I understood more of the story, especially the second half.

Learning French with Alexa

Basically this is one of the few things I was able to do in regards to French when I had the flu. Through her videos I got a quick crash course on the tenses (not so much how to conjugate but just a general feeling of what they are). I also saw some videos on dans and à, the most popular verbs in French, and the verb aller.

Miraculous Ladybug

Saw the latest episode. That's about it.

[Phantom Kat]

Here's an update of what I've been working on. Also, look at what I found! My old HTLAL Finnish log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27867

My Language Learning Schedule

I've been working on this on and off for the past two weeks. My main issue is balancing relaxing after work with language learning. I'm always exhausted when I come back, and the moment my head hits the pillow I'm out (so instant three hour nap right there.). The bulk of my concentrated language learning is during the weekend.

I try to do some studying at work after I drop off the kids, but being in the classroom reminds me that there's always something I need to do (i.e. grade papers, cut out task cards, print off activities, etc.).

Rocket Language

So far I decided to do a Rocket Language lesson when I'm still at work, waiting to be picked up, and two Assimil lessons when I get home (a review of the previous one and a new one). For most part, I have been keeping up with this schedule. I have missed around two Rocket Language courses due to after school meetings and mountains of grading, but since I already did Module 1 back in December it's not a big deal.

I found that the farther ahead I get in Assimil the more I get out of Rocket Language. Redoing previous lessons, I pick up on grammar points such as direct object pronouns. What I'm mostly using RL for is speaking practice and memorizing sentences stems that I can manipulate with other vocabulary. The constant repetition of dialogue in the Testing section really helps with that. I have to recall the sentences in the flashcards, in the Knowing section, and in the Dialogue section.

Back in December I neglected to use the Audio Lessons because of all the chatter, but once you take out the chatter it's pretty useful. I found it helpful to go through each sentence of the dialogue at a slower pace, both for pronunciation purposes and just to digest each part of the sentence and how it all fits together.

Assimil

I have been very diligent about Assimil. Currently I've finished Lesson 27. There have been things that I can easily relate back to Spanish (i.e. pronominal verbs) and others that I need to go back and review (i.e. ce qui/ce que). I've also gone back and started reviewing lessons one by one. For the most part past lessons make more sense now. I can also pinpoint which vocab words haven't really sunk in. So far, in the reviewing phase, I'm on Lesson 12.

What I need to work on

+ Work more with Assimil's exercises. I've been doing some written substitution drills, but I haven't picked that up after reviewing Lesson 4. I need to pick it up again, either in writing or just by speaking aloud.

+ Review the Rocket Language flashcards at the end of each lessons. I'll skip some (i.e. the alphabet and numbers), but the ones that are for vocabulary building and the ones that are based on the dialogues are the ones I need to focus on.

+ Work with Assimil's audio more. I only use the audio with the book. I need to start listening to just the audio, no book, and start trying to follow along as best as I can. Personally I can't do that while I'm working on something else, so I need to sit down and dedicate some time to it. Writing out the dialogue as best as I can will probably help me a lot, too.

+ Record myself in some way. I occasionally find myself saying sentences aloud. I need to start recording myself to keep a tab on my progress regarding grammar, vocab, and pronunciation.

Wanderlust

I've been listening to some Finnish and Russian. Although a part of me wants to dive back into Finnish another, larger part of me wants to tackle Russian after French. Just like French, I love the way it sounds. Plus my brother already has a plethora of Russian sources. I'm still now 100% what language I want to learn next, but whichever it is (Finnish, Russian, something else), it's not happening until I reach at least B1 in French.

[Phantom Kat]

Assimil

Got up to Lesson 31 and, welp, those prepositions were the definitely the hardest things so far. Along came "dessus" and "dessous", and I had to mentally mark that chapter for close revision. That, added with the flexible use of "chez", and I found myself reviewing the dialogue more than usual. I definitely need more encounters with "chez". I had to look up why "chez lui" meant "his home", and that opened up a rabbit hole of possibilities with "chez".

Rocket French

Did up to Lesson 2.2. Got introduced to the frequency of "on" instead of "nous" in colloquial speech. I still need to go back and review previous flashcards.

FSI French Phonology

Even though I'm getting listening practice from Assimil and some speaking practice from Rocket French I still hear myself making halfhearted attempts at pronunciation. Like, I can hear that with some words that I keep mispronouncing them no matter how many times I repeat after the dialogue. So I decided to tackle FSI French Phonology. This is definitely going to be a once-a-day thing because more than that and I'll flip my lid. Because wow when people said it was dry, holy guacamole were they right. My brief dabbles in FSI Finnish, French, and Finnish weren't as mind-numbing, but then again, they weren't focusing on just sounds.

I did Chapter 1-1 as diligently as I could. I know my English suffers from the occasional cluttering, and that's the last thing I want in my French. What I really like is the separation of vowels. It is by the far the most useful frame in the whole routine.

What I Watched

I watched the first two episodes of the Ranma 1/2 French dub. Wow, that was a blast from the past! There were no French captions 'cause that's the hardest thing to find on the internet. However not having any captions to follow means that I was forced to listen to the dialogue for any familiar words or phrases. I didn't catch a whole bunch, just things like "my father", "I don't know", attack me", but it was still a boost of confidence that not everything was a blur of sounds like before.

[Phantom Kat]

Last Sunday I took the DIALANG French tests for Listening, Reading, and Vocabulary. (Don't really care to take the one for Structure and I don't want to deal with the copy-and-paste horror for Writing.) My results:

Listening: B1
Reading: B1
Vocabulary: A1

I kind of expected B1 for Reading because Spanish gives me a lot to work with, but Listening? Wow, I feel that's pretty generous. Heck, A2 would have been very generous. I still can only get the main gist of some things I listen to. That was a confident boost, though.

As for Vocabulary... yeah, I know my vocabulary output is severely lacking. That's definitely something I need to work on. So after that I decided to be more proactive about writing down and practicing new vocabulary that I see while I'm reading or listening to something. I also plan to create vocabulary lists specifically for certain things, like school and home.

I would love to take an official DELF test. Maybe I could make a goal to take the B1 test this time next year? I've never taken a certification test for a foreign language, so I'm not sure how ambitious that is. I'm going to take a closer look what the test entails and how I can prepare myself for it, whether I decide to take it or not. (I did have to take a Spanish Language Proficiency test for one of my teaching certifications. Oh God, that was the longest day of my life.)

FSI's Intro to French Phonology

Finished up Chapter 1 and started Chapter 2. I'm getting the hang of it. I'm not sure how diligently I'll do it since my main concern with French right now is acquiring and using more vocabulary. However, I'll say that the lessons I've already covered are great to review while I'm typing up lesson plans or cleaning around the classroom.

Assimil

I'm up to Lesson 37. What I've found out is my biggest hurdle in the reading department is prepositions. The vocabulary is not bad after reviewing the lesson two or three times, but those prepositions seem to go in one ear and out another. (Ironic because the first memory of learning French was using a Rosetta Stone-like program that just spouted off sentences like "La gorille est sur la voiture.") I think the main reason is because I can glance over them and still understand the text pretty well.

This week I'll try to incorporate the most common ones I've seen so far in Assimil in my writing, especially ones like "dans" and "en".

Rocket French

Another great resource to do while I'm milling around the classroom after the kids are gone. The audio lessons go slowly enough for me to to give the answers and repeat the dialogue without pausing. Other than that, though, I haven't really invested too much time into it this week. What can I say? I vastly prefer the dialogues in Assimil. I did review some of the flashcards for the previous lessons, though.

Video Games

I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask to play through again, this time in French. I found that I understand enough to go through with only looking up what I want, like vocab words that keep popping up, idiomatic expressions that I need a translate for ("jeter un coup d'oeil"), and phrases that I like and want to use in the future ("Ne me dis pas que..."). It's slow going because I don't want to miss too much dialogue, but I'm having a lot more fun than I thought I was going to have. I've already done around three hours.

Seeing as my first playthrough clocked in at 50 hours this might be a long journey. Good thing it's such a great game!

I'm tempted to play through The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in French now...

Writing

After seeing some videos from Learning French with Alexa I decided to buckle down and start practicing with the passé composé and le futur tenses. Nothing ambitious, though. I'm sticking to -er verbs for now, which I surprisingly know a good chunk off after all this studying.

I'm trying something new with writing. Since I find it hard to sit down and write I'm going to start putting down five and ten minute timers. Once the timer start I'll write until time is up. I love doing this method for Word Sprints in NaNoWriMo because it allows me to just write without thinking too much. In French, I'm still thinking more than I normally would in English, but it certainly helped. What happened was that after the five minute, then the ten minute, timers rang I wanted to keep on writing, and write I did! There's just something about being prohibited to write that gets the creative juices flowing.

I haven't counted how many words I've written so far. I need to update that Super Challenge Writing counter, though. BUT. I have Study Hall for the kiddos this week, so I'll plan to sneak in a good chunk of writing during that time.

TV

I heard about Les Revenants, a supernatural French show that sounded really interesting, and luckily it's on Netflix! I plan to start watching it sometime this week. I found the French captions online, so my plan is to watch each episode with the English subtitles one day and then "hear" it again while reading the captions on my phone later. We'll see how it goes!