Adventures in French and Spanish

[Mohave]

rinv -

You are very welcome. One note of caution though: Before reading Manon des Sources, please read Jean de Florette. It is the first book in the series. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clearer. Also, if you read a few posts up on my log, scrotyenne talks about the 125th anniversary of Pagnol.

[rlnv]

rinv -

You are very welcome. One note of caution though: Before reading Manon des Sources, please read Jean de Florette. It is the first book in the series. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clearer. Also, if you read a few posts up on my log, scrotyenne talks about the 125th anniversary of Pagnol.

Thanks for pointing that out! I have it on the way also.

[PeterMollenburg]

So I finally dreamed in something other than English!!! To my surprise, it was Spanish! Say what???? Yes, I have some very basic Spanish, but my French is much stronger!!

A quick update on the Six Week Challenge - as of this writing, I am ninth on the Six Week Challenge. A review of my goals shows I am relatively on track. I am pleased given what I had going on for about two weeks earlier this month.
- Complete 15 units in Pimsleur V . Currently on Unit 11/15. Review to come
- Complete FSI Phonology course to improve pronounciation. Completed 3/10
- Complete Exercises de Grammaire en Contexte Intermediate Completed - Review to come
- Complete 50% Grammaire Progressive du Français - Intermediate (Completed 13/150 pages)
- Watch 15 Films (90 min) for the Super Challenge (watched 7/15)
- Read 1,000 pages for the Super Challenge (Read 725/1000 pages)

Super Challenge Update
Reading Goal EOM: 160 books Current: 150 books. -- made up a little bit, but still behind...sigh......
Watching Goal EOM: 160 movies; Current 159 movies

Best movie of the month:
De Rouille et d'Os is a 2012 French–Belgian romantic drama film directed by Jacques Audiard, starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. It tells the story of an unemployed 25-year-old man who falls in love with a killer whale trainer. Available on SBS



Best quote out of a book during the month: “Perdre quelqu'un qu'on a aimé est terrible, mais le pire serait de ne pas l'avoir rencontré.”
― Marc Levy, Le premier Jour

Language Exchanges: only 3 (no wifi for most of month!)

Happy Language Learning!

Hi Mohave,

You're doing some great work there as usual Mohave. How are you finding Grammaire progressive du français niveau intermédiaire? De Rouille et d'Os is a great film!

7 fries and a fry thanks

[Mohave]

Gosh, it's been a while since an update, but I am still having great fun and slowwwwwly making progress in my French. My main goal was to get caught up with my Super Challenge reading and watching, which I am now back on track!!!

Super Challenge Update
Reading Goal EOM Sep: 170 books Current: 166 books.
Watching Goal EOM Sep: 170 movies; Current 171 movies

Here's some thoughts and Bande Announce on some films I watched.

Témoins - I had previously posted Témoins in the Film Club thread, but hadn't noted the series in my log. I've since finished it, and enjoyed it.

I haven't found many interesting French shows in the Netflix US catalog recently, but I found a French TV-miniseries Les Témoins (The Witnesses) is now available. I've watched the first two episodes, and am really enjoying it. It's a French crime procedural, not quite as gritty as Engrenages, but maybe more so than Profilage. Also the French is much easier to follow (for me) than Engrenages. The first episode is chilling and dark. A man comes home from work only to find that his living room has been re-populated with three dead bodies, lovingly arranged to mimic a traditional family setting. There’s a mom and dad on the sofa, and a teenager perched on a stool at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. We soon realise, these posed cadavres have been dug up from their graves and placed very deliberately.

Les Combattants This film was in the cinema when I was in Belgium last year, and I had considered going to see it so I was excited to see it in the Netflix US Catalog. Les Combattants is a 2014 French romantic comedy film and received nine nominations at the 40th César Awards, winning Best Actress, Most Promising Actor and Best First Feature Film." I expected with 9 César nominations, I would enjoy it, but I really didn't. Perhaps it was because there was too much military/survivalist unknown vocabulary, etc. Netflix US


Deux Jours, Une Nuit . This film was all the buzz while I was in Belgium last year, -- it was the Belgium nominee into the Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film category, and was believed to be a contender (It was not selected into the final Oscar nominees). I had really wanted to see it while I was there, but sadly, it had just left the theaters and was not available on DVD. Marion Cotillard is outstanding in the drama, and it really shows the struggle in working-class European life. However, I just hated the whole premise of the film: What boss makes employees vote between an employee keeping their job or having a bonus? What a lack of leadership! Marion Cotillard's character must go to each employee and ask that they give up their bonus so that she keeps her job. It is worth definitely worth watching, but honestly, it did not live up to my expectations. Available on Netflix US


L'Arbre et Le Forêt
An interesting film with a little-discussed WWII history This film starts off as a family trying to figure out why the father didn't attend his son's funeral. The real purpose of the movie sneaks in (SPOILER ALERT) as we find out the father was interred in a Nazi Camp because of his homosexuality. Netflix US


Stupeur et Tremblements
The book, with the same name by Amélie Northomb, a Belgian, has been on my to-read list. It was awarded the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1999. While I normally read books first and then see the movies, I was hesitant to invest so much time in a book that had mixed reviews. Therefore, I decided to watch the movie first. A quick synopsis: After spending part of her childhood in Japan, Amélie (Sylvie Testud) returns after graduating from college to work as an interpreter at a corporation. The male executives treat her poorly, but she has a good relationship with Fubuki (Kaori Tsuji), her immediate supervisor. Unfortunately, Amelie sets herself up for a fall when she shows that despite being from Europe, she is adept at the Japanese language. Viewed as lacking in proper humility, her co-workers conspire to put her in her place. I didn't care for the movie at all. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the book, if you've read it, or the movie, if you saw it.


Casse-Tête Chinois . This is the third movie in the Spanish Apartment trilogy. Netflix US has the first and third movie, but sadly not the second movie. I enjoyed L'Auberge Espagnol and I also enjoyed Casse-Tête Chinois, which picks up 20 years later. If you'be seen the first two films, I recommend you see the third. It's a fun conclusion to the series.


Les Gouts des Autres
A comedy about the attraction of opposites. The movie won the César Award for Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Writing in 2001, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. I was Luke-warm on this one. Netflix US


Les Adieux à la Reine
Les Adieux à la Reine gives a fictional account of the last days of Marie Antoinette in power seen through the eyes of Sidonie Laborde, a young servant who reads aloud to the queen.


Buffy Contre les Vampires Season 4
Oh la la! Mon Dieu! I never watched the series in English. The first three seasons were fine, but I've had a difficult time getting into Season 4. Only a few episodes left. Hopefully Season 5 will be better. Having said all of that, Buffy has really helped improved my listening skills.

[PeterMollenburg]

awesome going Mohave ! Great work catching up with your SC targets. I watched Les témoins a while back and really enjoyed it.

I didn't write much before I was in a hurry... Isn't it awesome when you get to this exciting stage in which all that hard work you've done seems to be slowly but surely reaping some nice rewards. Language is sooo craaazy. It's insane that someone else from another country speaks using what sounds like a mass of weird sounds that make very little sense and that with a LOT of consistent effort one can eventually render that mass of weirdness strikes back '87 minus 2.7 double-over take reverse switch to the power of 4 comprehensible. I guess this is a fascination that draws many of us together here in this community. Well done on sticking to your French journey day in day out Mohave, nice to see your hard work coming to fruition. And truly, your catch up work with the SC is commendable. Good effort! The Spanish apartment series looks interesting. Smile on

MC McPeter the French tryer-speaker

[Mohave]

Gosh, I didn't realize that it had been so long since I updated my log! However, I have continued on with my French studies, comme d'habitude . These days, there is just not a lot of immediately noticeable progress. I am all caught up on Super Challenge films and reading, so I might actually complete this double Super Challenge (200 50 page books, 200 films)! I also have been doing three language exchanges each week, and have several penpals I text with on HelloTalk. For the last month or two, I have essentially put my French in "maintenance mode" - although my French is far from perfect! Perhaps after I finish the Super Challenge and my French MOOC (just started -- review to come later), I will pick back-up grammar, vocabulary, and pronounciation reviews. But for now, my level is sufficient is to have a lot of fun!

I love policiers, and I found a French series that I am really enjoying: La Trilogie du Mal de Maxine Chattam. I greatly enjoyed the first book "L'Âme du Mal" and have started the second book "In Tenebris". I actually read the first 10-20 pages in the first book before I needed to look up a word - a great (and new) feeling for me reading French policiers! This was a recommendation by Goodreads, when I set-up some French language only shelves, based on a recommendation from a thread here in this forum.

I was looking forward to MHZChoice starting, and it did not disappoint. Yes, I have a VPN, and I can watch French Language TV rather easily, but having a Netflix-like platform with all episodes available in a season of some great shows to binge-watch if I want has been great! Sadly, MHZChoice doesn't have an AppleTV app, or iOS apps, and it doesn't track which episodes you've watched, etc, so it's a little rudimentary. I also wish there was an option I could turn off English-language subtitles. I've enjoyed Braquo, Détectives, and Kabul Kithen. After I complete the Super Challenge, I am looking forward to watching shows in other languages.

[Mohave]

My language exchange partner shared this video on the Top 10 errors that the French make when they speak French. I found it interesting with some great explanations on common errors.



Also, I feel the end of the Super Challenge is in sight if I can stay focused! I hit 192 of 200 films today - only eight more to go -- and about 800 pages of reading, which is about 16 pages/day.

[Arnaud]

deleted

[Mohave]

Two great things happened with my French this week:

1) I completed my Double Super Challenge in French: 10,000 pages and 200 films! This has been the single best thing I have done to improve my French. I plan to write another post with more details of what I did and the results I have seen. I plan to do another Super Challenge in French as there is so much great literature that I just didn't get to yet! But, I do plan to get caught up some on English reading....

2) I have a very dear friend that is a polyglot, speaking Romanian (N), English (N), Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, and French. She asked me if I considered French a second language - and I indicated that I was still learning. She asked me to see the French book I was reading. She reviewed it some, and then asked me my comprehension level - and I indicated I was at 97%-98%. She said looking at the difficulty level and if I had that type of comprehension, then I should consider French a second language!!!! . It was an interesting perspective that I had never considered as I still think of myself in "learner-mode". Yes, it's passive skills, etc, but it put a smile on my face!

Happy Language Learning!

[PeterMollenburg]

Two great things happened with my French this week:

1) I completed my Double Super Challenge in French: 10,000 pages and 200 films! This has been the single best thing I have done to improve my French. I plan to write another post with more details of what I did and the results I have seen. I plan to do another Super Challenge in French as there is so much great literature that I just didn't get to yet! But, I do plan to get caught up some on English reading....

2) I have a very dear friend that is a polyglot, speaking Romanian (N), English (N), Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, and French. She asked me if I considered French a second language - and I indicated that I was still learning. She asked me to see the French book I was reading. She reviewed it some, and then asked me my comprehension level - and I indicated I was at 97%-98%. She said looking at the difficulty level and if I had that type of comprehension, then I should consider French a second language!!!! . It was an interesting perspective that I had never considered as I still think of myself in "learner-mode". Yes, it's passive skills, etc, but it put a smile on my face!

Happy Language Learning!

First up, a big congratulations on completing your Double Super Challenge in French. That's a mighty decent accomplisment indeed. You ought to be patting yourself on the back and then some... perhaps some fully fledged kicks to the back... just not sure how you'll manage that yourself. Truly though, there's no sarcasm here, it's a really great accomplishment Mohave, and I am genuinely happy for you having completed it. I look forward to reading some more feedback on your experiences with the challenge. It's time to enjoy your English reading but don't forget your French!

I tend to agree with your friend, in fact I have a bigger more noteworthy voice as I know 77 languages fluently.... I wish. No really, I do agree with your friend, if your comprehension is that good, then French is your second language. Keep improving it and you'll be convinced of that too!

Well done Mohave You're truly another success story in French, and we all know here that serious language learners that make it to such a decent level are few and far between. Keep going towards those C-levels (or whatever you want to call it) and beyond!