Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

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Cavesa
Black Belt - 4th Dan
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Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Cavesa » Wed May 25, 2022 6:46 pm

Lawyer&Mom wrote:How come no one told me CLE Grammar Progressive is so freaking good!?! I kid, I kid, obviously everyone loves this series, but I’ve only just started with it. I had a mediocre experience once with a different CLE grammar book and that kind of put me off grammar books in general, but the Progressive series is just delightful. Such an incremental progression! So much built in review! It’s a real course, not just a disjointed reference book with drills. I’ve started at the Debutant level, because I like my grammar to be ridiculously easy and this is just dreamy. I’m confident I will still enjoy it when I get to the higher levels and concepts I’m less familiar with. I had been using French by the Natural Method for easy grammar, but I think this meets my needs even better. I still admire that course, but I really don’t need the graded reader aspect that it does so well.


Am I a joke to you?! :-D :-D :-D All those posts, all those laudatory comments? It's almost weird how much I praise it, I swear I am not paid by CLE for it (I wish I was)! At times, I've even worried I'd get disliked for such monotematic and constant praise anytime French learning resources get discussed!

Glad to see you excited! You're bound to improve so much!
5 x

Lawyer&Mom
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Wed May 25, 2022 8:57 pm

Cavesa wrote:Am I a joke to you?! :-D :-D :-D All those posts, all those laudatory comments? It's almost weird how much I praise it, I swear I am not paid by CLE for it (I wish I was)! At times, I've even worried I'd get disliked for such monotematic and constant praise anytime French learning resources get discussed!

Glad to see you excited! You're bound to improve so much!


I’m sure it was your posts that encouraged me to try CLE again after being burned by their Grammaire expliquée du français. That was like drinking from a fire hose! And I stupidly started with the intermediate level too! Ugh. I’m sure it’s a wonderful reference book, but it is *not* a course. The Progressive series might be my favorite language resource ever, which is saying a lot!
7 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

Lawyer&Mom
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sun Jun 19, 2022 1:11 am

Russian has gone the way that Chinese went, and Irish before that, and, well, Russian before that. I hit the 90 day mark, more or less, and realize that while I deeply enjoy playing with an opaque language, especially on Clozemaster, I just don’t have the bandwidth to commit to this side project, and I need to focus on French. Someday, when my kids are older and I’m probably retired it will be grand to take on multiple language projects. Someday! At least I only bought one new book for this latest detour…

Speaking of French, things are going swimmingly. I finished the CLE Grammar Debutant, and jumped right into Intermédiare. It’s lovely to circle back through all the topics, but it’s a much thicker book and progress will be measured more slowly.

My kids continue to astound me with their French. They watch some French TV everyday and it amazes me when they know a French word I haven’t taught them. The current obsession is Adele Mortelle, which just confirms that comics are the way to go with language learning. Short and punchy keeps them hooked! Adele is quite naughty, and they love her. Wouldn’t be a bad resource for an adult beginner either.
13 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

jeffers
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Learning: The above, plus French (A2-B1), German (A1), Ancient Greek (?), Sanskrit (beginner)
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby jeffers » Thu Jun 23, 2022 10:30 am

Lawyer&Mom wrote:I’ve started at the Debutant level, because I like my grammar to be ridiculously easy and this is just dreamy. I’m confident I will still enjoy it when I get to the higher levels and concepts I’m less familiar with.


I read this post a month ago, and this stuck in my head--"I like my grammar to be ridiculously easy"--and I've kept thinking "why not?" I had done some work with the intermediate book last summer, but always stalled in my progress. Then last week I noticed a used copy of an slightly older edition of the debutant grammar going on Amazon for just a few pounds, so I decided to follow your example. Ironically, the corrections booklet cost about three times as much, but it was still cheaper than buying the latest edition. I'm finding it way too easy, but still interesting enough to trundle through, and I think it's never a bad idea to review the basics. When I finish I'll get back to the intermediate book, which I hope will be fairly easy by that point!

Thank you for the inspiration!
6 x
Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien (roughly, the perfect is the enemy of the good)

French SC Books: 0 / 5000 (0/5000 pp)
French SC Films: 0 / 9000 (0/9000 mins)

Lawyer&Mom
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Thu Jun 23, 2022 5:15 pm

jeffers wrote: I'm finding it way too easy, but still interesting enough to trundle through, and I think it's never a bad idea to review the basics.


The difficulty of the debutant book ramps up very gradually, and by the end is the same as the beginning of the intermediate book. I know we heap praise on the series, but this gradation of difficulty must have been very tricky to pull off, it really is genius.
5 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

Lawyer&Mom
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Fri Jul 01, 2022 12:36 am

Found something in Amanda’s language log that is a total game changer for me: https://bonpatron.com/
It’s a free website aimed at language learners that checks your French writing for grammar mistakes. This is a dream come true. I need to practice my writing but I often avoid the writing prompts in my Grammar books because I can’t easily correct them. Now I can!

Obviously a website can’t find every mistake, but it more than meets my current needs.

Can’t believe I hadn’t even heard of this site before now.
9 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

Lawyer&Mom
Blue Belt
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Languages: English (N), German (B2), French (B1)
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:21 pm

I tried subscribing to TV5Monde through SlingTV. The main channels, that I can easily watch through my Roku device, all have baked-in English subtitles, which I loathe. But my subscription also gave me access to TV5Mondeplus, a streaming website which is not directly accessible through Roku, but has optional subtitles in several languages. I had to watch on my iPhone and then use AirPlay with Roku to cast to my TV. Which was a hassle.

But I did get to watch some good shows, including my first Quebecois show, Faits Divers. It’s a great show, a darkly comedic murder mystery with a strong female detective, reminiscent of Fargo. But wow, I was *not* prepared for the Quebecois accent. My comprehension dropped below 50%, and I ended up just turning on the English subtitles, which I never, ever do. It was still language learning! Afterwards, I was able to watch a much more straightforward Quebecois family movie on Netflix and easily follow the plot.

I also wasn’t prepared for just how typically North American the Quebecois characters were. I’ve spent a weekend in Montreal, I know it looks more like Minneapolis than Paris, but still! Watching a character who wears baseball caps and hoodies, drives a giant pickup truck and looks for all the world like any number of guys I went to high school with in Northern California speak French was wild.
9 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby DaveAgain » Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:34 pm

Lawyer&Mom wrote:But I did get to watch some good shows, including my first Quebecois show, Faits Divers. It’s a great show, a darkly comedic murder mystery with a strong female detective, reminiscent of Fargo. But wow, I was *not* prepared for the Quebecois accent. My comprehension dropped below 50%, and I ended up just turning on the English subtitles, which I never, ever do. It was still language learning! Afterwards, I was able to watch a much more straightforward Quebecois family movie on Netflix and easily follow the plot.
There seem to be different Quebecois accents, some progammes I've found almost completely incomprehensible, but others not too bad at all.
2 x

Lawyer&Mom
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:27 am

DaveAgain wrote:
Lawyer&Mom wrote:There seem to be different Quebecois accents, some progammes I've found almost completely incomprehensible, but others not too bad at all.


Years ago I watched a single newscast from Quebec and decided that the whole Quebecois accent thing was totally overblown… I was wrong.
7 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

Lawyer&Mom
Blue Belt
Posts: 980
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Languages: English (N), German (B2), French (B1)
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Mon Oct 03, 2022 7:45 pm

So Netflix kept recommending Harlan Coben adaptations to me, in various languages. That seemed odd, I’d never even heard of the guy, so I looked it up, they have purchased the rights to 14(!!!) of his apparently quite popular novels, and have already made adaptations in English, Spanish, French and Polish! I’m half way through a French one, Gone for Good. It’s entertaining enough, although there are a few too many Major Plot Twists for my taste. I like my mysteries *a little* more down to earth. But no complaints. I’m thrilled that Netflix keeps making original content in Europe. More language learning and virtual vacation options for me.
6 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5


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