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

[Maiwenn]

So between Le Divorce and Under the Tuscan Sun, I’ve decided that fluffy romantic comedies filmed on location in Europe and dubbed in French are my favorite guilty pleasure movies. Any other suggestions in this genre?

Letters to Juliet is a guilty pleasure of mine that fits the bill. Off the top of my head, these ones could work, too (all links are to AlloCiné):

Shirley Valentine (an early iteration from 1989, the start is a bit heavy)

French Kiss (starring Kevin Kline as a French person?! opposite Meg Ryan in the role of an American vying for Canadian citizenship)

A Good Year (starring Russel Crowe opposite Marion Cotillard, I don't remember how fluffy this one actually was, but I watched it when I went on a similar cinematic kick)

Enchanted April (not exactly a romantic comedy, but a lovely watch that always makes me want to go to Italy)

A Room with a View (also not exactly a romantic comedy, but IS both romantic and comedic. It doesn't quite fit the romantic comedy mold as it is a period piece.)

[Lawyer&Mom]

I’ve added Dutch to my Clozemaster routine. <Gulp>

I love the Netherlands, my dad speaks Dutch, I already have the Assimil from ages ago... And I’m Belgian-American by marriage, so really, I didn’t even have a choice! (Our Belgian family was Francophone, but I’ve got that covered.)

[lavengro]

So between Le Divorce and Under the Tuscan Sun, I’ve decided that fluffy romantic comedies filmed on location in Europe and dubbed in French are my favorite guilty pleasure movies. Any other suggestions in this genre?

I have one suggestion, the somewhat misleadingly titled "Eyjafjallajökull" - I stumbled across this during an earlier Icelandic phase I was going through. It is not dubbed in French but instead is an original French language film that has nothing to do with either Iceland the country nor, except as background villain, the volcano itself. Lots of travel filmed on location in a number of places in Europe (not including Iceland). Fluffy romantic comedy? Only on a somewhat skewed sense of "fluffy"....

I liked it, but I believe I may be one of the few who did.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2207072/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[Lawyer&Mom]

Well that was short lived! I’ve deleted Dutch *and* Norwegian from Clozemaster. I enjoy both languages, but neither is a priority. I want to focus more on French. I’m 67% through the Fast Track and I want to power through to the finish. German and Russian remain. One language easier than French, one language harder than French. Balance!

[Lawyer&Mom]

And I’ve added Mandarin to Clozemaster. (It’s summer. I’m fickle.) I took a six week Mandarin immersion class 15+ years ago, which definitely helps, but mainly I’m just guessing. Back then I took traditional and this is simplified, but that doesn’t seem to matter much given the time lapse involved. It’s definitely fun. We shall see how long I last.

[Ani]

You're 67% through the 26,000 French sentences? That's an awful lot of clozemaster..

How do you do the Russian? Multiple choice?

We should be friends on Clozemaster. It would inspire me to see you climbing the leader board. I have the same user name if you want to find me.

[Lawyer&Mom]

Clozemaster is my only “course.” But yeah, I’ve done an awful lot of it. All multiple choice.

Just changed my username to match mine here. It’s “LAWYERANDMOM” because no symbols allowed... I’m following you now.

[Lawyer&Mom]

So I’m 400 sentences into Mandarin already... The joys of the false beginner! I’m not sure how long I can/should keep up this pace, but I’m remembering how much fun the characters are. (It’s tones that will get me!) But hey, I don’t have to speak, ever, this is just for fun.

[Lawyer&Mom]

I’m kinda in love with the concept of HSK levels. Like everyone agrees these are the first 150 characters you need. So Clozemaster tests me on HSK 1, then I can watch a YouTube video that reviews HSK 1... and they cover the exact same material!

It’s dreamy.

[Lawyer&Mom]

Chinese, like a shiny new toy, is threatening to take over my Clozemaster routine. I’ve done 820 sentences in less than 24 hours, and I’m actually ahead of Expugnator for the week! (This is thrilling and terrifying and, I think, unsustainable.)

Chinese is my mom’s foreign language, I’ve been casually exposed to it my whole life. It feels familiar, even if I don’t actually know much.

It also confirms my interest in global mega languages. So many resources! Actual opportunities to speak! (Maybe? The common language where I grew up was actually Cantonese.) There are gobs of Mandarin Saturday schools in our city, so we probably have Mandarin speakers too?