Postby Lawyer&Mom » Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:39 pm
So I’ve sidelined French and made Korean my main focus. Time to reflect on what I’ve achieved since I started my French project in 2017. (I took a complete year off in 2020, so let’s call it five years.) I’ve read just over 8,000 pages, and I can read middlebrow adult contemporary fiction comfortably. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Elena Ferrante!) This is a fine place to be, although some of the books I bought on the Bac reading list are definitely more difficult than this. I could definitely read them, but it would be more of a slog. Let’s call my level B2+. Not *quite* university level, but solid. I’ve watched just over 500 hours of TV. I can follow any show comfortably, but I don’t understand everything. My listening is below my reading, so let’s say B2. Also a fine place to be. My active skills are an order of magnitude weaker. I can happily string along any number of things in the present or simple past tense. Which I often do with my kids. “Est-que tu veux aller au parc ce apres-midi avec moi et ta sœur? Je sais qu’il fait froid, mais je crois que on doit faire un promenade.” Let’s be generous and call this A2. I can say what I need to say, even if it’s not graceful or entirely correct.
This leads me to the raging success portion of my project, where I have exceeded all expectations: my kids. It helps that my oldest, age 9, is highly verbal, but still. We are about a year or so into actively studying French and my goodness. They watch an hour a day of French dub cartoons, so they’ve had a least 300 hours of exposure. My oldest has done all of Paul Noble’s French for Kids, and is halfway through Paul Noble’s French for Beginners. Her accent is better than mine. (Her [r] kills me.) She can string together simple sentences, comfortably read kid’s comics, and is currently reading Harry Potter. (Doesn’t hurt that she has the book practically memorized in English, but still.) This is just way more, way sooner than I expected. Put your kids in front of Netflix, people! I only wish I had started sooner!
Did I have dreams of going higher than passive B2/Active A2? I did, but I didn’t really want to put in the work. I think this level makes you a very, very comfortable tourist, and it’s also pretty stable. I haven’t dropped French completely, I’m still reading a bit before bed, and working with my kids. It’s a part of my life now, but not my active focus. I’m content.
23 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: Pimsleur French 1-5
: