Re: PM’s French Re-entry into the Matrix - Phase 1: 500 Hours Extensive Reading

[PeterMollenburg]

You’ve got to wonder about life sometimes, right?

I’m glad I came away absolutely unscathed, as hitting a big kangaroo at 100 km/hr is usually a recipe for disaster. With the glare, I had no time to swerve, which is very much a good thing.

I'm glad that you are okay. What happened to the kangaroo?

Well, initially I wanted to just get off the road safely and recompose myself, check over the car and answer queries of helpful people that stopped... I thought the kangaroo had bounced into the bushed injured. I was assuming/guessing as I had repositioned myself 50 metres off the bend of the road. However, some minutes later I realised it was dead on the side of the road. Poor thing. Anyway, someone came along only half an hour or so later and checked it over and sray-painted a stripe on the body. They do this to verify the kangaroo has been checked for signs of life or whether carrying a joey (aka baby kangaroo) in it's pouch. It was male, so no. The panel-beaters said that they have a lot of work at the moment and the majority of it resulting from kangaroos!

[Ogrim]

You’ve got to wonder about life sometimes, right?

I’m glad I came away absolutely unscathed, as hitting a big kangaroo at 100 km/hr is usually a recipe for disaster. With the glare, I had no time to swerve, which is very much a good thing.

I'm glad that you are okay. What happened to the kangaroo?

Well, initially I wanted to just get off the road safely and recompose myself, check over the car and answer queries of helpful people that stopped... I thought the kangaroo had bounced into the bushed injured. I was assuming/guessing as I had repositioned myself 50 metres off the bend of the road. However, some minutes later I realised it was dead on the side of the road. Poor thing. Anyway, someone came along only half an hour or so later and checked it over and sray-painted a stripe on the body. They do this to verify the kangaroo has been checked for signs of life or whether carrying a joey (aka baby kangaroo) in it's pouch. It was male, so no. The panel-beaters said that they have a lot of work at the moment and the majority of it resulting from kangaroos!

Good to hear you were not injured. I don't know how much a kangaroo weighs, but I guess it is a bigger animal than I imagine - I've never actually seen one in real life.

In Norway we have the same problem with moose (or elk as it is called in Europe) crossing the roads - they can weigh up to 450 kg. My brother hit one a few years ago, the head of the animal crashed through the windscreen on the passenger side, just centimetres from my brother's head. Luckily he was not injured, but the car was destroyed.

[PeterMollenburg]

You’ve got to wonder about life sometimes, right?

I’m glad I came away absolutely unscathed, as hitting a big kangaroo at 100 km/hr is usually a recipe for disaster. With the glare, I had no time to swerve, which is very much a good thing.

I'm glad that you are okay. What happened to the kangaroo?

Well, initially I wanted to just get off the road safely and recompose myself, check over the car and answer queries of helpful people that stopped... I thought the kangaroo had bounced into the bushed injured. I was assuming/guessing as I had repositioned myself 50 metres off the bend of the road. However, some minutes later I realised it was dead on the side of the road. Poor thing. Anyway, someone came along only half an hour or so later and checked it over and sray-painted a stripe on the body. They do this to verify the kangaroo has been checked for signs of life or whether carrying a joey (aka baby kangaroo) in it's pouch. It was male, so no. The panel-beaters said that they have a lot of work at the moment and the majority of it resulting from kangaroos!

Good to hear you were not injured. I don't know how much a kangaroo weighs, but I guess it is a bigger animal than I imagine - I've never actually seen one in real life.

In Norway we have the same problem with moose (or elk as it is called in Europe) crossing the roads - they can weigh up to 450 kg. My brother hit one a few years ago, the head of the animal crashed through the windscreen on the passenger side, just centimetres from my brother's head. Luckily he was not injured, but the car was destroyed.

I don't believe kangaroos are that big, that is compared to moose/elk. I think kangaroos can weigh up to 85kg (as per Wikipedia) but I question this. I would've thought heavier. Still, hitting one can do a hell of a lot of damage. If it weren't for my computer ineptitude I'd upload a pic, but I can't be bothered learning, not worth the hours it would take me to get up to speed (even if someone say it's easy it will take me hours and frustrate me). Glad I didn't hit a 450 kg moose or elk. On that note, I've recently discovered after discussions with what happened to others that, believe it or not, wombats can do an incredible amount of damage to cars too (don't get my wrong, I do care for animals too). Apparently it's like hitting a large rock that rips apart the underneath of a car. Ouch (for both the car and the wombat). Thanks for your sympathy Ogrim

[Carmody]

PM
wombats can do an incredible amount of damage to cars too (don't get my wrong, I do care for animals too). Apparently it's like hitting a large rock that rips apart the underneath of a car. Ouch (for both the car and the wombat).

In NY State in the USA, it is the same problem with deer.

[PeterMollenburg]

So I’ve been getting back into Dutch lately. Well that is to say, more consistent with the language. Watching a little TV, doing a little Glossika and reading to the children. It’s making me wonder some things with Dutch and French, as it’s now definitely time to continue with Dutch with my children, I don’t want to wait any longer with the eldest nearly 5 now. So going on solo French missions is no longer an option.

My Dutch skills it seems are pretty much a lot worse then I thought. 8 years of attrition has been worse than I expected. It shows when I read. There’s a LOT of words I no longer recognise - well I recognise them, kind of, but I don’t know their meanings anymore. Once upon a time I did.

I’m sure picking up the good old Dutch language courses I used to use would bring back the (false) confidence. However, compared to French (very speedy reading for the most part, with children’s books), Dutch lags dismally. Okay, to be expected and I’m certainly not worried about it. But I wanted to mention plans.

As we’re soon to settle back into a routine I’m expecting to have 2 hours a day of language study time on average. I’ve made it my intention to read for 30 minutes in each language every day to my children as my first (or most important) hour of study. I want to do this as I’ll be away from home (during the majority of the day) more than my wife over the course of the week. To me the most important hour of study therefore will be an hour of reading to them (30 min each language) each day. This way I’m helping them learn and helping myself, and I don’t create a situation where they simply 1. lose French ability due to insufficient quality exposure. 2. never even come to understand any Dutch.

What’s left (another hour? maybe two, but unlikely two) will be geared towards advancing whichever language(s) i’m actively studying to advance in.

I think it could be highly beneficial to use that extra hour or two solely for Dutch. That is, if I want my Dutch to catch up to my French and become a usable family third language as well as one that may lead to employment opportunities, if we go down the Belgian track. There would be slight concerns that my French would slip back somewhat, surviving on only 30 min day of children’s books and other native content during stolen moments (that could be a lot, could be little).

I could also argue that that extra hour or so would push my French towards more advanced levels, were I to solely use it for French (unliklely, but speaking hypothetically), because, although I’ve studied for years on end now, I do feel it has not really reached a lofty advanced plateau aka C1/C2. However, were I to specifically study for one of these exams over 6 months or so during that extra hour or so, I’d assume I’d be able to pass such an exam. I have considered going into translation and or interpreting in future, and French that continues to progress is only going to help, but still, it’s not urgent at this stage.

Then there’s the divided approach. That is, after 30min reading in each language to the children (i.e. 1 hour total a day), the 2nd hour could be rotated between French and Dutch. Either equally, or with one language taking the majority of the time.

I could divide the time within a day. 30min Dutch 30 min French again, one language per day, one languge for 5 out of 7 days/week, the other for the remaining two days. One language (eg French) put aside for an entire month (meaning for that extra hour of study) every 2nd month, so as not to fall back... while the other (eg Dutch) moves ahead.

Just airing some thoughts on plans there. I’m not super stressed about this and if I find no definitive solution here i’m sure I’ll work it out. However if you have any ideas, I wouldn’t mind hearing them. I won’t necessarily follow your advice, but i’d like to hear from you. Good thing i’m no longer going to learn Arabic (nor Spanish, Norwegian, German), okay at least for now. Wow, i’m running into that problem - TIME!!!

Edit: Hey, who am I kidding! Time has always been an issue, even with one language!

[Cenwalh]

What do you read to your children and to what extent to they understand it? Do you try and speak languages other than English outside of bedtime stories with your kids? Do they ever speak in a foreign language?

[PeterMollenburg]

What do you read to your children and to what extent to they understand it? Do you try and speak languages other than English outside of bedtime stories with your kids? Do they ever speak in a foreign language?

Various children’s books from simple stories on occasion opening flaps to read what’s beneath, so my 2 year old has a bit of fun, to longer stories such as Disney stories like the Jungle Book, Roald Dahl’s ‘L’Énorme Crocodile’, stories by Pierre Probst, Antoon Krings, the Martine series, La Fée Coquillette series, more educational content such as a book on dinosaurs, one about New Caledonia and the people, animals and plants there, or a book on the earth. Sometimes longer books like Le Petit Prince over several sessions.

Since their respective births I’ve only ever used French communicating with my children. They only use French with me. I am introducing Dutch with some short stories and simple Dutch phrases and nouns with French explanations.

They speak English with their mum, in society and with family and friends.

Up to this point TV has been perhaps 50/50 French/English. I’ve started to introduce some Dutch TV.

Music/nursery rhymes are perhaps 60% French, 40% English.

I’m considering of shifting towards making every second day or week entirely Dutch (with the other days/weeks remaining French). My wife will continue with English. If I go down that path, I’m also considering that on my Dutch days, that simply everything be in Dutch including all reading and stories, TV, and any of my studying. Likewise with the French days. This way there is immersion and I can solidly focus on improving each language 50% of the time.

[Cenwalh]

That's very interesting. No doubt your work with them in French will put them in good stead to have a very high level of French later in life which will be very useful. I wonder if they'll pick up your French accent, or whether TV watching will bring them closer to native like speech, perhaps somewhere in the middle.

Dutch will be interesting as well with the small amount they'll be exposed to it, I wonder how that will translate into fluency in the language for them

[PeterMollenburg]

That's very interesting. No doubt your work with them in French will put them in good stead to have a very high level of French later in life which will be very useful. I wonder if they'll pick up your French accent, or whether TV watching will bring them closer to native like speech, perhaps somewhere in the middle.

Additionally, my eldest attended French playgroup, then kindergarten-like classes once a week for two years with native teachers. Our living situation has not been a settled consistent one now for a number of months, so she’s not been able to attend for a while. Still, on more than one occasion native speakers have commented that my daughter’s French is like that of a native child and that she speaks better than French children with one or both French native speakers as parents living in Australia. I’m sure native children in France would be ahead of her, but she does pretty well all the same, and I don’t believe it would take too much to bridge that gap, were we in a francophone country for a while.

As for accent, I’d like to think I barely have any noticeable accent. In truth, there probably is some evidence of my origins. However being as objective as I can as the subject, as an example, I believe the difference between my French (aiming for Parisian) accent and that of a native speaker’s from Paris, is likely much smaller and much less obvious than a French native from a rural setting in the south of France - who obviously, unlike me, I know, isn’t aiming to speak like a Parisian, but still.

Dutch will be interesting as well with the small amount they'll be exposed to it, I wonder how that will translate into fluency in the language for them

Yes, I wonder too. Time will tell, but boundaries, effort and quality exposure will be essential for success.

Thanks for stopping by, Cenwalh.

[PeterMollenburg]

Well, we’re still not in our own place yet...

...but we will be next week. We’ve a nice house to rent in my old school hometown, and speaking of old schools, it’s right near where I went to high school. Also, the job front is looking very positive. I can straight transfer for one job for the company I’ve been working for for almost a few years, while I’ve had an interview in the local hospital and should get a position there too, I feel.

French and Dutch are my language focuses now. I must continue to advance my French, as I’d hate not to take it further. Whilst I’m keen to now work consistently to resurrect my Dutch with good amounts of daily learning. I’m looking forward to having our own space again and getting into a good routine of regular focused language study, exercise, and hopefully work that I’ll be satisfied with for the most part at least fir a couple of years.

I’m toying with the idea of doing a little Spanish and Norwegian, but knowing my learning styles and other things that will be pulling at me for time on a regular basis, I could struggle for time just with French and Dutch, so I don’t think that will happen. Taking French further and bringing Dutch up to B2 will take a good deal of regular daily study.

That’s me for now.