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

[PeterMollenburg]

Peter. I logged into the database and I can see that you are registered. Possibly something Twitter related as to why you didn't get the reply, but you must follow @langchallenge to see replies.

mysql> select * from Participants where UserName like '%Peter%';
+-----------------+------------------+----------+----------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+------------+-------+
| UserName | DisplayName | FeedData | Location | ImageUrl | WebsiteUrl | About |
+-----------------+------------------+----------+----------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+------------+-------+
| PeterMollenburg | Peter Mollenburg | | | http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/790 ... normal.jpg | | |
+-----------------+------------------+----------+----------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.16 sec)

Thanks rdearman,

That also definitely helps

I am indeed following @languagechallenge. Seems like i'm on my way to figuring it out with some handy input from others. But hey, if winning this SC comes down to the wire on the last day, because let's face it, no-one reads faster than me... yet... , well I might be suing to recover my lost morning of activity, because being fixated on the functionality of the Twitter Bot was not my way of procrastinating and was definitely not my fault. My reputation is on the line here and my life's work! If I don't win , it will be the fault of the Bot, not mine! Naturally if we do get to the end of the challenge and i'm a little way down the leaderboard, well obviously then it's Big Pharma's fault and the Matrix attempting to control my destiny. Bastards! I'll show them how much I can read!

[PeterMollenburg]

It’s time

[Fortheo]

It’s time

To party?

[BalancingAct]

To rotate.

[smallwhite]

to ignore the squirrels.

[Ani]

Hey -- not to distract you from studying or anything ... I was going to post a general question but then I thought maybe I should just ask you since you'll surely know. This is little more than complete curiosity. Do you know, or is there a resume somewhere, of the grammar covered in Michel Thomas French? I get mixed up on the names of the different programs he has -- foundation, total, advanced -- or however they go. But in general, if you had all of his French works.

Hope all is well for you

[PeterMollenburg]

Hey -- not to distract you from studying or anything ... I was going to post a general question but then I thought maybe I should just ask you since you'll surely know. This is little more than complete curiosity. Do you know, or is there a resume somewhere, of the grammar covered in Michel Thomas French? I get mixed up on the names of the different programs he has -- foundation, total, advanced -- or however they go. But in general, if you had all of his French works.

Hope all is well for you

Hi Ani,

There are long stretches in which it’s near impossible for me to study much at all. Now is one of those stretches, so no, there’s no distracting me currently as I can’t get to my studies (They’re across the other side of the ‘Impossible Jungle’, packed with cloud hopping monkeys, sabre-tooth fairies, sharks with three front feet, and of course, super fast sloths who hunt with bow and arrows and come complete with middle names, yet no first nor last names).

I have transcripts of the three levels I own (in order of progression):
1. “Total French”,
2. “Perfect French”, and
3. “Masterclass French”.

I believe there is another level in there which is basically the first two or four CDs of “Total French”, and is like an introduction, which I saw as useless as it’s contained within “Total French” anyway. Further to that, I believe the names of all the levels have changed numerous times and the three I’ve listed above are no longer the current titles, yet I’d imagine the content likely remains identical.

I used MT for Dutch as well, but only one level was available, and it went under another name too, as it was an earlier release. For the more popular languages, there’s more content, which equates to more levels.

I never recall referring to a grammar outline of sorts during my use of these courses, but that’s not to say there isn’t one. The transcripts I mentioned above have no hints on that, just transcripts and that’s it.

Out of all the French courses I have used, MT at a complete guess probably occupied considerably less than 0.5% of my course time, if that, so I’m not completely up to speed on them, their accompanying resources or supplements and even their content to a degree, as I used them perhaps two or three times straight through and quickly moved onto the next course. Sorry I am not of much help!

Edit: I also own MT “French Vocabulary Course”, and can’t even remember what it was like. It’s highly likely a waste of money and you’re better of reading, using SRS or word lists. The rest of MT for the record I found rather well done and great for quick activation of various verb tenses burried within commonly used sentences.

[Ani]

Ok thanks! Yeah there doesn't seem to be much on what grammar they cover. I was just mentally wondering on comparisons in grammar content between other courses of similar style like Alaric Hall's Icelandic and Language Transfer and how I would have learned differently if I had a time machine :-p and what those results would have been... Pointless exercise of course.

Good luck getting back into study.. I'm finding motivation is running thin right now myself.

[PeterMollenburg]

Ok thanks! Yeah there doesn't seem to be much on what grammar they cover. I was just mentally wondering on comparisons in grammar content between other courses of similar style like Alaric Hall's Icelandic and Language Transfer and how I would have learned differently if I had a time machine :-p and what those results would have been... Pointless exercise of course.

Good luck getting back into study.. I'm finding motivation is running thin right now myself.

No probs...

I’ve plenty of motivation actually, it’s bubbling and stewing and... I think you get the point... or do you? it’s also... shut up PM! Anyway restrictions such as looking after children and work is what I was getting at. Don’t get me wrong the kids are welcome, work is not. And with the kids there’s French stories and TV occassionally, which I honestly enjoy. It’s strange, as time goes on I have more ability for lengthy periods of study yet less time to do so. Like you, and so many language learners, a time machine is desperately needed! Good luck with your studies Ani!

[rdearman]

Edit: I also own MT “French Vocabulary Course”, and can’t even remember what it was like. It’s highly likely a waste of money and you’re better of reading, using SRS or word lists. The rest of MT for the record I found rather well done and great for quick activation of various verb tenses burried within commonly used sentences.

Actually I found this was absolutely the best of all the MT courses for French. It is presented by an English lady with a lovely melodic voice in perfect English. There are no learners and the repetition of the phrases are done by French natives in perfect French. The courses is based on the MT method and she builds up vocabulary in the same way MT does. Seriously if I were going to recommend a MT course it would be this one, and bin all the others.