Zelda's French Log (+ Modern Greek)

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zjones
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:06 am

It's been awhile since I posted, since I took a trip to Seattle to meet my French language exchange partner. We had a great time and saw some beautiful places in and around Seattle. I got to practice a little French, but we mostly spoke in English since he was here for the American experience.

Since getting back from Seattle, I've renewed my efforts to find conversation partners for French. I spend several hours a day chatting with my language exchange partners. My biggest problem with this situation is that I feel like I'm wasting time, even though it's clear that I'm improving in my production skills. In addition, I've never been a very social person, and talking with others can be very draining -- doubly so when I am speaking in my TL and making tons of mistakes.

I'm considering scheduling an hour or two into my day specifically for chatting with my language partners. The rest of the time I'll be off limits, doing my own introverted things.

Yesterday, a French native told me that I seemed to be made to speak the French language. With all the hard work I've put into French, I disagree, but it made me happy to hear. :D

Wallace Falls, near Seattle, WA
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby eido » Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:20 am

The Pacific Northwest is so lovely. My favorite cartoon has made me lust after living there even more. What is your favorite part about living there? Any gripes? What is the most stereotypical thing about the area, and why? Do you say it should be? OMG, just tell me about it. Or not, you don't have to.
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:48 am

eido wrote:The Pacific Northwest is so lovely. My favorite cartoon has made me lust after living there even more. What is your favorite part about living there? Any gripes? What is the most stereotypical thing about the area, and why? Do you say it should be? OMG, just tell me about it. Or not, you don't have to.


I really love it here, honestly. My husband and I have thought about moving elsewhere (like the Northeast USA) but it's hard for me to imagine living in an area other than the Northwest. There's something about this place that feels wild at the core, probably because the landscape is so large and dangerous to traverse on foot. I also grew up here, so maybe I'm biased. On one side we have lush Seattle, on the other we have Glacier National Park and the rolling ranches of Montana. The center of Washington is a vast arid desert with some large swaths of land with Mediterranean climate that makes for great wine country.

My only gripes would be that cost-of-living in our state's largest city (Seattle) is ridiculously high and getting higher every year. Also, Seattle is kind of being overtaken by homeless in the downtown area. That's a Seattle issue though, and doesn't affect the rest of the state.

Our stereotypes? The hipster thing and the obsession with coffee is true. There is a super high percentage of hipsters here, especially young and middle-aged adults. People here love tattoos, good coffee (and most would vehemently tell you that they don't mean Starbucks), and anything indie. There's a good indie beer scene here.

Overall the area is very liberal and welcoming. Thanks for asking!
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:50 pm

I realize it's been awhile since I posted, but there hasn't been much change in my daily routine. I feel like I'm plodding up a mountain trail so gradual that I can't even tell if I'm going up or down -- a fitting metaphor with all the hiking I've been doing lately.

On July 31st I finished Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers, hooray! I have already started the second book, Harry Potter et la Chambre des Secrets, which I want to complete by August 31st. This time I'm reading on a Kindle, so I'm able to look up the words that I've seen repeated numerous times.

I am utilizing Axolot's YouTube channel to work on my listening comprehension. His videos are very high quality and they include subtitles in French. Occasionally he likes to inject dry humor into his content, said with a straight face, which makes it all the more interesting for me because I have to understand what he's saying in order to catch the joke.

I am on Lesson 105 of Assimil French With Ease, which means I have less than 2 weeks of new Assimil content left. :cry:
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:38 pm

Sometimes I wonder if breaks are useful to help solidify language knowledge. I've been feeling lackluster about my French studies, so I took a break yesterday, which was, frankly, weird. It was kind of nice not to worry about how much French I was doing, and when I came back to my studies today I felt refreshed. I wonder if having a higher proficiency affects how long you can take a break before feeling rusty.

After I finish Assimil this week, I might take a break for the entire weekend and see how I feel on Monday. I really like learning French, but I want to change things up because I've been feeling like I'm on the edge of burning out.
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon Aug 13, 2018 10:04 pm

zjones wrote:Sometimes I wonder if breaks are useful to help solidify language knowledge. I've been feeling lackluster about my French studies, so I took a break yesterday, which was, frankly, weird. It was kind of nice not to worry about how much French I was doing, and when I came back to my studies today I felt refreshed. I wonder if having a higher proficiency affects how long you can take a break before feeling rusty.


I think it's part imagination (we think we're better now than ever before), and part reality (muscles need rest in order to grow). The proficiency level definitely affects how long breaks you can take (music is my #1 interest - to begin with, I definitely don't have to "warm up" in order to play music - I've done that during "dead time" for decades. Keep me away from a guitar or a mandolin for a long time and I can still play anything I can today, and after one hour you won't hear a difference).

Enjoy your breaks!
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby Chmury » Tue Aug 14, 2018 5:26 am

zjones wrote:Sometimes I wonder if breaks are useful to help solidify language knowledge. I've been feeling lackluster about my French studies, so I took a break yesterday, which was, frankly, weird. It was kind of nice not to worry about how much French I was doing, and when I came back to my studies today I felt refreshed. I wonder if having a higher proficiency affects how long you can take a break before feeling rusty.

After I finish Assimil this week, I might take a break for the entire weekend and see how I feel on Monday. I really like learning French, but I want to change things up because I've been feeling like I'm on the edge of burning out.


I would have to agree with that line of thought. I swear having taken a few days off in the past definitely helped me to assimilate all that information that I was drilling and attempting to absorb at the time. Now that I'm a lot more physically active, something which I wasn't back then when studying Spanish intensively, I'd liken it to, or at least imagine that it's something like when you go to the gym, you work your muscles or your cardio today, but it's the next day and during days of rest that they're growing, becoming stronger, more resilient. And we do like to think of the mind as a muscle; the more you use it, I guess the more it becomes fatigued and a day of rest every now and then can only be a good thing I'd say.

And yeah, I imagine the higher your proficiency level the longer and more frequently you could take days off without ill effect, as the solid foundation is already there. If you're feeling burnt out though and umotivated, definitely have a break and don't force it. You want to love studying French and look forward to sitting down and learning new bits and pieces and having fun with the language, and not reluctantly having to make yourself do it and not enjoying the process. Enjoy those beautiful outdoors of yours!
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby Carmody » Tue Aug 14, 2018 1:43 pm

Chmury
You want to love studying French and look forward to sitting down and learning new bits and pieces and having fun with the language, and not reluctantly having to make yourself do it and not enjoying the process. Enjoy those beautiful outdoors of yours!
Yes, yes, yes.
And thank you.
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zjones
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Thu Aug 16, 2018 5:08 pm

I am finished with Assimil New French With Ease! (Throws confetti in the air.) Of course this does not mean I am finished with the second wave, but with all 113 lessons. I completed the course within a few days of the deadline I set for myself when I first received the book, which means I averaged one lesson per day. I LOVED the last 12 lessons because they followed a French couple through the process of moving to Paris and getting new jobs. I felt quite attached to Jean-Michel and Claude by the end of the book.

My next plan is to continue the second wave and review past lessons as I see fit, after taking a few days off. Native media is now consumable in written form, so I'm focusing on reading in French. My conversational practice has decreased due to the huge amount of social effort it requires, and I want to focus on comprehension for now.

I also got a free trial of Audible, so I can get two audiobooks for free (yes yes, I am such a shameless free-trial user...). I have already purchased the delightful and tragic Great Courses program on the Revolution and Napoleon, but I also want something in French. Something by Alexandre Dumas, perhaps? Or a modern novel, like Une fille comme elle? I worry that any classics, particularly something by Dumas, would be too difficult and contain too much ancient vocabulary, but maybe someone can correct me. Any recommendations are appreciated. I would be supplementing the French audio book with a Kindle book as well, so I would be able look up any unknown words.

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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby rdearman » Thu Aug 16, 2018 5:31 pm

Because you can get the classics for free on librivox I would be inclined to get something new for your free trial.
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