Zelda's French Log (+ Modern Greek)

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
zjones
Green Belt
Posts: 483
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:22 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), French (B1-certified), Spanish and Greek (abandoned)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9860
x 1404

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:17 pm

First of all, don't worry about cluttering up my log. This entire conversation applies to me as well, since I know next-to-nothing about the CLE books.

Cavesa wrote:Les Trois Mousquetaires was a pleasant read and I was surprised how easy the book felt, compared to some other classics I have read. Except for a few things, like the way people address each other, it felt as if it had been written recently. I'd say it is a very good choice for you. And I loved the book! I am looking forward to reading your opinion :-)


It's funny you should mention the ease of reading Les Trois Mousquetaires. While reading the introduction, I could barely believe I was reading a book written in the early 1800's. Then I flipped over to the English translation, and wow, the style felt much more formal and old-fashioned. I wonder if I'm just not familiar enough with French to recognize older styles of writing. It's like my brain doesn't have the immediate reaction of "Oh s***, this is an old book." Which is fine with me. :D
1 x

User avatar
Carmody
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1747
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 am
Location: NYC, NY
Languages: English (N)
French (B1)
Language Log: http://tinyurl.com/zot7wrs
x 3395

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby Carmody » Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:42 pm

Cavesa

I have just bought the two books and they should arrive by Aug. 29.
Thank you for your guidance.

Zelda-
1-Thank you for the use of your space.
2-You have the most beautiful French accent of any American I have ever heard speak French. You give me "bon courage" as a result of your wonderful accent. Seriously.
1 x

Cavesa
Black Belt - 4th Dan
Posts: 4960
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:46 am
Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
x 17566

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby Cavesa » Sun Aug 26, 2018 12:04 am

zjones wrote:
Cavesa wrote:Les Trois Mousquetaires was a pleasant read and I was surprised how easy the book felt, compared to some other classics I have read. Except for a few things, like the way people address each other, it felt as if it had been written recently. I'd say it is a very good choice for you. And I loved the book! I am looking forward to reading your opinion :-)


It's funny you should mention the ease of reading Les Trois Mousquetaires. While reading the introduction, I could barely believe I was reading a book written in the early 1800's. Then I flipped over to the English translation, and wow, the style felt much more formal and old-fashioned. I wonder if I'm just not familiar enough with French to recognize older styles of writing. It's like my brain doesn't have the immediate reaction of "Oh s***, this is an old book." Which is fine with me. :D


I think the translation is one of the two things to blame, you're absolutely right. I had first read Dumas in translation. It felt slightly archaic but I liked that, I don't think I would like to read a more contemporary Czech translation now, it would feel weird, despite the French original being perhaps closer to such a new translation than the old fashioned one :-D

The other is a certain prejudice most of us seem to have concerning classical literature and music and other arts. And that prejudice is usually heavily supported by schools, their curricula, and teaching methods. We expect the classics to be automatically archaic and boring. But the novels by A.Dumas (just like operas by Mozart for example) were pop culture back in those days. Actually, I believe that many classics, for example some of the novels by A.Dumas, would have a harsher time becoming classics today, I guess many critics would consider them low genre books "just for fun" instead. :-D The books are full of adventure and thrill and imagination, they are not primarily meant to depress the reader by depicting the worst faults of the society or the human being, or to confuse our minds with an overly complicated style, or to make us analyse every word ad nauseam.
5 x

User avatar
zjones
Green Belt
Posts: 483
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:22 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), French (B1-certified), Spanish and Greek (abandoned)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9860
x 1404

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Sun Aug 26, 2018 5:02 pm

Cavesa wrote:Intermediaire for both. I don't think you would profit much from the débutant book, it has fewer content and overlaps a lot with the intermediaire book, if I remember correctly. I was also using the older editions, except for the Perfectionnement books, without a CD, but I think the audio part could be very useful. I don't think there will be too many differences between the editions other than added colours.


I have a question about these CLE books, since they are a pain to purchase. Is there any reason I should avoid the 4th edition? Everyone seems to be talking about the 3rd editions. They are the same price on Amazon (including the answer books).
1 x

User avatar
zjones
Green Belt
Posts: 483
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:22 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), French (B1-certified), Spanish and Greek (abandoned)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9860
x 1404

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:43 pm

Upon taking some time to look into German (using the search feature of this forum), I find myself simultaneously attracted and terrified by the thought of learning a third language. I have so many questions. Will my French suffer? Should I double-down on my French instead of learning another language? And more importantly, am I just using German to distract myself from the growing fear that I'm inherently terrible at French and will never be able to reach B2?

I'm just not sure if I should go ahead and hunt this German trail (which, to be fair, is one of my more sane language whims, especially after considering Arabic and Swahili) or not. French will always be my true love, and I don't think I'll stop learning and using French if I start German, but I still need to consider the time and effort involved in learning a new language.

Learning German Pros:

  • I will have learned both a Germanic and a Romantic language, which will give me a solid base for moving on to even more European languages if that's what I decide to do.
  • In general, I like German culture and German products.
  • I can continue working on my family's genealogy, because there are lots of dead ends that end in Germany (and none, coincidentally, that end in France, boo-hoo).
  • I will be able to read in yet another language! Yay, fun!

Learning German Cons:

  • I'll have to spread my study time between German and French.
  • Learning German costs money (I know there are free resources, but I want Assimil and a grammar book).
  • As with French, there aren't native German speakers in this area, and I'll have to go out of my way to find uses for this language.
  • I might have to admit to Germans that I hate German food.

If I do decide to go ahead and learn German, I've been looking Assimil's German books. I'm not sure if I should get the French version (L'allemand Sans Peine) and ladder the languages at this point, or if I should go ahead and get the English version. I'm not sure of my exact reading level in French, but I'm reading Harry Potter with ease, and Les Trois Mousquetaires with... substantially less ease. So I guess I'm somewhere in the B1 range.

I would be interested in hearing anyone's opinions.
1 x

User avatar
reineke
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3570
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:34 pm
Languages: Fox (C4)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=6979
x 6554

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby reineke » Sun Aug 26, 2018 9:03 pm

Didn't you receive Assimil French only about three months ago? You may discover you like Austrian food and coffee culture.
0 x

User avatar
zjones
Green Belt
Posts: 483
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:22 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), French (B1-certified), Spanish and Greek (abandoned)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9860
x 1404

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Sun Aug 26, 2018 10:10 pm

reineke wrote:Didn't you receive Assimil French only about three months ago? You may discover you like Austrian food and coffee culture.


Yes, I did. I'm not sure what your point is.
2 x

User avatar
zjones
Green Belt
Posts: 483
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:22 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), French (B1-certified), Spanish and Greek (abandoned)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9860
x 1404

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:18 am

Morgana wrote:
zjones wrote:Being really solid in your wants, why you want them, and whether or not what you want and how you want it is realistic for your life can help you figure out what to do here.


Thanks Morgana, your post and the questions contained therein are very helpful. :)
0 x

User avatar
zjones
Green Belt
Posts: 483
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:22 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), French (B1-certified), Spanish and Greek (abandoned)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9860
x 1404

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Tue Aug 28, 2018 11:54 pm

I've decided not to go forward with German at this point. I think I'm capable, but I want to solidify my intermediate French routine first. I've been floundering a lot since completing Assimil.
5 x

User avatar
zjones
Green Belt
Posts: 483
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:22 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), French (B1-certified), Spanish and Greek (abandoned)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9860
x 1404

Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Wed Aug 29, 2018 9:50 pm

Just placed an order for CLE Grammaire Progressive du Français Niveau Intermédiaire 3e (ugh, I hate how unwieldy that name is) and the answer book from Amazon. It cost about $60, and I was able to throw in some toothpaste and get free shipping for the whole thing. I was also intrigued by CLE's Compréhension Orale series, but I think I'll wait to see how I like the grammar book first.

I also ordered one copy of the revue XXI, the French "slow journalism" magazine I've been eyeing. I picked one that seemed to be about the political divide in France, although I was just going by the vague magazine title and accompanying art. With shipping it came to 18 euros. Now I just have to wait! :shock:
5 x


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests