A language learners’ forum

Chung wrote:I think that it'd be worth trading off ambition with making progress. It's feel great to get a ton of books in short order from Amazon in your favourite subject but then you realize that you need to balance your enthusiasm with a comfortable amount of effort or discipline to make progress. I'm learning Italian right now, which as easy as it is for someone who's fluent in French, I still need to build confidence in what I'm using. If you're finding the FSI phonology course too boring, and Assimil a little much, why not try the DLI Frech Headstart for Belgium? These courses are meant for military or diplomatic personnel assigned to work outside the USA. The goal of these courses is to teach Americans to sound less gringo, know how to read signs, and use the language for survival or basic interactions in their foreign postings. I'm using the Italian version right now, and I really like it because it focuses on mastering a handful of useful sentence patterns (and their vocabulary) through a lot of repetition and manipulation. It's a good way to kill about 30 minutes as a beginning learner when working through a textbook isn't that appealing. It's not as sterile or dull as doing pure pronunciation drills with isolated words or nonsense syllables but it's not as overwhelming as making me juggle a ton of basics in the unit while still training my ear (and mouth) for native pronunciation and word order.

Each module contains language for a situation typical of someone being abroad for the first time and is subdivided into 4 units with each unit anchored by a short dialogue (5 or 6 lines). In addition to making you repeat the phrases in each line, you get lots of exercises based on the dialogue (repetition, translation, substitution or transformation). It works well for me with my lowered expectations because of the emphasis on learning the bare basics with only a minimum of grammar instruction. A minor irritant is the occasional bit of military or vocabulary terminology (I've already learned to say things like No, lavoro alla NATO "No, I work for NATO" in response to Lavora al quartier generale, Tenente? "Do you work at headquarters, Lieutenant?") but I can easily replace the ranks and organizations with civilian items such as signor(e) "Mr." or la banca "the bank" and it's just fine.

Anyway, however it goes, bon succès!

sfuqua wrote:What a wonderful log!

Assimil will take you all the way to reading French. Have you tried shadowing it?
Have you looked at glossika? I don't really recommend their current setup; it costs way too much for studying one language. Perhaps someone still has a physical copy of their original course that they could legally sell you. Glossika isn't really a language course, but it does help with fluency.

zjones wrote:

Chung wrote:I think that it'd be worth trading off ambition with making progress. It's feel great to get a ton of books in short order from Amazon in your favourite subject but then you realize that you need to balance your enthusiasm with a comfortable amount of effort or discipline to make progress. I'm learning Italian right now, which as easy as it is for someone who's fluent in French, I still need to build confidence in what I'm using. If you're finding the FSI phonology course too boring, and Assimil a little much, why not try the DLI Frech Headstart for Belgium? These courses are meant for military or diplomatic personnel assigned to work outside the USA. The goal of these courses is to teach Americans to sound less gringo, know how to read signs, and use the language for survival or basic interactions in their foreign postings. I'm using the Italian version right now, and I really like it because it focuses on mastering a handful of useful sentence patterns (and their vocabulary) through a lot of repetition and manipulation. It's a good way to kill about 30 minutes as a beginning learner when working through a textbook isn't that appealing. It's not as sterile or dull as doing pure pronunciation drills with isolated words or nonsense syllables but it's not as overwhelming as making me juggle a ton of basics in the unit while still training my ear (and mouth) for native pronunciation and word order.

Each module contains language for a situation typical of someone being abroad for the first time and is subdivided into 4 units with each unit anchored by a short dialogue (5 or 6 lines). In addition to making you repeat the phrases in each line, you get lots of exercises based on the dialogue (repetition, translation, substitution or transformation). It works well for me with my lowered expectations because of the emphasis on learning the bare basics with only a minimum of grammar instruction. A minor irritant is the occasional bit of military or vocabulary terminology (I've already learned to say things like No, lavoro alla NATO "No, I work for NATO" in response to Lavora al quartier generale, Tenente? "Do you work at headquarters, Lieutenant?") but I can easily replace the ranks and organizations with civilian items such as signor(e) "Mr." or la banca "the bank" and it's just fine.

Anyway, however it goes, bon succès!

Thank you for stopping by, and for the suggestion! I probably wasn't clear in my first post, but some of the resources I listed in the beginning of the log weren't new to me, namely Coffee Break French and Easy French grammar book. Assimil is my only recently-acquired resource, and instead of being too much, I'm finding that the beginning lessons are too easy for me. I flew through the first 10 lessons in a few days, but decided to pace myself after that, in order to fill in any of my false beginner gaps.

However, my speaking skills are very weak, so I really appreciate the link to the DLI French Headstart for Belgium! I wonder if it would be appropriate for me since I am learning France French, and I'm not familiar enough with Belgian French to know if there are differences apart from the number systems. Do you have an opinion on that?

zjones wrote:7 mai 2018

Man, I'm really hung up on my expectations for French. I know that I'm happier when I let go of my expectations and just enjoy the journey, but unfortunately this is something that I need to re-learn over and over again in many different areas of my life. I ran into this issue with fitness recently; I started exercising because it was good for me, but then I saw some positive aesthetic changes in my body and became obsessed with looking stronger and more fit. When I wasn't seeing the muscle gain that I was expecting, I was disappointed and my confidence plummeted. I had to stop thinking in terms of aesthetic changes and instead consider my progress in terms of the weight I can lift and the way my body feels.

With French, I don't trust myself or my language learning methods. I have some solid beginner level resources (Assimil, two grammar books, graded readers) but I'm constantly questioning whether they're improving my French enough. Perfectionism at its finest.

I think that if I trust my daily routine, putting in time and effort and allowing myself to be a learner, I'll end up in a good place no matter where it is. Beginner's mind, right? Besides, I started French because I love it. I want to enjoy every moment spent learning this intriguing and beautiful language, even when it's challenging and I make mistakes.

Sgt Schultz wrote:What I end up finding out was that it's more important to do something each day and not worry about what that something is as long as I was enjoying it. Over time each little bit I did added up and formed a solid base. I think the most important thing in this phase of study is to find something (or some things) that you enjoy doing every day and keep doing it.

Sgt Schultz wrote:When I learned my first language, Spanish, I felt the same way. I jumped from one course to another, second guessing if I picked the right method, right course, etc. What I end up finding out was that it's more important to do something each day and not worry about what that something is as long as I was enjoying it. Over time each little bit I did added up and formed a solid base. I think the most important thing in this phase of study is to find something (or some things) that you enjoy doing every day and keep doing it.

Another thing that might help, after each month of study look back at what you studied 1 month ago. If it seems easy, you're making progress. That helped keep me motivated and assured me that what I was doing was working.