Isa's French Log + a bit of occasional ES, IT, JP or ZH
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:27 am
So I'm turning 30 tomorrow, and I used to have these plans about how many languages I'd be fluent in by the time I'd turn 30. Luckily I don't remember the exact number, so I won't beat myself up about the fact that I'm currently only confident in English and my native language German. 2 is a pretty sweet number. I was considering to take up Spanish, but since I'm old and wise now I've decided to go for quality instead of quantity (Klasse statt Masse!). Of all the languages I've studied in the past, French is the one where I see the highest potential to use it professionally during this decade or so. Let's see how this will turn out.
First goal: Stop studying French, start using French.
I've been studying French more or less actively for the past 15 years. But I never started actually using it. So that's my plan. Even though I'm writing this in English, my first step is to gradually shift most of my online activities and my media consumption to French, full out All-Japanese-All-The-Time style. I'll eventually have to force myself to go where it hurts most: Write French.
Current Level
Reading: University level for Social Sciences and Climate/Energy/Electricity related stuff; As for literature Guillaume Musso is no big deal but I totally failed at Patrick Pécherot's Belleville-Barcelone; YouTube comments and slang can be a challenge but I'm getting there.
Listening: Podcasts are fine, as are dubbed TV shows; French originals can be challenging, fast spoken French by natives speaking to each other is very hard.
Speaking: My confidence has always been the biggest issue here. It has improved a lot lately and I can now talk about a wide range of topics because I'm good at using the limited vocabulary I know efficiently. I've always aimed at functionality above perfect grammer, but I sometimes feel as if I'm using a chainsaw to sculpt my sentences. I need to start ironing out all those little mistakes and circumlocutions. This comes with broadening my vocabulary, so I won't need to use "ce truc/cette chose" in every second sentence anymore.
Writing: Abysmal. I may be able to get my point across but there won't be a single correct apostrophe, article or word ending. I'm also lazy as hell so I need to come up with a plan here.
Which brings me to resources:
Traditional study material: I'll still cheat. I never made it through the second Assimil book, so I'll finish that one first. I also like the Grammaire/Vocabulaire progressive du français series, I've worked through the blue one and I might get the brown one (perfectionnement) next.
italki: I've been doing weekly tutoring sessions for about 3 months, and that has greatly boosted my confidence and ability to actually speak and express myself in spoken French. I'll have to keep it up though.
MOOCs: I like moocs, so my plan is to always follow at least one. I'm currently following one on https://www.fun-mooc.fr about Smart Grids. This MOOC is a gold mine for me! I work in the Energy (Power) sector, so I might actually need to know such charming words as lissage or courbe de charge in the future. I can follow the MOOC because I'm mostly familiar with the concepts they present, but I'd like to get to the point where I can actively participate in the discussions.
Newpaper articles: Last week, I found a nice website that does a daily revue de presse on climate/RE related blog posts and newspaper articles, they also do a weekly moisson de papiers de recherche on climate and energy
Podcasts: I'm still looking for suggestions here. My staples for the last years have been "One thing in a French day" and "Geopolitique", but I'd like to branch out more. I've recently added "Change ma vie: Outils pour l'esprit" and "Grand Reportage" by RFI. I'm looking for something that comes close to the BBC's Global News Podcast or Inquiry, so if anyone has a suggestion I'd be happy to check that out.
Youtube: I'm finally done with le donjon de Naheulbeuk, so now I've started to follow some French speaking youtubers (Natoo, Juliette Tresanini, Cyprien, SolangeTeParle). I'd be happy about more suggestions.
lang-8 or similar sites: I'll have to go there eventually.
This post is already much longer than I intended so I'll stop now...
Cheers,
Isa
Edits: for title change
First goal: Stop studying French, start using French.
I've been studying French more or less actively for the past 15 years. But I never started actually using it. So that's my plan. Even though I'm writing this in English, my first step is to gradually shift most of my online activities and my media consumption to French, full out All-Japanese-All-The-Time style. I'll eventually have to force myself to go where it hurts most: Write French.
Current Level
Reading: University level for Social Sciences and Climate/Energy/Electricity related stuff; As for literature Guillaume Musso is no big deal but I totally failed at Patrick Pécherot's Belleville-Barcelone; YouTube comments and slang can be a challenge but I'm getting there.
Listening: Podcasts are fine, as are dubbed TV shows; French originals can be challenging, fast spoken French by natives speaking to each other is very hard.
Speaking: My confidence has always been the biggest issue here. It has improved a lot lately and I can now talk about a wide range of topics because I'm good at using the limited vocabulary I know efficiently. I've always aimed at functionality above perfect grammer, but I sometimes feel as if I'm using a chainsaw to sculpt my sentences. I need to start ironing out all those little mistakes and circumlocutions. This comes with broadening my vocabulary, so I won't need to use "ce truc/cette chose" in every second sentence anymore.
Writing: Abysmal. I may be able to get my point across but there won't be a single correct apostrophe, article or word ending. I'm also lazy as hell so I need to come up with a plan here.
Which brings me to resources:
Traditional study material: I'll still cheat. I never made it through the second Assimil book, so I'll finish that one first. I also like the Grammaire/Vocabulaire progressive du français series, I've worked through the blue one and I might get the brown one (perfectionnement) next.
italki: I've been doing weekly tutoring sessions for about 3 months, and that has greatly boosted my confidence and ability to actually speak and express myself in spoken French. I'll have to keep it up though.
MOOCs: I like moocs, so my plan is to always follow at least one. I'm currently following one on https://www.fun-mooc.fr about Smart Grids. This MOOC is a gold mine for me! I work in the Energy (Power) sector, so I might actually need to know such charming words as lissage or courbe de charge in the future. I can follow the MOOC because I'm mostly familiar with the concepts they present, but I'd like to get to the point where I can actively participate in the discussions.
Newpaper articles: Last week, I found a nice website that does a daily revue de presse on climate/RE related blog posts and newspaper articles, they also do a weekly moisson de papiers de recherche on climate and energy
Podcasts: I'm still looking for suggestions here. My staples for the last years have been "One thing in a French day" and "Geopolitique", but I'd like to branch out more. I've recently added "Change ma vie: Outils pour l'esprit" and "Grand Reportage" by RFI. I'm looking for something that comes close to the BBC's Global News Podcast or Inquiry, so if anyone has a suggestion I'd be happy to check that out.
Youtube: I'm finally done with le donjon de Naheulbeuk, so now I've started to follow some French speaking youtubers (Natoo, Juliette Tresanini, Cyprien, SolangeTeParle). I'd be happy about more suggestions.
lang-8 or similar sites: I'll have to go there eventually.
This post is already much longer than I intended so I'll stop now...
Cheers,
Isa
Edits: for title change