Resolution: re-establish my skills in French

[MrsStarez]

I wasn't going to write on this every week, but I'm finding myself in a virtuous circle of putting in more effort and reaping rewards, so wanted to show off share.

I've discovered the Grande Reportage podcasts on iTunes, and have listened to several of them in the car. They're really interesting, and I've learned a lot along the way, not just French, but about news from around the world. What I have found though, is that I can get fixated on a particular word, which then sends my mind in other directions. My A Level French teacher particularly liked the verb "craindre", which seemed to pop up a lot and set off all sorts of sixth-form-based nostalgia.

With my former teacher in mind, I've also started having France Inter on in the background whilst I've been working at home. Every week, we would take in a cassette tape for her to record the news. Our homework would be to take a dictée and answer questions about the news report. I'm delighted that the same news reader, Claire Servajean, is still there after a good twenty years or more! As I've been working, I haven't been listening intently, but I figure that it's a good way of soaking up the language. I'd recommend downloading the France Inter app as you can listen live as well as to programmes which have already been broadcast, and there are plenty of news articles to read.

There are so many online resources; I wish that these had been around when I was at university. Getting a slot in the language lab to listen to pre-recorded material was never easy.

So, my confidence is building rapidly. I make a point of speaking to French colleagues in French, and in the space of a week, one of them has said that I'm notably more "fluide". More internal e-mails too, which I've run through grammar checks, which just been highlighting pesky missing accents. If that's the only area that it can pick me up on, then I'm happy that I'm making progress. I may brave sending a mail to a client next week.

[MrsStarez]

Little time for actual studying this week, as work, in the main, got in the way of any free time I might otherwise have dedicated to French. But, on the plus side, when I've been working, I've been checking some translations (done by someone else) and had a conversation with a supplier in French, so that was all good.

One of my favourite programmes on Radio 4 is "More or Less", and I just happened upon this article, from an episode which was broadcast earlier on this year - UK members might be able to find it on the BBC iPlayer. It’s all about how many words you need to know to be counted as “proficient” in a language.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-44569277

There are also a few links to some online quizzes to check proficiency in a language - it might be worth a look...

[zjones]

Ah ha, I found your log! I didn't think you had one, and I was about to recommend that you start. Now I can keep up with all your progress!

[MrsStarez]

How annoying! I’ve written this post twice now and it’s disappeared as I went to post it!

Anyway, November update…

Speaking… a real mixed bag, with two steps forward and one step back. I’m running a project in France and had a really good conversation with the supplier, where she didn’t have to ask me to repeat or explain anything, and her answers to my questions made sense vs what I’d asked, so therefore I must have done well! The following day though, I’d discovered what I thought was a major snafu on a different project (it wasn’t: everything turned out fine), and almost immediately bumped into my sympathetic French colleague. I tried to talk to her but was so distracted, my performance was little short of abysmal. I saw her yesterday and automatically reverted to English, but later explained to her (in French writing, over Google hangouts) that I’d only had 4.5 hours’ sleep and knew that I’d end up messing up again if I tried when I was so exhausted. It’s looking likely that there’s a trip to a French-speaking part of Switzerland on the cards with work, so even if I only have to speak in the airport or a café, it’ll be good practice.

Listening… not much time for TV watching, so I’ve still only watched two episodes of Marseille on Netflix. I like to have the TV on if I’m doing the ironing, but I need to actively watch French programmes, rather than just have them on in the background. On the plus side, lots of commuting in the car means that I’ve had plenty of time to listen to Le Grand Reportage, which I’m really enjoying. I’ve found though, that my understanding is very much linked to whether or not I’m interested in the subject. I love cooking, so have been enjoying On Va Déguster, and was entertained for an hour on the way home this evening by people talking about… cauliflower. There were some good recipes, so I may have to re-listen.

Reading/writing… this is where I feel I’m strongest, so although I’ve not done much here, I don’t feel like I’m missing out. I enjoy the weekly homework challenges on Lawless French, and can see my scores improving. I’ve also received my copy of Assimil Using French in the post. Although the lessons are really short, I’m struggling to find the time to complete one on a daily basis, as is recommended. But I can see that this is a useful tool and will resolve to make better use of it – if I ever get some of my non-working time free!

[StringerBell]

How annoying! I’ve written this post twice now and it’s disappeared as I went to post it!

I think the new "fix" to the forum might have a kink, because this keeps happening to me, too (I thought it was just my problem). Until it gets fixed, I discovered that if I write a post, click "submit" and then it redirects me to login again and it seems like all is lost, I just click twice on that arrow to return to the previous page and it brings me back to what I wrote, and for some reason allows me to post it without having to login again.

[MrsStarez]

Aha! I wrote it in Word in the end and copy/pasted

[Iversen]

You have to clear your webbrowser cache

[rdearman]

Two things. First as Iverson said, clear your browser cache, which should fix your problem here. Also to save what you've written online (for all websites) you might want to consider installing Lazarus plugin for Firefox. Which you can read about here.

There are similar things for other web-browsers, but because Firefox runs on every operating system I only use it. So regardless if I'm using Linux (Yay!), Windows (meh), or Apple (Yuk!) I don't have to relearn all the shortcut keys or menu options or interface. Well, except for some commands on Crapple since it doesn't have a right mouse button like a real computer.

[MrsStarez]

Okay, I’ll admit I have very little clue as to what you mean, but I appreciate the help. I’m a bit of a technophobe in terms of the inner workings of these systems!

[Neurotip]

Also to save what you've written online (for all websites) you might want to consider installing Lazarus plugin for Firefox.

Woe! Lazarus appears to be dead (wrt Firefox Quantum anyway). There do appear to be alternatives though.