SladeWilson wrote:Starting to read BDs is my prime motivator at the moment.
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It might be a long shot asking, but I've noticed a lot of people who read lots of American comics know enough about the work of certain writers and artists. You did mention Moebius and Alejandro Jodorowski and. I was wondering if you or someone have other artists or writers you'd recommend.
If you're into comics, manga, and graphic novels, then French is definitely a good language to learn! The French-speaking world publishes a lot of titles, across many genres, and there's some excellent work.
If you're into the whole Moebius/Jodorowski vibe, then you definitely want to check out the whole
Métal hurlant scene from the 70s and 80s, as zenmonkey suggested. This was hugely influential French magazine which inspired films (at least 3?), comics, the US magazine
Heavy Metal, and all kinds of other surrealist SF around the world. These works often involve dystopian futures, nudity, graphic violence, and fairly inexplicable plots. If you're
really into this sort of surrealist SF, and if you like experimental and artistic comics, then keep reading BDs and look up Enki Bilal a year from now.
SladeWilson wrote:Kenya, on the other hand, I'm missing surprisingly little here. It's more approachable. I know most of the words, it's likely I'm not understanding every instance a word is used differently, e.g. "Le monde est bien plus riche qu'on ne le croit!" I don't quite get the use of bien in this sentence. I would guess the sentence says "The world/everyone is (well) richer than we think!" But /well richer/ just feels weird in English. It's these difference I need to get used to more than anything. I tend most of the time to have one definition per French word I know, so when it gets used in another way I blank. But Kenya seems pretty approachable to me right now actually, based on the first five pages. I'm glad you mentioned it.
I'm glad you found an approachable book!
That's also a great sentence that you found:
Le monde est bien plus riche qu'on ne le croit! "The world is much richer than we believe." In particular,
bien is a versatile little world, and if you keep reading, you'll rapidly get a feel for how the French use it. As I'm sure you're quickly realizing, the best that a word-for-word translation can reasonably be expected to do is to get you into the general ballpark! Context and sheer exposure will help you to get used to the word, and it won't seem nearly so strange the 200th time you see it.
Looking at your mini-profile, is this the first time you've gotten into native media in a new language? If so, here are a few observations and bits of advice, in no particular order. Please ignore these if they don't seem helpful!
- Don't hesitate to try a bunch of different books until you find ones that capture your attention. Using native media at A2 often requires shopping around a bunch.
- If you do find a series that you like, and if you want to binge on 15 volumes, then go for it! It will get rapidly easier as you get used to the story and to the author's style. This is a technique called "narrow reading", and it can be very useful to establish a comprehension "beachhead" before gradually broadening out to other authors and genres.
- A good rule of thumb for looking up words: Look up any words that you need to know in order to follow the plot, and look up any words that are becoming annoyingly familiar without actually becoming any more comprehensible. But feel free to skip words and guess, too—much will become clear with further exposure.
- If you're a perfectionist, let it go.
There's a time to be a perfectionist about understanding everything (around C1 comprehension, when you want to fill in annoying little gaps). And there's a time to pick whatever low-hanging fruit you can reach, and to have faith that your brain will do a lot of the work for you, if only you expose it to enough French.
I'm not saying to never use a grammar book.
Essential French Grammar is US$2 well spent. And if you like seeing stuff all laid out clearly, it's an excellent supplement to Assimil. But if you indulge yourself and wallow in cool graphic novels, you'll probably find that grammar study gets a lot easier, and that your intuition will help you more when you do study. Assimil lessons will feel more like reminders or clarifications, and less like intimidating lists of stuff that you have to learn somehow.
SladeWilson wrote:OK, so it's like most English digital comic distributors, they just have a reader. Have you noticed any issues with it?
I've seen better and worse readers than Izneo's. It has issues, but it's basically usable. I recommend either using the Flash-based reader in your browser, or the tablet reader on a 10" or 11" tablet, for best results. The Izneo unlimited subscription seems to have actual turnover: some titles go away, and others appear. But if you sign up for their mailing list, they'll send you some pretty good spam: free BDs, lists of cool stuff to read, and so on.
