The French C1/C2 Group

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
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tomgosse
Brown Belt
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Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:29 am
Location: Les Etats Unis
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Français (A1)
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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby tomgosse » Mon Jun 26, 2017 4:00 pm

PeterMollenburg wrote:Quelques ressources :

To be built... if you want to suggest a resource, provide a link in a post and it will be added here. Reviews encouraged, but not essential. What's essential is that we keep learning day in day out!


I would like to suggest News In Slow French - Intermediate. Things I like about this are:
  • Four news stories every week.
  • The audio can be played at normal or slow speeds.
  • Each news story has a transcript.
  • Both audio and the transcripts can be downloaded.
  • Grammar, expressions, and pronunciation lessons are provided each week. The audio and transcripts can also be downloaded.
  • Over 300 previous weeks are available for download.
  • Weekly speaking studios where you can discuss the stories online
While it is a bit expensive ($160/year) this is one of the very few online programs that I would pay for. Check out the demo episode.
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Arnaud
Blue Belt
Posts: 984
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:57 am
Location: Paris, France
Languages: Native: French
Intermediate: English, Russian, Italian
Tourist : Breton, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, German, Spanish, Latin
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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby Arnaud » Mon Jun 26, 2017 4:21 pm

Bon chance et drapal :mrgreen:
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rdearman
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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby rdearman » Mon Jun 26, 2017 5:30 pm

johnnyd wrote:
rdearman wrote:Some questions?

Can we work up a list of examination centres for people? I will send links to UK stuff when I am on a computer next. With some links to exam requirements.

I want to sign up for the test in December this year in London, but I am thinking that is too soon?

If you fail a portion of the test, can you pay to just retake those parts? Or do you do the whole thing again?

I am now thinking I should lengthen the study time and shoot for C2, but only because I am cheap and don't want to put my money where my mouth is.


I'm hopefully going to be doing the C1 test in December in London as well.
http://www.institut-francais.org.uk/fre ... -and-dalf/

It's on the 11th and 12th.
I doesn't say anything about being able to retake individual parts. I think that if you fail, you must retake the whole exam.


Yeah that is a little annoying, the Italian test you can just resit the parts you failed if you do it within 1 year I think.
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DaveBee
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Languages: English (native). French (studying).
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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby DaveBee » Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:09 pm

rdearman wrote:
johnnyd wrote:
rdearman wrote:Some questions?

Can we work up a list of examination centres for people? I will send links to UK stuff when I am on a computer next. With some links to exam requirements.

I want to sign up for the test in December this year in London, but I am thinking that is too soon?

If you fail a portion of the test, can you pay to just retake those parts? Or do you do the whole thing again?

I am now thinking I should lengthen the study time and shoot for C2, but only because I am cheap and don't want to put my money where my mouth is.


I'm hopefully going to be doing the C1 test in December in London as well.
http://www.institut-francais.org.uk/fre ... -and-dalf/

It's on the 11th and 12th.
I doesn't say anything about being able to retake individual parts. I think that if you fail, you must retake the whole exam.


Yeah that is a little annoying, the Italian test you can just resit the parts you failed if you do it within 1 year I think.
If you take the TCF test you just get a grade rather than a fail. It's the DELF/DALFs that have a pass mark.
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Cavesa
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Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby Cavesa » Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:25 pm

Don't forget that the TCF certificate is valid for only 2 years, while DALF is yours for the rest of your life. This isn't necessarily a disadvantage, for example if you are unsure and/of know you'd like to "upgrade" your certification in a few years anyways, than TCF might be a strategically good choice.

DALF is a bit harder in the form, and I think the active skills are not obligatory at the TCF. On the other hand, there are significantly fewer resources for the TCF preparation.

I would also like to point a bit towards the other exams. The Canadian TEFaQ can be sat in Europe too, so probably on the other continents as well, not only in Canada. TEF is another French exam, supposedly more academic, or for business http://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/res ... riels-tef/

and there are the professional ones: - DFP Secrétariat B1, DFP Affaires B2, DFP Affaires C1, DFP Tourisme et hôtellerie B1, DFP Médical B2, DFP Juridique B2

Those may be more useful to some of you, especially the B2 and C1 ones, of course. I did consider the Médical at one point, but than chose otherwise, as most of you probably know.
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blaurebell
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Location: Spain
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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby blaurebell » Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:38 pm

Thanks Cavesa, you answered my questions before I even asked them :D
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MamaPata
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Languages: English (N), French (C1*), Russian (B1), Spanish (B1).

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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby MamaPata » Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:16 pm

Ooh me too! :)

I studied French all through school. Unlike many people, I did actually quite like French in school, so that worked out well in my favour. :D I then played around with it fairly casually for about three years (in other words, I glanced at something French once in a blue moon). I signed up for the Super Challenge in French last year and that has really pushed me to get my act together, and do something more seriously. I graduate next year, and I would quite like to take the DALF C1 with the potential aim of moving to France.

Currently, I would say my skills are decent but imprecise, a decent B1 level. I understand reasonably well (texts and audio) and I can talk fairly easily. But my grammar is very shoddy and my vocabulary is far smaller than it ought to be - I understand based on context a lot. I definitely lack the precision that the exams demand, and my skills don't translate well to an exam context.

I am probably planning to take the B2 exam in London in December and then the C1 sometime next year, depending on how that goes. I will also likely be taking a French course at university, which will hopefully provide a bit of structure, which I definitely lack. I haven't entirely figured out a plan just yet so I will think that through and reply back soon!
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Cavesa
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Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
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Re: The French C1 Group

Postby Cavesa » Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:10 am

If anyone is wondering what is so hard about DALF writing:
http://uneanneeaulycee.blog.lemonde.fr/ ... -a-eviter/

This. And don't forget that the line in picture 3 lies a bit more to the left or to the right, depending on the genre of the assignment.
I hope I haven't just scared you too much :-D
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PeterMollenburg
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Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:54 am
Location: Australia
Languages: English (N), French (B2-certified), Dutch (High A2?), Spanish (~A1), German (long-forgotten 99%), Norwegian (false starts in 2020 & 2021)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18080
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Re: The French C1/C2 Group

Postby PeterMollenburg » Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:55 am

Welcome MamaPata, and Jim also (yet to post, but confirmed he'd like to join).

It's great to have Cavesa share some insights on the DALF exams with her wealth of experience, I was hoping you'd drop by ;)
Nice to see tastyonions here too, another experienced French learner, as well as tomgosse, always willing to help others with French :) And a real live French native, Arnaud to keep us on our toes! Cheers peoples!
Last edited by PeterMollenburg on Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PeterMollenburg
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Languages: English (N), French (B2-certified), Dutch (High A2?), Spanish (~A1), German (long-forgotten 99%), Norwegian (false starts in 2020 & 2021)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18080
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Re: The French C1/C2 Group

Postby PeterMollenburg » Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:41 pm

Arguably I could post this in my own log, but i'll post it here in order to proclaim my declaration in a shared arena and as a potential source of motivation for others (or not), if not at least for myself, as it makes me more accountable....

Some further details on my plan-
I was surfing amazon to the point I almost bought another bunch of course books (the rest of the Grammaire Progressive du Français series by CLE and the corresponding Vocabulaire Progressif du Français series). Ultimately I am procrastinating. If you know me from a a handful of years back on HTLAL, you might recall my first log being called PM's antiprocrastination Log or something close to that. I'm still doing it, still distracting myself, waiting for the perfect moment to begin my perfect mission, or distracting myself until that time arrives. Mind you I have put in some study today despite a busy day, not all is lost, but come July 1st, no more procratinating! I own over half of the above mentioned series, but have not completed all the ones I own yet, so I can't justify buying the rest of these two series of course books, particularly when there's likely to be newer editions in existence by the time I get around to the higher levels and am actually ready to use such books (I own so many courses it's insane). I quickly deleted them from my shopping cart! Need is the important concept here and right now I don't need these books.

It did however make me want to do more courses- I felt the love again. So I rejigged my 5 hour/block study rotation and threw in a second hour of course study to bring up the rotation of study hours to six (2 out of the 6 hours for courses). Then after reading some great posts about extensive reading, I felt I wasn't reading enough and I had a dilemma- the ever expanding study rotation in which some area always feels insufficient so I keep adding new study blocks to my rotation. Please, if this is absolute time wasting tripe for you, completely ignore me- it doesn't get any better! So, in the end I went the other way, I reduced my study blocks down to 4 instead of expanding up to 6. This way I do a course every 4th block/hour, and do extensive reading every 4th block/hour as well, and intensive reading every 4th also. Courses win (not as often as every 3rd hour, but not as long as 5), reading wins, and I cut intensive listening to one hour (that's how I reduced to 4 blocks). I do sufficient extensive listening outside my study hours anyway. So waffle waffle... crap crap turd turd...

I'm targeting 100 hours of French for July and every single month thereafter. I've only surpassed 100 hours once back in January 2014 when I first started my French mission. Since then I've passed 90 hours in a month once or twice, but not reached a 100 again. Time for that to change! Mission time PM, no room for procrastinating reading about Occitan or watching the forum like a hawk to see if anyone give's a flying turd about my waffling BS.

MY JULY TARGET : 100 hours of French!
Last edited by PeterMollenburg on Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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