Zelda's French Log (+ Modern Greek)

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zjones
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Sun Apr 29, 2018 3:04 pm

reineke wrote:Hello. Nous sommes une famille heureuse sounds more appropriate. "Viens" and mariée need some work. You may also need to open your vowels a bit. Your pronunciation was above average. Good luck.


Thank you for your comments, I will work on those points.
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zjones
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Tue May 01, 2018 1:02 am

30 avril 2018

SO many thoughts.

I registered for the 2018-2019 Super Challenge, and I'm excited. I'm doing a half challenge for now, but I may upgrade to the full challenge depending on how I fare in the next few months. I have a feeling I'll be hanging out in the French section of Netflix quite a bit. I'm not entirely sure how productive it will be for me to watch regular movies and TV shows in French, since I'm still in the beginner stage, but I have plenty of time to spare so it can't hurt.

Reading will be much more difficult. I own one French book, Cabot-Caboche which I picked up at a local used book store. It was literally the only French book they had. It's a book for ages 9-11, but it's obvious that the book is very abstract, and it's far beyond my level. I am looking for free books online, hoping that someone has released a copy of children's books. Otherwise I may have to order books online, since my local library doesn't have anything even close to my level except for Le Petit Prince.

I've been slowing down in Easy French Step-by-Step, which is one of my grammar books. I have been overwhelmed by the way they heap on the -er verb spelling differences all at once. For example, the verb préférer becomes je préfère (flipping the accent on the second e) to indicate correct pronunciation. And I thought regular -er verb conjugation was going to be easy! :roll: As I learn spelling and grammar rules, I definitely get the feeling that the French take their language seriously. They have pronunciation rules and they want their language to adhere to the rules. I simultaneously love it and hate it.

Also, this Easy French book seems to be teaching me written French vs. spoken French, as indicated by its aggressive use of interrogative inversions. Whereas my Assimil book uses inversion sparingly, this book definitely wants me to use inversions for everything. I am producing sentences like, "N'employez-vous pas d'ordinateur ?" and "Il et déjà tard. Quand commençons-nous à diner ?" I definitely do not prefer to use inversions, personally I really enjoy using "Est-ce que" unless it's a common inversion like "Êtes-vous". But language does not conform to my preferences....
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zjones
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Wed May 02, 2018 2:11 am

Super Challenge Update

Films: 2/50

  • 1 mai 2018 — Emannuel Macron: Behind the Rise (French audio, French subtitles)
  • 1 mai 2018 — Emannuel Macron: Behind the Rise (French audio, English subtitles)

Books: 0/50
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Thu May 03, 2018 3:36 am

Super Challenge Update

Films: 3/50

  • 2 mai 2018 — The Witnesses S1E1 (French audio, no subtitles) 1/2 film
  • 2 mai 2018 — The Witnesses S1E1 (French audio, English subtitles) 1/2 film

(Why are all the foreign films on Netflix so dark? I'm only complaining a little bit -- I do like crime shows. The Witnesses is like the French version of Broadchurch.)

Books: 0.0012/50

Reading might be a problem. The articles I'm reading on 1jour1actu are ~375 words each, so if I read two articles then I can count them as three pages. It's taking me about ten minutes to read each article with good comprehension. I will continue to push through and see if I can read about six articles per day. If not, then I may count each article as one page, just to save me a little bit of sanity. Plus, reading articles about the disappearance of tigers in the wild really bums me out. :(
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zjones
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Sun May 06, 2018 3:05 am

5 mai 2018

I've been feeling overwhelmed by French lately. I still spend a good part of the day working on Assimil, Easy French, French shows and graded readers, but I don't feel like I'm making any progress and I wonder if I'll ever be able to understand this language. Juggling reading, writing, listening and speaking feels crazy. I feel like I'm constantly translating in my head, a whirr of activity that I can't turn off even when I want to or need to.

I got a copy of Le Petit Nicolas, and I started reading a chapter a day. I'm forced to regularly face the reality of reading in French: namely, that it is slow and awkward. My understanding of passé composé and imparfait (also the plus-que-parfait) is shaky.

The Witnesses leaves me baffled, I can barely catch important plot points. Unfortunately, the show does not have French subtitles on Netflix.

I keep dreaming in French, usually trying to puzzle out sentences or speak to a French native. When I wake up, I roll over and continue creating French sentences in my head until I fall back asleep.

I learned two words for storm today: l'orage, la tempête. My favorite kind of weather.
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Mon May 07, 2018 4:31 pm

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.
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reineke
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby reineke » Mon May 07, 2018 4:51 pm

Didn't you receive Assimil only.two weeks ago?
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon May 07, 2018 5:29 pm

Maybe Zelda read this post?
Assimil Hebrew in two weeks
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Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

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zjones
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby zjones » Mon May 07, 2018 6:03 pm

reineke wrote:Didn't you receive Assimil only.two weeks ago?


I'm not certain what your question implies, but the answer is yes.

jeff_lindqvist wrote:Maybe Zelda read this post?
Assimil Hebrew in two weeks


No, I haven't read that post yet. I wouldn't be interested in going through Assimil in two weeks unless I was already at an intermediate level. I did rush through about a dozen lessons in the first few days, but that's because I already have a basic knowledge of French.
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Chung
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DABBLED: Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Inari Saami, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Latvian, Lithuanian, Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Romanian, Tatar, Turkmen, Tuvan, Uzbek
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Re: Zelda's French Log

Postby Chung » Mon May 07, 2018 6:51 pm

zjones wrote:Hello!

I've been lurking on this forum for a few weeks, and I finally gave in and registered an account. I've had a love affair with French language and French history for as long as I can remember, but I never actually learned the language since I was homeschooled and had limited access to language-learning resources. I'm in my mid-20's now and I find myself with lots of free time to study whatever I want, so I figured that now was as good a time as any to really dive into learning a language. There was no question about which language -- I've always known it was going to be French.

Past Forays into French

In the last few months, I almost finished my Duolingo French tree. Only when Duolingo pushed their new update (the "Crowns" system) did I realize that Duolingo was not getting me anywhere close to where I wanted to be. So I decided to do some research, and that's when I found this forum. I was amazed! I was a victim of popular language marketing schemes, like "No need to learn grammar!" and "Learn like a child!" and "You must have full immersion, and you will become fluent in two days!" and even "Language learning should be easy." (I exaggerate, but you get the point.) I believed this information even though it was completely contrary to the way I learn. My preferred learning method is to learn slowly, build a solid foundation, understand why as much as possible, and use lots of workbooks. (I really love workbooks...)

It was with great relief that I started reading all the opinions here, as well as the authentic advice that learning a language was indeed going to be difficult. I decided, after a few weeks of deliberation, to quit Duolingo, purchase the Assimil Français course (the one that used to be called New French with Ease), practice my pronunciation with FSI Phonology, and attempt to increase both the depth and breadth of my knowledge with any other supplements I could find. I'm not yet to the point where I can consume native media, but I'm hoping that it won't be too many months before that's possible.

My Current Study Plan

[*] Assimil Français (I'll decide how I want to study it when I receive my course this week)
[*] FSI French Phonology (one lesson per day)
[*] Coffee Break French (one podcast per day)
[*] Easy French Step-by-Step (~30 minutes per day)
[*] For fun, a video game in French (I'll have to look for one, I have Assassin's Creed but they speak too quickly and there's no time to process the language. I feel like a Switch game might be better.)

Any comments or critiques on my study plan are appreciated!

My Log

I intend on using this log at least weekly to report my progress. I also plan on using it to post meanderings, examine any problem areas, and keep track of my goals.


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 French 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!
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