eebeejay learns French (again)

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eebeejay
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Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=1408
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Sun Nov 15, 2015 12:35 pm

Montmorency wrote:Well, if you want some challenging walking, there is always the Welsh coastal path.
And if ever you decide to learn Welsh, give https://www.saysomethingin.com a try. Pob lwc.

Thanks for this! I think I need to give some more time to French before I launch into a new language but it looks like a great resource so I'll keep it on file. Then again... maybe it wouldn't be so much of a problem because Welsh is so different from French.

Snowdon and Y Lliwedd are on my to do list for next year and there's a very good chance that my job will move to Birmingham, which would make Wales a lot closer to me. I don't particularly need to know Welsh, but it's a really good excuse to try.
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Duolinguo:
French: 26 / 156
Super Challenge:
Books: 0 / 100
Movies: 0 / 100

eebeejay
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Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=1408
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:31 pm

I tried out Lingvist at tangleweeds’ suggestion in the Voyageurs thread. Interesting. There are some things that I like about it, in particular, the focus on very common words at the beginning, and the more natural sounding pronunciation.

I tried it out for an hour. It says I have learned 300 words. Most of the words it was showing to me were ones I’d encountered before from elsewhere. I have a large Anki deck on my phone that I created using a frequency dictionary so with the exception of a few colloquial words, there wasn’t anything new. But it was nice to see them used in a different context, and in some cases it was challenging for me to get the right word. So I think I will work Lingvist into my study plan.

One thing I keep hearing is about how much study time is needed to achieve proficiency. I like that Lingvist tracks how much time you spend reviewing on the site. I kind of regret not tracking the amount of time I’ve put into studying French and I’ve decided going forward that I will start tracking and recording the time I spend studying.

I’m about two thirds of the way through the tree on Duolingo. Going to try to push through to the end by the end of the year.
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Duolinguo:
French: 26 / 156
Super Challenge:
Books: 0 / 100
Movies: 0 / 100

eebeejay
White Belt
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=1408
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Fri Dec 23, 2016 8:41 pm

I still exist, and I've been working on my French for approximately 25 minutes per day for most of the year and making what feels like solid progress, which is at least one good thing I can say about what has been an otherwise trying year for me.

I finished the tree on Duolingo and I'm now making my way through gilding the whole thing again, especially the parts after the third checkpoint, because I feel like I'm quite weak in the grammar that was introduced in that section. I've also been using Lingvist to drill vocabulary and I've been finding the flashcards kind of addictive, and the graded reading and listening very helpful.

I was in France over the summer and was able to navigate without speaking English. I am still very lacking in the vocabulary I would need to hold a proper conversation, but I felt confident in ordering food, asking directions, buying things, and people spoke French to me. The moment I crossed the border into Belgium though, it was all English all the time. I guess I have an accent? Still, it made me feel very good to know that I've actually learned something.

I'm back in Canada now, which means easier access to French materials. I picked up a copy of Le Petit Nicolas from the library a couple weeks ago and was happy to find that I was able read it relatively easily. Last time I picked it up I didn't finish it before I had to take it back.

So I guess next steps would be to seek out a more advanced course, acquire more vocabulary, expose myself to more native materials, and work on output because other than being in France I haven't really forced myself to actively use French.

I think I will try to check in a bit more regularly here, maybe start trying to blog a little in French?
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Duolinguo:
French: 26 / 156
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Books: 0 / 100
Movies: 0 / 100

eebeejay
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Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Sun Jan 08, 2017 4:45 am



Il y a la neige pour environ un mois dehors. C'est étrange pour ici. La glace est si épaisse que quelques personnes fait le patinage et le hockey dans la rue.

Avec mes nouvelles bottes je n'ai pas peur de tomber. Je suis heureux d'avoir eux. Mais je serai plus heureux quand la neige est disparue.

I've been very busy this week so not a lot of time to practice French, unfortunately. Doctors, dentists, job interviews have taken up much of my time. Hoping for a better week next week!
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Duolinguo:
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Movies: 0 / 100

eebeejay
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Posts: 35
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Location: Canada
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Sun Jan 15, 2017 12:34 am

Notre chaudière est brisé pendant une semaine et maintenant c’est très froid dans notre maison. Ça fait du bruit mais pas de chauffage. On a appelé le bricoleur mais il n’avait pas la pièce correcte.

This week I’ve gotten back into the daily habit of at least including a little bit of French into my day.

I’ve been using Lingvist quite a bit lately. I really like the combination of flashcards with graded reading and listening material that uses the words you’ve already learned. It helps me overcome the biggest frustration of jumping directly into native materials, which is that they’re often a bit too difficult for me to get into comfortably.

I picked up some French books from the library. First up: Houdini by Danielle Vaillancourt.
http://www.renaud-bray.com/livres_produ ... 2896070589
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Duolinguo:
French: 26 / 156
Super Challenge:
Books: 0 / 100
Movies: 0 / 100

eebeejay
White Belt
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=1408
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:15 am

Study: This week I’ve been working on daily vocabulary with Lingvist.

Watching: I’ve picked up watching the French in Action videos again. After going back and reviewing a few I’ve watched before I’ve been plunging ahead into new material and finding myself missing more bits than I’m comfortable with. The library has copies of the textbook so I’m thinking it might be helpful to use it to follow along.

For fun I watched a couple episodes of [url="http://ici.tou.tv/l-ascenseur"]L’ascenseur[/url], which were amusing.

Reading: still Houdini by Danielle Vaillancourt. It’s not super fast reading for me, but I know enough words that I don’t have to lean on the dictionary too much.
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Duolinguo:
French: 26 / 156
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Books: 0 / 100
Movies: 0 / 100

eebeejay
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Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=1408
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:32 pm

Slow and steady progress. I’ve been working my way through daily study of vocabulary on Lingvist and review on Duolingo. The Lingvist practice in particular has been helping me a lot with reading and recognizing words, but interestingly, that doesn’t seem to translate as easily into actually using those words in the same way that I seem to be able to do with things that I’ve learned off of Duolingo.

I’m starting to think that I need some more practice in grammar. I don’t feel comfortable with what I’ve picked up through the two above sources. Any recommendations of resources are welcome.

I finished reading Houdini: une biographie romancée by Danielle Vaillancourt. I liked it because it was a kids book but it was interesting enough for me to not abandon it part way through.

I joined a francophone meetup group but I haven't been to an event yet.
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Duolinguo:
French: 26 / 156
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Books: 0 / 100
Movies: 0 / 100

eebeejay
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Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=1408
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:59 pm

I’m back (again).

Since I last posted here I started a new job and an MFA so both have been taking up a lot of my time.

I decided that I need some sort of focus to keep me motivated so I’m going to cycle La Route Verte next summer in Quebec, tacking on some extra time in Montreal and Quebec City. In the past planning a trip to somewhere where the majority of people speak French has always been helpful to keep me on track.

I don’t have a lot of time to spend on French until the end of the year, so my plan for the next 6 months or so is:

- memorize all the flashcards in Lingvist
- re-guild the tree in Duolingo
- work through all the French in Action videos and books

This will take however long it takes. Once I am through these I will figure out next steps, potentially some more intermediate learning materials and lots of reading. I have queued up a bunch of books for myself in Readlang of various levels, starting with some Petit Nicholas titles, moving up to some harder works.

I will also have a look around for interesting information about the locations I’ll be visiting, as well as maybe some French language cycling magazines and blogs.

Wish me luck.

Also, in response to Montmorency above… I’m no longer in a country where it would be useful anymore, but I found a place that offers free, in-person Welsh language lessons about six blocks from my house and it’s awfully tempting…
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Alina Kuimova
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby Alina Kuimova » Sun Aug 05, 2018 2:58 pm

That's a great goal! But it seems like you already have a pretty solid level of French, so you can shift to actually listening and reading some content in French. It will help you to pick up new vocabulary in more natural way.
Have you tried watching videos of Français Authentique? The guy speaks very slow, he explains things in simple French, plus he launched subtitles now, so it's almost impossible to not understand!
You can check his YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/francaisauthentique
I hope you'll find it helpful :)
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eebeejay
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Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=1408
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Re: eebeejay learns French (again)

Postby eebeejay » Sun Aug 05, 2018 7:50 pm

Alina Kuimova wrote:That's a great goal! But it seems like you already have a pretty solid level of French, so you can shift to actually listening and reading some content in French. It will help you to pick up new vocabulary in more natural way.
Have you tried watching videos of Français Authentique? The guy speaks very slow, he explains things in simple French, plus he launched subtitles now, so it's almost impossible to not understand!
You can check his YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/francaisauthentique
I hope you'll find it helpful :)

Thanks! I'll check it out. A short video a day might be a manageable amount for me to add into my day.
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Duolinguo:
French: 26 / 156
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Movies: 0 / 100


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