Languid Language Learning

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Elenia
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby Elenia » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:42 am

MorkTheFiddle wrote:
Elenia wrote:French*
Books
Currently Reading - La Justice de l'ancillaire, Terrienne

TV
Currently Watching - Les Revenants, Kaamelott


*A note - I have omitted 'Films' from this list not because I haven't watched any, but rather that I have watched more than I care to list. A course on French cinema can do that to a girl.

1. Had you read Ancillary Justice in English? If yes, how was the translation?
2. How do you like Les Revenants?
3. Do you think Kaamelott is as difficult as some (Cavesa?) say?
4. Can you give us at least a couple French films you watched and liked?


1. I read Ancillary Justice in English twice, and absolutely loved it. I thought the French translation was good, but was disappointed by the fact that the translator didn't use the gender inherent in French to greater effect. I think most of the translator's decisions in that regard can be rationalised but it was still a shame, I felt. There were also a couple of emissions which made certain aspects of the story confusing and one sentence was just wrong - the translator changed the subject of a sentence from 'you' to 'I', which I am assuming was an oversight. That being said, I am passing the translation on to my boyfriend and will be buying the second and third books when I can, so I did enjoy it.
2. I love 'Les Revenants' but have not watched very far because no one I know wants to watch it with me. I have very low stamina with series. I've only ever watched three full series of anything in my life, and all three were comedies.
3. Kaamelott is very difficult. However, it really is perfect for learning more slangy French and it has full and correct transcripts available which is a massive boon for the learner. The episodes are bite sized and self contained, so easily studied.
4. Une Femme est une femme, L'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (mostly for the fabulous sound track!), À Bout de souffle. More recently, Le Havre which is directed by a Finnish director. I thought it was a really good film, and it's also very relevant currently.

Thanks for the questions :) I'm not actively studying French any more but I'll be glad to answer more if I can!
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Cavesa
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby Cavesa » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:03 pm

Elenia wrote:
MorkTheFiddle wrote:
Elenia wrote:French*
3. Kaamelott is very difficult. However, it really is perfect for learning more slangy French and it has full and correct transcripts available which is a massive boon for the learner. The episodes are bite sized and self contained, so easily studied.

Yes, there are great transcriptions available. + there are the original scripts available in form of cheap paperbacks. As Astier wrote in a preface to one of them, he writes the script correctly and works on the final form (with all the colloquial stuff) with the actors while filming. So, an interesting path could be use of the tv series + the correct French script + the real transcript.

And it is fun, that makes it easier :-)
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:24 pm

Elenia wrote:
MorkTheFiddle wrote:
Elenia wrote:French*
Books
Currently Reading - La Justice de l'ancillaire, Terrienne

TV
Currently Watching - Les Revenants, Kaamelott


*A note - I have omitted 'Films' from this list not because I haven't watched any, but rather that I have watched more than I care to list. A course on French cinema can do that to a girl.

1. Had you read Ancillary Justice in English? If yes, how was the translation?
2. How do you like Les Revenants?
3. Do you think Kaamelott is as difficult as some (Cavesa?) say?
4. Can you give us at least a couple French films you watched and liked?


1. I read Ancillary Justice in English twice, and absolutely loved it. I thought the French translation was good, but was disappointed by the fact that the translator didn't use the gender inherent in French to greater effect. I think most of the translator's decisions in that regard can be rationalised but it was still a shame, I felt. There were also a couple of emissions which made certain aspects of the story confusing and one sentence was just wrong - the translator changed the subject of a sentence from 'you' to 'I', which I am assuming was an oversight. That being said, I am passing the translation on to my boyfriend and will be buying the second and third books when I can, so I did enjoy it.
2. I love 'Les Revenants' but have not watched very far because no one I know wants to watch it with me. I have very low stamina with series. I've only ever watched three full series of anything in my life, and all three were comedies.
3. Kaamelott is very difficult. However, it really is perfect for learning more slangy French and it has full and correct transcripts available which is a massive boon for the learner. The episodes are bite sized and self contained, so easily studied.
4. Une Femme est une femme, L'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (mostly for the fabulous sound track!), À Bout de souffle. More recently, Le Havre which is directed by a Finnish director. I thought it was a really good film, and it's also very relevant currently.

Thanks for the questions :) I'm not actively studying French any more but I'll be glad to answer more if I can!


Thanks for your replies.
1. I don't suppose I would have asked about Ancillary Justice if I had not read and liked it. Since I did not quite understand everything that was going on, maybe I'll give the French a go.
2. Les Revenants seems to be popular, but the subject matter is a bit of a turn-off for me. "Creepy" or "horror" content makes me laugh in disbelief, but no doubt a personal problem. But I'm going to give it a try.
I have never watched any TV series to the end. I tend to stall after two or three years, at most, because I just get bored. I watched more seasons of Law and Order (the original series) than any other series, but I did not watch even it to the end. One lonely exception was Un Village Français (with English subtitles), but only because I paid for it. IMHO, a couple of the middle seasons were a waste.
3. Thanks for the transcripts to Kaamelott . I'm not sure it's my cup of tea, but with transcripts I think I'll try it.
4. I saw and liked L'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, but can't remember anything about it! I'll be looking for the other three.
0 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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Elenia
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1888
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:22 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), Swedish (C1), French (Massively Atrophied) German (lowly beginner, somehow learnt to read)


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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby Elenia » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:55 pm

MorkTheFiddle wrote:
Elenia wrote:
MorkTheFiddle wrote:
Elenia wrote:French*
Books
Currently Reading - La Justice de l'ancillaire, Terrienne

TV
Currently Watching - Les Revenants, Kaamelott


*A note - I have omitted 'Films' from this list not because I haven't watched any, but rather that I have watched more than I care to list. A course on French cinema can do that to a girl.

1. Had you read Ancillary Justice in English? If yes, how was the translation?
2. How do you like Les Revenants?
3. Do you think Kaamelott is as difficult as some (Cavesa?) say?
4. Can you give us at least a couple French films you watched and liked?


1. I read Ancillary Justice in English twice, and absolutely loved it. I thought the French translation was good, but was disappointed by the fact that the translator didn't use the gender inherent in French to greater effect. I think most of the translator's decisions in that regard can be rationalised but it was still a shame, I felt. There were also a couple of emissions which made certain aspects of the story confusing and one sentence was just wrong - the translator changed the subject of a sentence from 'you' to 'I', which I am assuming was an oversight. That being said, I am passing the translation on to my boyfriend and will be buying the second and third books when I can, so I did enjoy it.
2. I love 'Les Revenants' but have not watched very far because no one I know wants to watch it with me. I have very low stamina with series. I've only ever watched three full series of anything in my life, and all three were comedies.
3. Kaamelott is very difficult. However, it really is perfect for learning more slangy French and it has full and correct transcripts available which is a massive boon for the learner. The episodes are bite sized and self contained, so easily studied.
4. Une Femme est une femme, L'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (mostly for the fabulous sound track!), À Bout de souffle. More recently, Le Havre which is directed by a Finnish director. I thought it was a really good film, and it's also very relevant currently.

Thanks for the questions :) I'm not actively studying French any more but I'll be glad to answer more if I can!


Thanks for your replies.
1. I don't suppose I would have asked about Ancillary Justice if I had not read and liked it. Since I did not quite understand everything that was going on, maybe I'll give the French a go.


I definitely found myself thinking more critically about the book and trying to understand more of it when I was reading the French - it was a very good exercise in that respect. I think part of the reason for that is because my boyfriend wrote his undergrad thesis on it so when I came across the first thing that confused me we started thinking about it critically. I think, maybe surprisingly, that needed to work a bit harder to understand the actual text also helped me to understand the story.

---

Since I finished reading La Justice de l'ancillaire it's been nothing doing.
2 x

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Elenia
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Posts: 1888
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:22 am
Location: London
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby Elenia » Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:03 pm

Languages are still on power save mode right now. In fact, pretty much everything is. I've started back with Clozemaster, and have been overjoyed to find a few new interesting language combinations. Quick question to all you French learners: what do you think of French Clozemaster? Maybe this is just due to my lack of contact with French and the small selection of sentences I went through yesterday, but it seems very stilted to me...

In other news, I found out that SF Bokhandeln has a podcast! I listened to most of #28 on the way to work this morning, but didn't manage to finish it on the way back because I accidentally bought and then read a book. (In two and a half hours, which I think may be a record for me. The book was A Monster Calls, to all interested. Please let me know if you have read it and what you felt, I'm itching to gush incomprehensibly about it).

Finally, I bought a boxset of Jane Austen TV adaptations dubbed into French. I currently have nothing to play them on, but Jane and I will find a way.
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DaveBee
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby DaveBee » Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:18 pm

Elenia wrote:Finally, I bought a boxset of Jane Austen TV adaptations dubbed into French. I currently have nothing to play them on, but Jane and I will find a way.
!!!!!!!!!
I've been dithering about doing this too. Ever since I came across a thread of You and ... MamaPata(?) fan-girling over Ms Austen.

Since then I've watched the Pride and Prejudice mini-series (twice!), the Keira Thingy film (meh), read the book, and I'm now listening to the audio-book! :-) Must. Stop.
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MamaPata
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby MamaPata » Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:31 pm

DaveBee wrote:
Elenia wrote:Finally, I bought a boxset of Jane Austen TV adaptations dubbed into French. I currently have nothing to play them on, but Jane and I will find a way.
!!!!!!!!!
I've been dithering about doing this too. Ever since I came across a thread of You and ... MamaPata(?) fan-girling over Ms Austen.

Since then I've watched the Pride and Prejudice mini-series (twice!), the Keira Thingy film (meh), read the book, and I'm now listening to the audio-book! :-) Must. Stop.


Yep, that was me! I think you should keep going with the Pride and Prejudice kick myself... :twisted:
1 x
Corrections appreciated.

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Elenia
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1888
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:22 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), Swedish (C1), French (Massively Atrophied) German (lowly beginner, somehow learnt to read)


Finnish?!
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=708
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby Elenia » Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:38 pm

MamaPata wrote:
DaveBee wrote:
Elenia wrote:Finally, I bought a boxset of Jane Austen TV adaptations dubbed into French. I currently have nothing to play them on, but Jane and I will find a way.
!!!!!!!!!
I've been dithering about doing this too. Ever since I came across a thread of You and ... MamaPata(?) fan-girling over Ms Austen.

Since then I've watched the Pride and Prejudice mini-series (twice!), the Keira Thingy film (meh), read the book, and I'm now listening to the audio-book! :-) Must. Stop.


Yep, that was me! I think you should keep going with the Pride and Prejudice kick myself... :twisted:


I agree. Never stop. Ever. P&P is perfect
1 x

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arthaey
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby arthaey » Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:59 pm

I think it's only available in English (boo!) but give "Lost In Austen" a look if you like tongue-in-cheek/satire/parody/comedy. :)
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Ani
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Re: Languid Language Learning

Postby Ani » Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:28 pm

French clozemaster seems pretty ok to me. Some of the sentences are rather odd but there are a good selection of colloquial expressions and phrasing mixed in. I've only done a bit over 250 sentences though. The ones that cloze out a verb form are stilted maybe but the ones that have a more unusual word involved are better.
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But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


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