Learning French -- advice?

5r6jhd

5r6jhd

I put on my robe and wizard hat.
Banned
MBTI
ENFJ
Enneagram
2
This year I have decided I would like to try and learn french. I am in love with the city of Paris and the last time I was there I regretted not being able to speak more of the language. Languages are not my strong suit, but I'd really like to try and give it another go.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any good online courses I could try out or if there were any French speakers here on the forum.
 
Rosetta Stone I hear is pretty good. Maybe you can find a copy because they are ridiculously expensive.
 
I've heard good and bad things about Rosetta stone. I really do struggle with languages, so I figured I would have a go at a few different courses at once and see what works best for me!
RS is a bit pricey for me at the moment, but I'm definitely going to see if I can find a copy somewhere. A friend of mine taught himself all the nordic languages that way....but he's good at that stuff! :D
 
Talk to yourself in French. I talk to myself in German quite a bit, which really helps. One of my German friends, who speaks excellent English, said she constantly spoke to herself when she was learning. She speaks better English than a lot of native English speakers.
 
watch movies with subtitles, it helps a lot. Also books: start from baby books and progress from there. It will take you forever, of course, you'll have to use a dictionary all the time but it could help (depends on your methods of learning). I learnt a language primarily because of watching movies and ads :lol: well, and then books came in handy. I also second Rosetta if you can find it.
 
Thanks Kessler. Thats a great idea. I tried BBC but it told me the videos weren't available in my area. (I'm in Ireland)
 
I have another good idea. Try teaching french to your daughter. In the process you will learn the language yourself and you will empower your child at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone.
 
A good way just to learn the vocab is to label everything. Like a book and the wall, etc... Conjugating is another story. You'll have to sit down with the grammar rules and start reading books. That should help quite a bit. It may take you a year to get through three books. That's okay. Also, write down what you learn and keep diligent notes. Practice writing. Find someone who knows French and ask them if it seems correct.
 
I think that doing a combination of what Bird and Chulo said would be ideal, in addition to finding a French speaker to talk with. You will be amazed how quickly your daughter will pick it up when you get to the point of starting to teach her.

I notice at Silent Dinners, that the people who are most fluent at Sign language are the ones who taught their little ones along the way.
 
I improved my listening comprehension a lot by listening to french hip hop.
 
Find music you like and translate the lyrics. Song lyrics stick much more easily, and it helps comprehension.
 
chulo said:
I have another good idea. Try teaching french to your daughter. In the process you will learn the language yourself and you will empower your child at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone.
Click to expand...

Ahem. F##$*& Rosetta Stone. It doesn't help at all! :(
 
I learned French back in college but I didn't practice enough to speak it fluently. Seems the best way to is to speak with a french speaker, read online french magazines, listen to french radio shows online, watch French news or entertainment shows (since they're more likely to speak everyday or popular french), watch french movies, listen to french music and watch french videos (ones with captions so you can see the lyrics while listening to the song) - I did this with some Celine Dion french songs. You can also learn everyday phrases which you would use normally in your own life everyday. Learn common french phrases, Read a short french romance novel or graphic novel. Learn basic vocab and do french crossword puzzles or matching. You can also sign up with a french forum, read a few posts, and try responding in french. There are a few good youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kOyvxhEgI

The ultimate key to learning languages is hearing the language spoken and speaking it regularly with someone who speaks everyday french.

http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/essentialfrench.htm (vocab)
http://french.about.com/library/begin/fun/bl-cw-basic.htm (crossword based on vocab)

Make up your mini quizzes on the vocab or phrases you've learned.

http://french.about.com/od/francophonie/u/practiceperfect.htm

Another fun way to learn french is to watch favorite movies on DVD, with french audio but English subtitles.

You can also download an app on your phone which sends new french words or phrases to learn everyday.

http://www.youtube.com/user/YouLearnFrench?feature=watch

You could as some mentioned, teaching your daughter french. Maybe learn some french fairytales and read them to her. This would help you with speaking by practicing reading through repetition and pronunciation.
 
found this: so cute :) although the story is maybe a little too scary or dark for a little girl to tell.

[video=youtube;SPHgcj0-pXw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPHgcj0-pXw[/video]
 
Last edited:
Or you can listen to a celeb speak french?

[video=youtube;JimidbMOLAM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JimidbMOLAM[/video]
 
Thanks [MENTION=1669]Genuine[/MENTION]! those are great suggestions. I actually have a good fried who is half french and speaks fluently, so I'm sure she would be happy to help me out in that department!
 
The best thing you can do is to be persistent in your interest to learn.

People tend to drop languages easily after learning basics for a short period of time or drop as a result of frustration, and end up forgetting everything. A few splinters of phrases of a language is not enough to have any use whatsoever that you couldn't instantly use an online translator for.

All of this advice is wonderful, but it so often is put to waste by people who aren't prepared to put in the heart and workload. There is really no magic to learning language. It's all practise and dedication and figuring out what your strengths and weaknesses are and adjusting along the way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top