Learning French -- advice? | Page 2 | INFJ Forum

Learning French -- advice?

There is also a totally ridiculous and unproven method, which I call, the profanity method.

1. Learn the bad words first, because it is interesting and funny.

English example "Fuck"
French example "Merde"

2. Then you'll want to know how to use those words. So you will learn other words to build small phrases.

English example "Go fuck yourself"
French example "Mange la merde" (Eat shit)

3. Then you'll expand those phrases to form sentences and soon enough you'll be using those other learned words without profanity.

English example "Teach yourself to speak French."
French example "Hier, j'ai mangé une pomme." (Yesterday, I ate an apple.)
 
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Paladin-X said:
There is also a totally ridiculous and unproven method, which I call, the profanity method.

1. Learn the bad words first, because it is interesting and funny.

English example "Fuck"
French example "Merde"

2. Then you'll want to know how to use those words. So you will learn other words to build small phrases.

English example "Go fuck yourself"
French example "Mange la merde" (Eat shit)

3. Then you'll expand those phrases to form sentences and soon enough you'll be using those other learned words without profanity.

English example "Teach yourself to speak French."
French example "Hier, j'ai mangé une pomme." (Yesterday, I ate an apple.)
Click to expand...

I Wish you lived closer!! :D
 
knight in battle said:
I tried one. It's boring and unengaging and ineffective. It may work for some people, I suppose.
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I suppose I'd like to try it because it seems like training wheels? I've found a bunch of stuff online, but it's very on-your-own and I'm lacking confidence.
 
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Paladin-X said:
Cambridge is on my ridiculous list of grad schools that I think I can easily get into.
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Sounds like my dream to get into Harvard or Oxford. *snaps self back to reality* I doubt I could handle the courseload and I'd be intimidated by the smarties in the room. :D
 
Paladin-X said:
Cambridge is on my ridiculous list of grad schools that I think I can easily get into. That's somewhat closer.

My naivety knows no bounds! I like being me. :D
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I used to live in Oxford, but I never made it to Cambridge! If you end up there I will force your ass to meet me in London or something. :D
 
I love living in Europe where I can flippantly throw comments like that around. "I'll just force you to meet in London." Like I can just last minute hop on a plane and be in a foreign city in a matter of hours!
 
Genuine said:
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]
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Awww, too much cuteness! Smart kid!
 
I would try to remember conjugation of verbs and specific nouns I might would need to know. I communicated with Mexicans many years ago just knowing the words I needed to know. Nous avons....each other.
 
Neverwhere said:
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.
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just shout loudly and slowly at people, hand gestures can work too, its their own damn fault for not knowing any english
 
I'm a french Canadian, no shouting or exaggerated hand gestures here =P I even open my mouth when pronouncing ;)

I've known people who learned english while watching english movies with french subtitles or vive versa.
This could work with any other language

As for swear words, they are mostly religious due to our culture and history...which was, back in the old days, quite blasphemous =P
And was reciprocated with torture. :m077: Had to do with the power(fear!) and authority of the Church during that time in history.

Anyhoo, if you ever need some help or suggestions during your learning process, I'd be happy to help out!! :thumb:
 
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In Canada we have a bilingual movie that's pretty funny called Bon Cop Bad Cop (Good Cop Bad Cop). Here is a scene where the French cop is teaching the English cop swear words:

NOTE: There are English subtitles to cover the French parts.

[video=youtube;9U72QVCgh_Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U72QVCgh_Q[/video]

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U72QVCgh_Q
 
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Ouch! But that was a great lesson! I already know what "la salope" means -- long story -- but that was about it, so it's always nice to expand my vocabulary. :D
 
I was listening to that cute kid video in the background.

"Le bebeh."

"Crocodil."

"Oopoopootom."

It seems like French is a really throaty language. I imagine it to be like rolling your Rs in Spanish or the lisp Spaniards developed. The way it is.
 
Hey, sorry for being so late to this party.

I highly recommend Duolingo. You help translate the internet as you learn and you also learn by seeing other people's translations.
It's quite clever in the way that it's well structured in what it teaches and how everything it is approached. It's constantly being updated with neat additions and they're also adding more and more languages all the time (at the moment there's French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese).

And the best thing is that it's completely free.

Also there is an iOS version of duolingo out now and one for android devices will be out in May some time apparently.

If you (or anyone else) do end up getting an account then add me (Terrafora) so we can assist each other/have friendly competition. ^^
 
I'm French and I learnt English from an online source which provided me a step by step guide on learning the complicated language.
I think the best way to learn french beside taking classes is to watch French movies with french subtitles. That way you can actually know how to pronounce words the way locals pronounce it.
The virtual class experience provided by the website allows us to interact with people across the globe and simultaneously question the tutor. This virtual experience to learn french can be a very effective way.
Certified Spoken French Lessons
 
Katniss Neverbeef said:
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.
Click to expand...

The best thing for me, besides actively learning it, is to infuse it with your entertainment. I remember watching The Phantom of the Opera in English with French subtitles a couple times but then moved onto French with French. I would often stop and Google Translate a word or two I didn't know and then resume. This is just a really good way of learning. You'll recognize words or prefixes/suffixes they say a lot. You'll find that those words are the it, or, in, of, and, etc. It is really good immersion - at home.
Another example is get some French songs. I know with my Japanese Vocaloids, haha, I know all the words to them and can sing them with accuracy. Even though I have no idea what their are saying. Well, I do but not because of my knowledge of the language. I remember the English lyrics. I imagine this will greatly help you because you'll learn the "taste and feel" of the language.Especially when you sing it. I can look at anything French root word and be able to pronounce it quite accurately. Also, you'll slowly reveal the meaning of the song, in its French form. You'll discover the song in a new way. Very, very fun. I love this part.
Finally,an outlet to speak it. This isn't technically speaking but it will help with spelling words, even if you don't have accent marks on your keyboard. www.existor.com The AI is capable of speaking in other languages and you can carry on a fairly realistic conversation with "her". She can be a bit random but otherwise sometimes a little fun to talk to. Great practice though.

BTW I'm not fluent but semi-conversational and have a vocabulary of a one-year or so. So we can practice some, if you want, but in French only. xD

The final this is this. When learning a language realize you're simply expanding your vocabulary. That's all you're doing. Just more synonyms for words you already know. There's different rules but, hey. You already learned English. A few more rules won't hurt you.
 
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