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Post by Shoesy on Feb 23, 2010 6:57:13 GMT -5
Thanks for the follow-up, Sis ! I have a feeling that with your motivation, not only will you be conjugating verbs perfectly, but you'll be speaking much more freely with a cute French accent. And even if you don't quite master the accent, I can guarantee you that your Baltimore accent is a lot better than my New York one.  |
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Post by PariS on Feb 23, 2010 12:00:46 GMT -5
Sis, I'm glad to hear it went so well!! You are going to make great strides in learning French this year ;D
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Post by sistereurope on Feb 23, 2010 15:20:58 GMT -5
Aww, thanks for the encouragement, mes amis !  |
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gertie
Full Member
Paris je t'adore!
Posts: 225
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Post by gertie on Feb 24, 2010 8:14:49 GMT -5
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Post by phread on Feb 24, 2010 9:02:53 GMT -5
the best way to learn French is from the pillow, at least that is what the Frenchmen try to convince me....
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Post by PariS on Feb 24, 2010 10:17:10 GMT -5
LOL Phread--that's what Mossie says, too!
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Post by framboiseetrose on Feb 24, 2010 14:33:56 GMT -5
Meanyheads or a Macaron, Sis, Annette and Darryl - you will all be speaking lovely french in no time. With all the trips to Paris to practice, we will all be in awe. Il faut toujours pratiquer votre francais - that's what I would say!!!!
Gertie, my first conversational french teacher was from Texas. You could imagine how confused the French were during my first trip to France.........
-Lilia
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Post by sistereurope on Feb 25, 2010 8:05:24 GMT -5
Well, night two went ok as well...I actually woke up this morning thinking in FRENCH (well, kind of). Unfortunately it wasn't the kind of pillow talk that Phread and Mossie were referring to, as my husband (who does speak rather good French) is currently in Japan, speaking Japanese... ;D
But, I managed to hold my own in class despite my poor speaking skills, AND my very sweet prof walked several blocks with me to the metro and rode with me for several stops...and we spoke French the whole time! She told me that it's the ONLY way I'm ever going to learn...that I need to ban the English. Of course I made a gazillion mistakes and I was cursing my poor memory and my even poorer accent....but we managed to have a nice conversation despite all of that, so to me, that is some kinda progress!!! ;D
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Post by sistereurope on Feb 25, 2010 8:32:46 GMT -5
I don't know Annette...I'm not sure that my brain can absorb it all...it's not as spongy as it used to be! ;D
And now I have to make it think in English about US and global economic policy and research as I am SUPPOSED to be writing a big grant and not hanging out on the forum, dreaming about being fluent and buying apartments in Paris. It's an addiction, I tell ya...
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Post by geordy on Feb 25, 2010 16:48:29 GMT -5
From what you've described Sis...understanding most of what the teacher said and now talking with her on the Metro....I'd say you are well on your way to being quite conversational in French! I'm so glad you got a good teacher...mine at the AF/FI here was not. And I'm sure your friend Loic helps too! Jim speaks Japanese  ...how's his French? My brain really starts to hurt at the idea of a language with a totally different alphabet! If they call it an alphabet..doubtful. |
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Post by sistereurope on Feb 27, 2010 8:42:10 GMT -5
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with AF Geordy...I have been very positively impressed with them. The quality of the class is ten times better than what I experienced at my local community college. It's more expensive, but so far very much worth it.
And yes, I sent Loic an email in French and he was impressed...and then promptly corrected most of what I said. But I am glad as it was helpful. And yes, my husband speaks French almost fluently (I would say he's fluent), with a really great accent. AND he can speak and read some Japanese. I think that he's one of those lucky souls who was born with a knack for language, like my sister, who speaks fluent German and in the Peace Corps learned Mongolian.
Whereas I have to work and work at my poorly accented French. But I am VERY determined, so that helps!
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Post by geordy on Feb 27, 2010 9:55:01 GMT -5
" "And yes, I sent Loic an email in French and he was impressed...and then promptly corrected most of what I said. " LOL! ;D At the time of my lessons we were staying at the same hotel a lot and knew much of the staff. I promptly impressed the bartender with a few sentences! And was quite impressed with myself.... The next night the corrections began...... I think it is the luck of the drawer with the teacher...several people dropped out of my class..beginner..even though they could not get any refund...and then most either switched to any followup class they could get into with a different teacher or decided not to take the next course..like me. I think traveling mostly with S/O who is also fluent in several languages made me lazy!  I exalt your determination....and enjoy your experience! |
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Post by Sandy M on Mar 11, 2010 11:35:16 GMT -5
Just learned of this book - I think I'm going to place an order - it can only help me as I really don't know anything about the French language - I would love to take a class but guess I'm too lazy - or is it "scared" - and hopefully I can learn something from this book. It's a start anyway, and maybe it will inspire me to take lessons. www.amazon.com/o/asin/0071476601/frencwordaday-20#noop |
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Post by PariS on Mar 11, 2010 15:48:12 GMT -5
Sandy, that book looks interesting--certainly something to keep on the shelf as a reference if not to learn from. Sis, how are you classes coming along? You must be doing really well if you can read a French novel!  |
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Post by sistereurope on Mar 11, 2010 20:45:08 GMT -5
Sandy, that book looks interesting--certainly something to keep on the shelf as a reference if not to learn from. Sis, how are you classes coming along? You must be doing really well if you can read a French novel! Class is going well Annette, thanks for asking! LOTS of work and LOOOONG days, but my teacher is great. She's sweet and funny, and patient. I'm growing by leaps and bounds in my listening comprehension, and the novel (silly as it is) is helping me with my reading. But my speaking skills continue to lag far far behind...grrr. I am determined though!!!! |
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Post by Shoesy on Mar 13, 2010 0:07:26 GMT -5
But my speaking skills continue to lag far far behind...grrr. Sis - Fret not.........when you go to Paris, your mouth is probably going to want to do a lot more eating than speaking. ;D |
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Post by PariS on Sept 28, 2010 23:39:57 GMT -5
Absolutely wrong, shoesy. It's Darryll who is searching for Mrs Meanyhead.  Annette is already dreaming about her macaron Jean-François....... Update: Darryl has found us a tutor, and he's definitely more macaron Jean-François than Madame Meanyhead! (all 6' 8" of him!) We started tonight. He is going to come to our house 2 or 3 times a week between now and our trip next month. This will be great! He explained verb conjugations to the point where it almost makes sense to me now! |
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Post by Shoesy on Sept 28, 2010 23:49:08 GMT -5
That's great news, Annette ! Just don't let anything (or anyone ) get you distracted while you're conjugating those verbs.
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Post by mossie on Sept 29, 2010 8:59:57 GMT -5
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Post by sistereurope on Oct 3, 2010 11:26:23 GMT -5
Hi All,
Just wanted to update that my next foray into the wonderful world of attempting to master the French language is a new class at the Alliance Francaise...French TV 5! The teacher is really great, and nice and patient...so I have had two good experiences so far. But the class is a mixed Advanced-Intermediate level...everyone speaks WAY better Francaise than moi. I am the worst, but so far I'm not too far behind (it's scary but my husband convinced me that it's better than being too easy). We watch segments from TV 5 and work on comprehension, but we do have discussions as well. And my homework is to watch some TV when I'm in France...not too hard!
In any event, I recommend the AF, at least the one in DC.
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...how's his French? My brain really starts to hurt at the idea of a language with a totally different alphabet! If they call it an alphabet..doubtful.
hahahha