|
|
Post by mez on Jun 17, 2008 10:38:06 GMT -5
Laidback, Thanks for the recommendation about the Learn French By Podcast series. I've spent much of tonight downloading all 108 episodes.  I'm starting my Alliance Francaise classes next week. I hope it works out and I don't get the same outcome as you Annette. |
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Jun 23, 2008 1:44:44 GMT -5
Mez
How are your courses going ?
|
|
|
|
Post by mez on Jun 23, 2008 2:08:21 GMT -5
Megan,
I start tonight! Will provide an update later...stay tuned.
|
|
|
|
Post by mez on Jun 23, 2008 7:54:42 GMT -5
Not a good start - was 15 minutes late...my fault. I thought it was a 6.30pm and not a 6.15pm start. It was pretty easy. The hardest thing (surprisingly) was the spelling out the alphabet - lol. We played Le Pendu (Hangman) - - and did some basic introductions. I had a talk with the tutor and decided to go again on Wed night to the scheduled class and try and attend the Sat class for the next level and see how I cope. I'll then make a decision whether to stay where I am or move to the next level. There were about 15 of us in the class, which I thought was quite alot considering they have many classes running. Out of the 15 about 5 were male. We were all different ages as well, which was nice. |
|
|
|
Post by Megan on Jun 24, 2008 3:43:24 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by annettecinca on Jul 9, 2008 10:11:24 GMT -5
Just an update--I ordered the first 2 SmartFrench CD's, and after listening to the first one (I really gave it a chance and listened all the way thru...) I sent the unopened 2nd CD right back! Not suited for my style of learning I suppose. Guess I'll stick with Pimsleur and Michel Thomas, as they both have enough repetition to help it stick in my aging brain! If anyone would like to try the 1st SmartFrench CD, I will gladly send it to you (send me a PM).
|
|
|
|
Post by sistereurope on Jul 9, 2008 10:37:35 GMT -5
That doesn't surprise me Annette. I mainly used my Smart French CDs for practicing proper pronounciation...I never found them helpful for comprehension.
What Pimsleur series are you on? I'm attempting III...I have to listen to each lesson several times, so I've yet to make it through!
|
|
|
|
Post by annettecinca on Jul 9, 2008 11:16:51 GMT -5
I've finished the first set of Pimsleur, the one you can purchase seperately from the whole course (lessons 1-8 on 4 CD's). I was debating about whether or not to plunk down the $$ for the entire set, so that's why I tried a few others first. I do like you do, listen to each lesson a few times so it sinks in a little better.
|
|
|
|
Post by sistereurope on Jul 9, 2008 11:35:49 GMT -5
I got my first set (Level II) used through Amazon.com...it was pretty expensive even though I bought a used set. But then the seller sent me an email saying that he had a return program, so that when I was finished with Level II I sent it back to him and only had to pay $50 for the complete Level III set of 30 lessons!
|
|
|
|
Post by firsttimeinparis on Jul 19, 2008 7:53:48 GMT -5
Bonjour à tous! I've used the LFBP, as the lessons are covering very useful phrases and the theme is always very current as what is going on in the world today. Right now I find lesson 111 very difficult for me to grasp. Although personally I think I should spend the money on getting 25 transcripts to actually see what they're saying. If I see it one time, it's engrained in the cranium forever. The other is a FANTASTIC book on grammer from the "teach yourself" series called "french grammer" Mcgraw-hill publishers in North America, and to use it with the pronounciation guide Gittek gave me it's a lot of fun, you punch in the words and you get the correct pronounciation. www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php#top |
|
|
|
Post by ramona on Jun 18, 2009 5:17:14 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by dannydg on Sept 29, 2009 21:13:34 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by denise on Jan 2, 2010 15:16:27 GMT -5
 ???I wondered if any of you succeeded with the things you tried? I'm desperately trying to improve my French before my next trip.....well when I say "improve",... my French is that bad, practically non existent, that anything would be an improvement. I've bought a new CD course. DK eyewitness(as in the guide books) 15 minute French. It seems pretty good and easy to follow. I find if I blast myself with French a couple of weeks before I get some words right and understand more. I could speak French when I was 16 but over the years have forgotten most of it, I have tried various tapes and CD's and even an on line course. Nothing worked so I enrolled in a very expensive course, but decided that practising French with people who spoke French with a Bolton accent was not the best way to go!...I was better using the money to actually GO to Paris and that is what I did. The trouble is I find I cannot retain the vocabulary unless I am using it every day. Is this an age thing? Do others find the same? I am going to try to THINK in French maybe that will help. Anyone else any tips. Denise Love from England.
|
|
|
|
Post by mossie on Jan 2, 2010 15:25:47 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Jody on Jan 3, 2010 4:51:02 GMT -5
Pronunciation, that's that really hard part. I had 6 years of French lessons and have used a few CD courses and some online series . I'm afraid Mossie has the only good answer, Immersion. I can read pretty well, at least enough to make out approximately what something says. A recent good thing for me is my hairdresser is a native Parisian and we kid around in French while she cuts my hair, I'd have to get it cut a lot more often though for it to be helpful!You might try this website for help with individual words www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php |
|
|
|
Post by denise on Jan 3, 2010 6:31:00 GMT -5
Ah Denise ...... Speaking from my vastly superior age   , I can assure you that it is an age thing. The only answer is total immersion, just walk into a bar in an outer arrondisement, sit back and try and soak up the accent. Then try some light conversation and hold on tight ;D ;D. Well I am staying in the 10th so finding a "local" cafe shouldn't be difficult. It is the "light conversation" I may have difficulty with! ;D I am trying to stay away from the obviously tourist places, to try to experience something different........ Except I have booked a ticket for the Eiffel Tower on line, on a whim, to see how it worked. www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/pratique/acces/page/tarifs.htmlAnyone want to go to the Eiffel tower at 15.30 on the 19th January?  Denise Love from England |
|
|
|
Post by mez on Jan 3, 2010 8:58:24 GMT -5
Anyone want to go to the Eiffel tower at 15.30 on the 19th January? Denise, Between you and Gitte, I am positively green with envy when I read about your regular jaunts to Paris. Alas, I can only be with you in spirit while you visit the ET. ;D |
|
|
|
Post by sdtraveller on Jan 3, 2010 12:22:49 GMT -5
A few years ago, my wife and I discovered that the "French in Action (Capretz Method)" video series would be on a cable TV network (ITF?), and we recorded them all on our DVR while we watched them. They seemed so useful that we bought a copy of the book that goes with them (book+workbook+videos are supposed to be a first semester college course). We have viewed them many times and learned something each time. We also attended two semesters of community college Conversational French and an additional short "course" in French for Travelers through OASIS (a nonprofit group that offers all sorts of courses, lectures, travel, etc. for people 50 and older in many US cities).
Of them all, French in Action was the most useful. I understand you can watch (small-size images) the series from the French in Action web site (http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html?pop=yes&vodid=259418&pid=682#) but only in the US and Canada.
As an aside, our Spring trip will start with two weeks in Italy before we get to Paris for four weeks, and we know no Italian at all. So in about 10 days we are starting (at OASIS) a 6-session "course" in Italian for Travelers. We hope to learn enough to get by in Florence and Venice without seeming too hopeless. We are now 67 and almost-63, respectively, and find that we are not yet too old to learn--although we reluctantly acknowledge we will always sound, at best, like Americans trying to speak French (or Italian).
|
|
slowpoke
Full Member
Cruising into Paris
Posts: 131
|
Post by slowpoke on Jan 16, 2010 8:33:57 GMT -5
I just found this site and I want to share it with everyone because it is so well done, and has everything you need to improve your French. Go and click around, I think that you will be as impressed as I am. www.ielanguages.com/french.htmlI would also like to add that the one thing that has helped me more than anything else is that from the day I moved to France, I have been listening to French radio programs. Stations like RTL, Europe1 and France Inter are my favorites because they are "talk" stations. RTL is France's most popular station, and has really helped me improve my understanding of French. From Julien Courbet's "Ça peut vous arriver" to "Les Grosses Têtes", you will be entertained all day long, and learn French to boot. When I first started listening, I could only pick out a word here and there, and now I listen for pleasure and understand almost everything that they are saying without having to "listen attentively". www.rtl.fr/Caroline Dublanches has a call in program. She has a great laugh, and listening to French peoples problems is a great way to improve your French and learn about the culture. www.europe1.fr/Radio/Emissions/Caroline-DUBLANCHE5I listen to France Inter sometimes on the weekend because they have lovely little vignettes of French life, like the time they followed the postman around a small village recording all of the conversations that he had as he delivered the mail. They also speak very clearly. sites.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/accueil/Like Laidback, I have been listening to the LFBP for a long time and highly recommend their site as well. www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/Good Luck! |
|
|
|
Post by Jody on Jan 16, 2010 8:57:46 GMT -5
Thanks, Nancy for all those great sites. I'm going to try and be a faithful student in the days to come!
|
|
Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha