Me and French ... a tortured tale
I have had a torturous relationship with the French language since I first signed up for a special graduate class for reading French (I have a less conflicted relationship with the French themselves ... I like and admire them). Since I was not sure I had the talent or the brains to ever complete my PhD I did not work at it very hard. Same with my reading German class which was much more difficult.
Then I went to France for a semester to research my dissertation - something my thesis director had advised against, so I had never bothered to work on spoken French - an entirely different language. Spent 2 1/2 months in France and loved the country, and the French, but I was very shy about trying to speak to many people. Most days I was in an archives reading room with a stack of 11th century charters written in Latin in front of me.
When I came home, years went by and I heard no French spoken. Every now and then I would think I should learn to speak it, or at least understand it when I hear it and would go out and by some language tapes, or rent a French movie which did no good whatsoever. Then I went back to France with Carmen for several weeks and realized just how bad my French was.
Still, for my work I have to read through a fair amount of French history texts, which are written in a clear simple French with few if any idioms or slang - unlike, say, a newspaper.
I have just read a book by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow, two Canadian journalists, called The Story of French. It's a fascinating book and has gotten me all fired up about the French language again. So I drug out an old book I have had for years called How to Learn any Language and reread it.
Now I am all set to try one more time to actually learn spoken French. I am listening to tapes, watching French movies, listening to French Canadian radio, and reading French newspapers on the web. It's great fun, hard work, but is it going to work? Sometimes a little bit of French drill goes a loooong way. Maybe Carmen and I need a vacation to Quebec. Or Algeria. Tunis? I've always wanted to see Carthage.
Of course, we could always go back to Paris.
posted by Clemens @ 10:48 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Now I am all set to try one more time to actually learn spoken French. I am listening to tapes, watching French movies, listening to French Canadian radio, and reading French newspapers on the web. It's great fun, hard work, but is it going to work? Sometimes a little bit of French drill goes a loooong way.
For learning other languages, motivation and attitude account for a lot! BTW, I am sure you have already found the French language channels on XM?
Maybe Carmen and I need a vacation to Quebec. Or Algeria. Tunis? I've always wanted to see Carthage.
I checked out abroadlanguages.com and they have a school in Montpelier which is $675 for school, room, half board, and six hours a week of one on one. If you are serious about learning French, immersion is a good bet (especially since the semester is still young)
Of course, we could always go back to Paris.
Or half of Belgium, a third of Switzerland or Haiti.
--Joey
yep,yep, and yep. All true. And we found the French Canadian stations - I especially like 'Sur le route' XM102. XM172 is spoken French all the time, but it only discusses sports!
Spanish is a lot easier anyway. I can hear it all the time.
Why would you go to Paris? It's full of French people.
My vote is Tunis.
I have a feeling your French is better than you admit, but if you are considering a class check out ocw.mit.edu for free course materials on a ton of subjects (including languages)
--Joey
But I like the French! Although I'll admit that people are a bit more laid back in Angers than in Paris.
Still, we'll always have Paris.
Thanks for the advice Joey. As I said, my ability to read French is not so bad, but speaking it is something else.
BTW, keep practicing your Spanish!
Project for the near future:
Vietnamese!
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