1.) Every December on ski vacations to France it seemed like a 50% chance/risk that I could use English without lost in translation issues. That is partly the reason I started to learn French as my 3rd language after English and Swedish.
2.) Even more than that though, I discovered learning French is fun! I large part because so many new tools are available since I added Swedish 20 years ago. I'm an American ex-pat living in Sweden since 2002 btw.
3) It may be on the nerdy side but discovering the cognates/faux amis between the 3 languages is like unwrapping a gift each time. This week cognate "insipid" and faux amis "fade"
4) I've used Memrise, Duolingo, Lingopie. I also find Anki really useful for making flashcards from screenshots on other apps for the purpose of tying things together.
5. Je suis encore débutant mais j'apprends le français un peu chaque jour!
Thank you, Jim, for telling me your story with French! You're right, there are now a lot of tools, podcasts, and thousands of videos to make it fun. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is to stay motivated, and it's important to find the tools that suit you. I didn’t know about Lingopie, I’ll check it out!
I have loved the French language since I started it in a special class in school in the US at the age of 9. We spent 3 yrs speaking, listening, singing, playing games, using flashcards for vocab. At 12 the rules changed, and everything we had done was taken up with writing and reading, then further developed. By the age of 15, it was a year of French culture (in French), at 16, French history, and my senior year of high school included a year of French literature. When I went to Uni as a music (flute performance) major, the French Dept placed me in French Majors’ courses due to my level, so I did a double major, adding things like French phonetics❤️.The challenge of trying to make my French perfect was like a game to me. (I got the only ‘A’ in phonetics!).
Life changed when I was offered a Junior Year Abroad for music in Austria. I spent a year studying music in German (which then became a true total immersion). I ended up finishing my degree in NY, then returning to Vienna in 1977. After 30 years of orchestral flute playing here, kids, grandkids, and a blessed marriage with an Austrian, I am a US expat with perfect Austrian German. In the last 20 yrs or so, I have realized that my spoken level of French was worse than rusty. I am now back in the swing of reading , watching films, following news and podcasts daily in French. I even enrolled in a C2 course this semester at the Institut Français Vienne! The other students could all be my kids or grandkids! No matter. I would never do a course for seniors!
Anyway, following your work has been great fun and a boost to my practice, Timo! Another perk in my late life learning that I look forward to. Every little bit helps!
I go to France every year (except this year, sadly) and to me speaking French with the locals, opens up marvelous channels and human connections beyond expectations. Besides…French is so beautiful and I hope I can speak it fluently someday (and count in French too hahaha!) I am so thankful for your posts❣️
Merci beaucoup pour ton retour Luisa ! Je suis vraiment ravi d’apprendre que mes articles te sont utiles. L’apprentissage du français est un long voyage mais le résultat en vaut la peine !
I agree with most of your article. I learnt my ‘schoolboy French’ in England in the early 70’s. England was very interested in joining the Common Market so French was required classes, German if you handle both. It was the government that had the motivation, not me. I went to work in Paris years later and found the French I learnt was inadequate. Eventually my French improved during the 3 months I was there. I later moved to Germany a learnt a little German. I came to the conclusion that English was used in business world I think because of the influence of Britain and later the USA. It was hard to talk to natives to improve my French or German as they wanted to practice their English. Motivation is paramount in the learning process for English speakers because it is so easy to give up.
Yes, that’s the problem when you’re an English speaker. You don’t really need to speak another language. In French, we call that un cadeau empoisonné (a poisoned gift).
1.) Every December on ski vacations to France it seemed like a 50% chance/risk that I could use English without lost in translation issues. That is partly the reason I started to learn French as my 3rd language after English and Swedish.
2.) Even more than that though, I discovered learning French is fun! I large part because so many new tools are available since I added Swedish 20 years ago. I'm an American ex-pat living in Sweden since 2002 btw.
3) It may be on the nerdy side but discovering the cognates/faux amis between the 3 languages is like unwrapping a gift each time. This week cognate "insipid" and faux amis "fade"
4) I've used Memrise, Duolingo, Lingopie. I also find Anki really useful for making flashcards from screenshots on other apps for the purpose of tying things together.
5. Je suis encore débutant mais j'apprends le français un peu chaque jour!
Thank you, Jim, for telling me your story with French! You're right, there are now a lot of tools, podcasts, and thousands of videos to make it fun. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is to stay motivated, and it's important to find the tools that suit you. I didn’t know about Lingopie, I’ll check it out!
I have loved the French language since I started it in a special class in school in the US at the age of 9. We spent 3 yrs speaking, listening, singing, playing games, using flashcards for vocab. At 12 the rules changed, and everything we had done was taken up with writing and reading, then further developed. By the age of 15, it was a year of French culture (in French), at 16, French history, and my senior year of high school included a year of French literature. When I went to Uni as a music (flute performance) major, the French Dept placed me in French Majors’ courses due to my level, so I did a double major, adding things like French phonetics❤️.The challenge of trying to make my French perfect was like a game to me. (I got the only ‘A’ in phonetics!).
Life changed when I was offered a Junior Year Abroad for music in Austria. I spent a year studying music in German (which then became a true total immersion). I ended up finishing my degree in NY, then returning to Vienna in 1977. After 30 years of orchestral flute playing here, kids, grandkids, and a blessed marriage with an Austrian, I am a US expat with perfect Austrian German. In the last 20 yrs or so, I have realized that my spoken level of French was worse than rusty. I am now back in the swing of reading , watching films, following news and podcasts daily in French. I even enrolled in a C2 course this semester at the Institut Français Vienne! The other students could all be my kids or grandkids! No matter. I would never do a course for seniors!
Anyway, following your work has been great fun and a boost to my practice, Timo! Another perk in my late life learning that I look forward to. Every little bit helps!
Merci!😀
Merci beaucoup Maura ! Ce genre de retour me touchent beaucoup et me motivent encore plus ! 😊
I go to France every year (except this year, sadly) and to me speaking French with the locals, opens up marvelous channels and human connections beyond expectations. Besides…French is so beautiful and I hope I can speak it fluently someday (and count in French too hahaha!) I am so thankful for your posts❣️
Merci beaucoup pour ton retour Luisa ! Je suis vraiment ravi d’apprendre que mes articles te sont utiles. L’apprentissage du français est un long voyage mais le résultat en vaut la peine !
I agree with most of your article. I learnt my ‘schoolboy French’ in England in the early 70’s. England was very interested in joining the Common Market so French was required classes, German if you handle both. It was the government that had the motivation, not me. I went to work in Paris years later and found the French I learnt was inadequate. Eventually my French improved during the 3 months I was there. I later moved to Germany a learnt a little German. I came to the conclusion that English was used in business world I think because of the influence of Britain and later the USA. It was hard to talk to natives to improve my French or German as they wanted to practice their English. Motivation is paramount in the learning process for English speakers because it is so easy to give up.
Yes, that’s the problem when you’re an English speaker. You don’t really need to speak another language. In French, we call that un cadeau empoisonné (a poisoned gift).
Très bon article pour rester motivé, Timo. Je pense que le français m’aidera beaucoup dans ma carrière au Canada.
Merci Sid. C’est une très bonne raison d’apprendre le français !