Paroles en situations

I've found one relatively new book to be very useful for my studies in French. It has six "dossiers"

1 Écouter des annonces dans les lieux publics
2 Écouter des messages sur des répondeurs téléphoniques
3 Écouter des messages d'accueil sur des serveurs vocaux
4 Interagir au téléphone en situation d'urgence
5 Obtenir des renseignements par téléphone
6 Interagir dans des lieux publics

VERY practical.



One of the problems I've always faced is attuning my ears to spoken French. I might be able to cope in France if everyone wrote down what they say (in legible handwriting) - but the speed of the spoken languages is often too fast for "a bear of very little brain" like myself. 'Paroles en situations' works through a number of situations - with exercises which focus on different parts of the conversation in turn. There are 'transcriptions' of each 'conversation'. It is that in-depth, repeated interaction which I have found so useful. The book also contains a link to the Hachette website which allows one to load the activities on to a computer. I use both the book and the computer exercises.

The Duolingo Challenge

While I mentioned Duolingo in a post in my series on tools to learn French - there are many other languages available.

One of the ways to encourage your regular use of this tool is to challenge your friends. The 'league table' so created is based not on language or level - but the number of sessions you take in a week. So, if a friend is pretty strong in another language, say Spanish, you can still compete with them - and beat them by practising more.

You are welcome to challenge me - or put in a more positive way, to be my friend.

 I am "David744736" on Duolingo.

TV5 Monde

TV5 is a french language channel which broadcasts internationally. It has programmes from France, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium - and programmes covering all parts of the French speaking world.  If you are able to get it, it's a useful tool for developing your listening skills. [And don't forget, visual cues can also help understanding when listening to someone else].

It's website is http://www.tv5monde.com

But if you don't get TV5 as part of your TV service subscription, or you don't have a satellite dish - the website and the various apps can be of use in developing your skills in French. 'Learn French with 7 jours' is one such app - allowing you to watch a short news video and develop vocabulary through a series of related exercises/games. The 'TV5MONDE' app allows you to watch previously broadcast programmes on your tablet.

It is the website itself which contains a plethora of resources for the student of French. Do explore the 'Langue française' section of the website.  (Screenshot below)

I enjoy listening to French music - and you can develop your listening skills and vocabulary through http://enseigner.tv5monde.com/collection/paroles-de-clips. A video of a song is accompanied by various resources, including the lyrics (Les paroles).

If you'd done some French before, test your level - http://parlons-francais.tv5monde.com/webdocumentaires-pour-apprendre-le-francais/p-108-lg0-Test-de-niveau.htm - this will help you choose the right level of resources for you.

Learning Languages

I was bilingual before I started school. My parents spoke both Welsh and English in our home in Coventry. My mother was asked by my teacher not to speak Welsh to me, as it would hamper my education (actually, when this bit of advice was given it did reflect the state of research at the time - longitudinal studies were to show that any initial disadvantages of being bilingual were overtaken by massive and long term advantages around the age of seven and beyond. Sadly these appeared after the bad advice was given - and acted upon). Yet, half a century later - I still can recognise some Welsh words &  even use some.

You might think that this early upbringing in a bilingual home might help me to learn languages. It hasn't. Later on I did try to relearn Welsh - but didn't do very well. I've also spent 45 years (on and off) trying to learn French. It hasn't been a great success - until recently.

So why has it been so difficult? I think my memories of learning French at school may hold some clues. I remember hours of writing out - again and again - verb tables. Yet I still lack confidence (and ability) in recalling the present tense of verbs, let alone other tenses. I certainly did not enjoy learning French (and it didn't help that my French teacher and I had a major personality clash). I was glad to give up 'French' after passing my O Level (which did require extra lessons from a friend of the family).

Then, at a holiday show in Northampton, we won a coach trip and weekend in Paris. I thought I'd better learn a few useful phrases - and, to my immense surprise, actually got hooked on French and France. While the children were young we spent many happy holidays in France. I developed my reading skills (my idea of paradise is reading Le Monde whilst sitting in warm sunshine slowly drinking a glass of red wine) and can ask for things in shops - but that isn't enough.

I feel that I have made great progress in the last couple of years. In this blog, I'm going to share my experience of what I have found useful. I'd welcome your comments and experiences.

Duolingo - Supporting Language Learning

One of the keys to learning is practising the skill being acquired frequently. Ten minutes a day is often more effective than doing mega-sessions on an occasional basis. Forming habits of regular study is also very important.

There is an app which I have on my iPhone and iPad (and are therefore linked - so I can use either - and my progress is recorded and shared) - called "Duolingo". It's a free app - and there is no subscription. Now, the first thing I do each day is to do my daily practice. You can set your own daily target [Goals can be Casual (10 XP = 1 'unit'); Regular (20 XP); Serious (30 XP) and Insane (50 XP) - but you can exceed your goal - which I try to do - because I can be intensely competitive - ESPECIALLY with myself.] It is addictive - and after two days on a run, you are told how many days you have done. Achieving a run of 100 days was a goal I aimed at - and this motivated me. It felt great to get there. I've now got a new goal - and it keeps me going.

You can also compete against friends. A unit (which only takes a few minutes) earns 10 XP - and there are other ways to increase your score. You can invite friends to join the 'leaderboard' and again that can help by raising the challenge of competition.

You don't have to stick to one language - my main aim at the moment is to develop my French - but ahead of a trip to Hamburg, I want to learn a bit of German. It's easy to switch languages - so my current goals are to do at least three units of French and one of German every day. It doesn't take much time - but time passes, and I can see how my skills are improving. As I say, generating new motivation is key to the Duolingo tool.

There is a large choice of languages available - Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Esperanto, Turkish, Vietnamese, Norwegian, Ukrainian, and Welsh - and the developers are working on more.

Visit the website - https://www.duolingo.com or visit your device's 'app store'.