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**clapsoewmred** · 10-10-2007, 04:13 AM

Quite shame that you find English and Spanish hard to learn,that is the language of half of the globe.

The mistake people oftentimes make with latin langauges is going to complex too soon, Spanish has about a gazillion tenses for verbs and their permutations (verbal forms and singulars and plurals), I believe french is similar. This is hard even for Spanish kids at school to learn, speaking the language doesn't guarantee a clear understanting of verbal forms, and I have forgotten most of those details. Then you also have the polite Spanish, which is hard for beginners.

I always give this advice to colleagues and friends; Keep it simple, you can be understood with basic phrases, start with simple past present and future and avoid fancy phrases.

To nodachi's point "use it or loose it" is the only thing to do, your language skills will not evolve by just reading books or listening to tapes. Find a nice french girl on campus, is the only way!.

My experience is that most language schools fall short trying to chisel grammar forms and complex terminology into your head, when the most important skill is to be able to communicate verbally at a basic level. Honestly, how does knowing that this or that word is a direct object in a phrase going to help you in France?.

Unfortunately you are learning in college so you may not have the luxury of a choice on how you learn, but still find some french speakers and pal with them, is the best help you can get.

10-10-2007, 04:13 AM	#11
clapsoewmred Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 618 Senior Member	Quite shame that you find English and Spanish hard to learn,that is the language of half of the globe. The mistake people oftentimes make with latin langauges is going to complex too soon, Spanish has about a gazillion tenses for verbs and their permutations (verbal forms and singulars and plurals), I believe french is similar. This is hard even for Spanish kids at school to learn, speaking the language doesn't guarantee a clear understanting of verbal forms, and I have forgotten most of those details. Then you also have the polite Spanish, which is hard for beginners. I always give this advice to colleagues and friends; Keep it simple, you can be understood with basic phrases, start with simple past present and future and avoid fancy phrases. To nodachi's point "use it or loose it" is the only thing to do, your language skills will not evolve by just reading books or listening to tapes. Find a nice french girl on campus, is the only way!. My experience is that most language schools fall short trying to chisel grammar forms and complex terminology into your head, when the most important skill is to be able to communicate verbally at a basic level. Honestly, how does knowing that this or that word is a direct object in a phrase going to help you in France?. Unfortunately you are learning in college so you may not have the luxury of a choice on how you learn, but still find some french speakers and pal with them, is the best help you can get.
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