Learning a new language.
 

I'm currently learning French at the Uni, and I was wondering if there were any good hints/advices for learning French or any new language. Even though I'm bilingual, I've always had trouble trying to learn a new foreign language (English never felt like a second language to me). I've attempted French, Spanish, and Japanese. This is my second attempt at French, and I really would like to learn it for lots of reasons. The most motivating reason is that I couldn't get past the first year of grad school without a Western foreign language.

I think I'm doing well in my class, but it's only French 101. Any books people recommend to supplement the courses I will be taking? Should I read children's books? Help me out!

Bonjour!

Obviously you should "ask your sensei", but I'll ask some professor at my school: they teach french, and I'll see if there are some tricks specific to french to learn it.

But are you REALLY from North Korea http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif ? The advices may vary with your first language.

Before i forget... What does "I'm only French 101" means? I think it's your level in French, but which level?

French 101 is the beginner/first course at university.

Pourquoi francais? Deutsch ist besser, n'est-ce pas?

If this is your second attempt and you are having trouble then maybe another European language may be better, such as German. There are quite a few similarities between English and German.

Also, there at least 3 countries in Europe where German is used (actually, that might be 4 if you count the small number of German speakers in Belgium).

Whichever one you choose, the best advice I was given was to read children's books.

Good luck!

"101" is an Americanism which tends to mean a basic course in anything and can be used for anything. It's a fairly generic term and not to be taken seriously.

If you want to learn french you first have to act french.....smoke, slur your words and flirt outrageously with any woman you see....oh and drink enough espresso to kill a small elephant. Having a long standing rivalry with the Brits might help too.

Aber warum Deutsche sprache?!
Ich glaube Spanish wird besser ...
Shade das er findet es schwer zu lernen.

Quite shame that you find English and Spanish hard to learn,that is the language of half of the globe.
German is not to hard,once you pass the "ü","ö","ä", pronunciation.
München,Gerät,Antiquitäten,Möbel, etc.

Also there is few writing rules.
When to write S(h):
Sport,stuhl, or Schule,Schön,Schmuck.
The sillent "H"
The double "S" or "ß".

Perhaps Svenja could explain better.

Study at least a little bit everyday. Languages are use it or lose it types of things. Listen to music, watch cartoons or tv in the target language (shows that match the level of your studies, hence little kid cartoons early, news and dramas later), read books (again, that match your skills, kids books early or newspaper articles later)... Create an immersive environment so you get a little bit of the language everyday. Even as little as 15 minutes a day will help you to practice and keep your skills than skipping days of studying altogether and studying for long periods of time to make up for days you lost.

This type of immersion learning is helpful, although sometimes it doesn't feel like it. You may not be able to answer someone if they ask how to say specific phrases or words, but little by little you learn vocab and can comprehend it without even trying. Then when you hear them used in conversations enough and they finally click and you use it yourself, then it becomes yours.

I'm not having much trouble with French this time around. I took the course about six years ago, but back then it was just for the high school graduation requirements. I am getting an A in the course, it's just that I really want to become fluent before I graduate. I know that three years isn't a lot of time, so I can use as much help I can get.

Except in this case, my course is actually "French 101A"

Now, where can I get these things without having to go to a French website. Does Amazon offer children's books/shows in French?

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.

I talked to some teachers today, and what JCM said about the gazillion of verb forms is true. Concentrate on the main forms. But an easy way to help people understanding you is pronunciation.

French and English are very far away.
Use true native speeches to learn how who pronounce a, u and r (many differences with the english way), and work on an, un and in, which just do not exist in English.

My surname is Ronan, unpronounceable in at least English, German, Japanese and Chinese!

If you manage to improve those six sounds, that would add a lot to the quality of your oral expression.

And another little tip: in French, the accent is at the END of the sentence. Try to hear it.

Finally, beware of "suburbs language". I have myself often troubles to understand it because of its prononciation, so if you see some kinds of french chavs, stop listening.

That's not acting like French. That's acting like foreigners think the French.

If you want to think French, don't give a fuck about what others are thinking. That's called "cultural exception", or sometimes "french touch". http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif

The French R's are too hard to pronounce! Even my teacher can't get it (she says she speaks with a Canadian accent). Now I need to find some French guys to befriend.

I think you did it well. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/wink2.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

I had French in school for two years, I hated it... Not the language itself, but the way we were taught and the teacher.

Je ne parle pas francais! Cest très bien, ne c'est pas? http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/biggrin.gif

edit: @tgsfg: If you think French "Rs" are hard never, ever decide to learn Russian... http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/wink2.gif

No, apart from the Expresso (Italian I think) that's how the French are. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/laugh.gif

I believe that there is a French Amazon

Suivez cet link ici - http://www.amazon.fr/

Have fun!

If you're in the US, http://amazon.ca/ might be easier.

(Please note I have no idea whether Canadian French is different from French French).

Thanks! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif
I must say that my German is quite rusty!
Learned it in School but did not use it since.

Well actually,from time to time I watch "TV TOTAL".
Stefan Raab is very funny.
One of the best shows he made was with Kylie Minogue!
She had five appearances if I recall correctly.
I really enjoyed every Show she made with Raab.

Kylie Minogue vs Stefan Raab.

This can get really complicated... http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo.../confused2.gif

If you stick with written French, you will be safe. Written French stays the same regardless where you are, although Canadians are more sensitive to gender neutrality.

Spoken French is another thing, especially in the every day parlance. In Canada, the accent(s) and the pronunciations are a lot different than what you would hear in France. Then, our spoken French contains a lot of ancient words that are no longer used in France as well as English words that we made our own.

Confused yet???? http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/eek.gif

Apprendre le français, c'est un peu comme apprendre le iaido: on répète plusieurs fois la même chose, on se décourage, et puis un jour on y arrive! Ce qui compte, c'est d'y prendre plaisir! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

Bonne chance!

-André @ Fredericton

French Amazon might be a bit confusing for me. Most beginner university courses in most American (or at least Californian) universities are called Subject 101 (Sociology 101, History 101...etc).