For me, I remember it was the other way around so...
Thread poster: Thierry Lafaye (X)
Thierry Lafaye (X)
Thierry Lafaye (X)
Local time: 14:39
English to French
+ ...
May 16, 2004

Hi all and pmen,

Well, you should not discourage yourself from trying or wonder why you cannot get to understand French. I have been learning English and Spanish in school back in France as a child and the first time I arrived in an English speaking country, it was purely the same situation, though my level was considered to be good... back home.

Reason were various: the accent, the fact that people speak much faster than in courses, they do not care as much on pronounc
... See more
Hi all and pmen,

Well, you should not discourage yourself from trying or wonder why you cannot get to understand French. I have been learning English and Spanish in school back in France as a child and the first time I arrived in an English speaking country, it was purely the same situation, though my level was considered to be good... back home.

Reason were various: the accent, the fact that people speak much faster than in courses, they do not care as much on pronounciating clearly each word, the everyday-life words are miles away from what I've learned. And to confirm, I now live in Spain and the beginning was just about the same, except I finally got to it much faster because all the connections in my limited brain were already there. If I can do it, anyone can for sure.

So you will see this is a matter of time and practice. What was said previously is true, especially the fact that if you improve your level yourself probably with a teacher or a fairly patient French speaker, you will have no trouble over time to get to it. I do language exchange here for SpanishFrench and this was a good start as the various people were introducing me to accents and common ways of saying things, but also were making sure to be clear enough at the beginning to catch up. Then the hardest was to get to the life out there and to actually understand people who fluently and carelessly but at the end of the day, it was also the most rewarding to know that I am eventually getting there.

I guess perseverance and patience are keys to your success.

Best of luck in a language boundary-free world.
Thierry, in a language fever since I started
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sarahl (X)
sarahl (X)
Local time: 06:39
English to French
+ ...
May 16, 2004



[Edited at 2004-05-16 23:41]


 
sarahl (X)
sarahl (X)
Local time: 06:39
English to French
+ ...
how's your Catalan? May 16, 2004

if you caught the language bug, your Catalan also must be improving in leaps and bounds. I'm working on my drawl.

 
Thierry Lafaye (X)
Thierry Lafaye (X)
Local time: 14:39
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hum, well, hum, let's not go there yet May 16, 2004

sarahl wrote:

if you caught the language bug, your Catalan also must be improving in leaps and bounds. I'm working on my drawl.


Only one language at a time, my dear


 
sarahl (X)
sarahl (X)
Local time: 06:39
English to French
+ ...
You can't control those things! May 16, 2004

Thierry Lafaye wrote:
Only one language at a time, my dear


this bug gets the better of you. you'll be dreaming in Catalan before you know it.
Saaaruh in Missuuurah


 
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 14:39
German to Polish
+ ...
Tempting... May 16, 2004

Thierry, you woke the lingering spark in me - the urge to learn French. I've already had 5 attempts (self-teaching) and I thought I better give up the hope before I get depressed...

Somehow, I was mildly successful at the initial stage, but then my cousin demanded her French book back, and I was lost without its short dialogues and neat pronunciation guide.

Shall I make my 6th attempt or shall I just try and get my Spanish going...?

Thanks for the inspirati
... See more
Thierry, you woke the lingering spark in me - the urge to learn French. I've already had 5 attempts (self-teaching) and I thought I better give up the hope before I get depressed...

Somehow, I was mildly successful at the initial stage, but then my cousin demanded her French book back, and I was lost without its short dialogues and neat pronunciation guide.

Shall I make my 6th attempt or shall I just try and get my Spanish going...?

Thanks for the inspiration.
Lost in restless language frenzy,
Agnieszka
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Thierry Lafaye (X)
Thierry Lafaye (X)
Local time: 14:39
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Mmmh, one language at a time may be better :) May 16, 2004

tygru wrote:

Thierry, you woke the lingering spark in me - the urge to learn French. I've already had 5 attempts (self-teaching) and I thought I better give up the hope before I get depressed...

Somehow, I was mildly successful at the initial stage, but then my cousin demanded her French book back, and I was lost without its short dialogues and neat pronunciation guide.



Hello Agnieszka,

I'm glad I'm motivating this much. Just go at your pace whatever the language is. French, Spanish, English, Klingon, at the end of the day to me it still sounds the same (hold your fire of the politically correct, people, I'm French and I love it, I lived in Ireland and I loved it, I live now in Spain and I love it to bits, and as per Klingons... come on, do you really believe they exist?).

Some basis from a book is good and you should definitely buy your own copy if you were happy with it.

But eventually you may have to confront your fear of the step to the final frontier with a native. I still very much advice to look for fun people to do language exchange as it is fun if you opened, willing to give it a nice try and share somehow compatible points with the people you are dealing with (but beware, it is tough with a Klingon).

tygru wrote:
Shall I make my 6th attempt or shall I just try and get my Spanish going...?

Thanks for the inspiration.
Lost in restless language frenzy,
Agnieszka


Well, I cannot tell you which language to pick depending on many things (I love both of the above ones differently, and English too, si si). I would recommend going for the one you master the most first but only if you like it at about the same level as the other. If you love one to bits and the other one is just nice to have, go for the one you enjoy the most. Learning languages in my humble point of view is about enjoying it (for communication, learning different views and customs, accepting other people, try to make funny noises with your throat, the list is just infinite and I would not want to put you to sleep). But living is a passion for me so it may only apply to me. Hope this helps a bit though.

T.


 
sarahl (X)
sarahl (X)
Local time: 06:39
English to French
+ ...
Both! May 16, 2004

tygru wrote:
Shall I make my 6th attempt or shall I just try and get my Spanish going...?


Why choose when you can have both?
And you'll be doing the same type of work anyway, that's économie d'échelle in French.
Enjoy!
Sarah


 
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 14:39
German to Polish
+ ...
Yes and yes May 17, 2004

Thierry Lafaye wrote:
Some basis from a book is good and you should definitely buy your own copy if you were happy with it.

out of print, I'm afraid...


Learning languages in my humble point of view is about enjoying it (for communication, learning different views and customs, accepting other people, try to make funny noises with your throat, the list is just infinite and I would not want to put you to sleep). But living is a passion for me so it may only apply to me.


yeah, that's what made Spanish so greatly attractive to me... maybe I should go on holiday to France next.

Thanks for reassurance, everyone!
Hope I'll have more good news to report soon from the learning front
-A-


 
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 14:39
German to Polish
+ ...
No, no, no, no :) May 17, 2004

sarahl wrote:
Why choose when you can have both?


brain too small, my dear.
I'm just a humble blondie
one thing at a time
thanks for encouraging me
-A-


 
sylvie malich (X)
sylvie malich (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:39
German to English
ORIGINAL THREAD: http://www.proz.com/topic/21275 May 17, 2004

For those of you who feel like they're missing something, the link above brings you to the original thread.

 


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For me, I remember it was the other way around so...







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