When we want something, we want it now. Learning French should be no exception to the rule. Americans love maximum results with minimal effort. We live by the motto, “time is money”, and with good reason. We cram so many activities into our schedules, our time is important. Est-ce que tu parles francais? (Do you speak French?) You will soon. The following suggestions are a few ways to work learning French into your busy day. 1. Tour de France Take a trip to dreamlike Paris. This may be a real arm-twisting suggestion, but the fastest way to learn French is to immerse yourself in the language. Eavesdrop on strangers’ conversations in picturesque cafés, all in the name of education. Wander the streets of Paris, strike up conversation with locals and in no time you’ll perfect the throaty vocals of French. As Neil Simon said, “Give your mind a chance to travel through foreign languages. “ 2. Make it Movie Night Head to your local movie store or order on your next Netflix a movie in French. Some Blockbuster suggestions: “Amelie”, “Chocolate” with Johnny Depp, and “The Dreamlife of Angels” are a few internationally successful French movies. Sit back and enjoy a flick in the comfort of your home while learning to train your ear and repeating what you hear. Soon enough you’ll connaître les ficelles?(know the ropes). Control the urge to put on the subtitles or a flick with dubbing because it’ll kill the experience. 3. Explore Your Surroundings | Make Friends If you live in a metropolitan city, you can easily find French-speaking communities. Take a chance and practice your French by meeting new people while experiencing a beautiful culture. Check out local wine tasting events and French restaurants. Search the Internet, local bulletin boards, and your local university to find language exchange programs. If possible, join a conversation group. The more exposure you receive, the faster you’ll learn and in the process make friends. Faire d’une Pierre deux coups (To kill two birds with one stone. ) 4. Sing in French Hunt down some French CDs at your local store or online. Look on the inside liner and check out the lyrics. Read along with the music and in no time you’ll be belting out French with a perfect accent. Everyone will think you’ve gone bananas or dvenir dingue (in French). 5. Francophone Your Life Grab a memo pad and label everything in your house. Deck the halls, kitchen, and bedroom, even your bulldog in French labels. Your brain will begin associating the images and words and it’ll eventually become natural. 6. Go Play. Make a list of your favorite games and find a French version. Read the instructions and go through the motions of the game until it becomes second nature. Try French bingo, French crosswords, Jeopardy, Family Feud, Mille Bornes, and computer games. Soon you’ll pick up key phrases and absorb new vocabulary. When you’re ready for a real challenge, try out your French Cranium or Scrabble skills. 7. Read a Good Book. Head to your local library or bookstore and find a few topics of interest. Some internationally best-selling novels in French are: “Poursuite a Quebec”, by Ian Fraser; “La Dispartition” by Geores Perec; “Introduction to French Poetry: A Dual-Language Book” by Stanely Appelbaum. Plop down in a comfy chair in a quaint café and take a mini-trip to France. 8. Watch TV. Contrary to what your parents told you, television will not rot your brain. With satellite and cable stations providing endless channels it’s easy to tap into foreign language programs. Check out news, quiz shows, sit-coms, dramas, documentaries from France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada on http://www. tv5. org. Popular US shows like CSI, 24, Band of Brothers, Scrubs and more are all available in French. So, if you don’t find what you like on cable, you can always check out other shows on DVD. (Many DVDs have French language audio tracks!) 9. How do you say _____ in French? | Comment dit-on ____ en francais? Learning phrases is an excellent way to accelerate learning and impress your friends or loved one. French has been labeled the language of love. Try Je t’aime (I love you too), Je t’adore (I adore you) for starters. The Pimsleur Approach has a great audio program equipped with various French language learning levels. Listen to the CDs in the car during your daily commute or on your ten minute break at work. The great part about audio only programs is that you can multitask. 10. Get Classy Are you finally ready to take classes? Joining a class will give you structure for developing a routine. In class you are forced to speak only in French and are immersed in the language for several hours a week. Your professor can correct your pronunciation and grammar errors. To get the most out of your class, try pairing the previous techniques with class work. Those various language learning tools will eventually stick and you’ll be speaking like a native in no time. Ready to learn French? Now that you have several options to work into your routine, the best time to start learning is now. Even ten minutes a day will quickly accelerate how fast you learn French. The key is to be consistent. Bonne chance! (Good luck!)
Posts Tagged ‘Learning French’
Learn French | Ten Ways To …
December 17th, 2009Learn French | Ten Fun Ways To Give Yourself French Lessons
December 16th, 2009When we want something, we want it now. Learning French should be no exception to the rule. Americans love maximum results with minimal effort. We live by the motto, “time is money”, and with good reason. We cram so many activities into our schedules, our time is important. Est-ce que tu parles francais? (Do you speak French?) You will soon. The following suggestions are a few ways to work learning French into your busy day. 1. Tour de France Take a trip to dreamlike Paris. This may be a real arm-twisting suggestion, but the fastest way to learn French is to immerse yourself in the language. Eavesdrop on strangers’ conversations in picturesque cafés, all in the name of education. Wander the streets of Paris, strike up conversation with locals and in no time you’ll perfect the throaty vocals of French. As Neil Simon said, “Give your mind a chance to travel through foreign languages. “ 2. Make it Movie Night Head to your local movie store or order on your next Netflix a movie in French. Some Blockbuster suggestions: “Amelie”, “Chocolate” with Johnny Depp, and “The Dreamlife of Angels” are a few internationally successful French movies. Sit back and enjoy a flick in the comfort of your home while learning to train your ear and repeating what you hear. Soon enough you’ll connaître les ficelles?(know the ropes). Control the urge to put on the subtitles or a flick with dubbing because it’ll kill the experience. 3. Explore Your Surroundings | Make Friends If you live in a metropolitan city, you can easily find French-speaking communities. Take a chance and practice your French by meeting new people while experiencing a beautiful culture. Check out local wine tasting events and French restaurants. Search the Internet, local bulletin boards, and your local university to find language exchange programs. If possible, join a conversation group. The more exposure you receive, the faster you’ll learn and in the process make friends. Faire d’une Pierre deux coups (To kill two birds with one stone. ) 4. Sing in French Hunt down some French CDs at your local store or online. Look on the inside liner and check out the lyrics. Read along with the music and in no time you’ll be belting out French with a perfect accent. Everyone will think you’ve gone bananas or dvenir dingue (in French). 5. Francophone Your Life Grab a memo pad and label everything in your house. Deck the halls, kitchen, and bedroom, even your bulldog in French labels. Your brain will begin associating the images and words and it’ll eventually become natural. 6. Go Play. Make a list of your favorite games and find a French version. Read the instructions and go through the motions of the game until it becomes second nature. Try French bingo, French crosswords, Jeopardy, Family Feud, Mille Bornes, and computer games. Soon you’ll pick up key phrases and absorb new vocabulary. When you’re ready for a real challenge, try out your French Cranium or Scrabble skills. 7. Read a Good Book. Head to your local library or bookstore and find a few topics of interest. Some internationally best-selling novels in French are: “Poursuite a Quebec”, by Ian Fraser; “La Dispartition” by Geores Perec; “Introduction to French Poetry: A Dual-Language Book” by Stanely Appelbaum. Plop down in a comfy chair in a quaint café and take a mini-trip to France. 8. Watch TV. Contrary to what your parents told you, television will not rot your brain. With satellite and cable stations providing endless channels it’s easy to tap into foreign language programs. Check out news, quiz shows, sit-coms, dramas, documentaries from France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada on http://www. tv5. org. Popular US shows like CSI, 24, Band of Brothers, Scrubs and more are all available in French. So, if you don’t find what you like on cable, you can always check out other shows on DVD. (Many DVDs have French language audio tracks!) 9. How do you say _____ in French? | Comment dit-on ____ en francais? Learning phrases is an excellent way to accelerate learning and impress your friends or loved one. French has been labeled the language of love. Try Je t’aime (I love you too), Je t’adore (I adore you) for starters. The Pimsleur Approach has a great audio program equipped with various French language learning levels. Listen to the CDs in the car during your daily commute or on your ten minute break at work. The great part about audio only programs is that you can multitask. 10. Get Classy Are you finally ready to take classes? Joining a class will give you structure for developing a routine. In class you are forced to speak only in French and are immersed in the language for several hours a week. Your professor can correct your pronunciation and grammar errors. To get the most out of your class, try pairing the previous techniques with class work. Those various language learning tools will eventually stick and you’ll be speaking like a native in no time. Ready to learn French? Now that you have several options to work into your routine, the best time to start learning is now. Even ten minutes a day will quickly accelerate how fast you learn French. The key is to be consistent. Bonne chance! (Good luck!)
Learn French Cds – is Learning French on CD the Best Option?
December 16th, 2009Gone are the dry old text books (and the dry old teachers!) of yesteryear. Today there are a huge number of ways to learn and amongst the most popular are courses that let you learn French on CD. They’re certainly convenient, but are they the best way to learn?
There’s no doubt you have plenty of choice. A quick check of online stores will find several dozen different French language CDs running from children’s basic learning to moderately advanced and with prices from less than twenty dollars to those costing several hundred.
There is also a choice of approaches. You have audio-only CDs, which are great for in the home or car, and you have the more complex interactive kind which you need to use in your computer. In some cases it’s also possible to copy files to your MP3 player for truly portable, go-anywhere French lessons.
So with such a variety, how do you choose the best French CD for you? Is learning French on CD even the best option or are there better alternatives? Largely, of course, it depends on your personal preference, your current level of language skill and your budget.
If you’re just starting out there are a number of CDs that will give you an insight into the French language. Before you shell out your cash though, have a look around the internet. There are quite a few sites that offer free French lessons so check them out first. It’s true that they don’t offer much in the way of in-depth teaching (they are free, after all), but to be honest you’re probably not going to get a great deal out of a twenty dollar “beginning French” style CD either. At least you can check online before you decide.
If you’ve got a bit more to spend, the choice gets greater and the products get better. Michel Thomas’ French lessons on CD have been popular for quite a while. If you like these kind of “listen and repeat” type audio courses it’s hard to beat. I suppose it could be argued that they’re just a copy of the old tape systems, but that doesn’t mean they’re no good. It’s claimed that thousands of people have used them to learn French and I see no reason to argue. I’ve used them myself and they certainly give a good grounding in the basics of the language and can take you to what can reasonably be called a competent level of spoken French. Personally, I do find them a bit expensive when you compare them with some of the interactive systems that are a much more involving and, in my opinion, a more entertaining experience.
I suppose the disadvantage of the interactive French CDs is that you need to be at your PC to use them fully. I would still go for this type of product though because I think the positives outweigh the negatives. There are also some which deliver at least a portion of their French lessons in MP3 format so you can download these to a CD or your player and, once again, benefit from lessons on the move.
It’s the interactivity of these products that does it for me. French is not an easy language to learn but in my opinion having an experience that involves you, which makes you respond to sounds and pictures, is just more fun – and if you’re having fun then learning isn’t a chore. You’ll learn more and you’ll learn it faster. I can’t make a definite personal recommendation because I haven’t tried them all, it wouldn’t be fair, but I would choose this kind of “learn French” CD over the other options. They’re not cheap, but they’re a good choice.
However, before we finish there is one other option in this range that’s not strictly a CD but provides the same functionality and entertainment. Instead of delivery via CD it’s provided as easy-to-download files you copy straight from the internet to your home PC. It’s got the interactivity we’re looking for and the MP3 files and it’s very competitively priced. Furthermore it offers six free lessons so you can try before you buy. Definitely worth a look.
