Learning Languages Archive

  • <p>Ever since I achieved my DELF B1 certificate more than a year ago, I’ve allowed my French to slip. I just haven’t used it. I’m trying to correct this sorry state of affairs. Here’s how.</p> <p>First, as always for me, is listening practice. If you can’t understand what’s being said, there’s not much point. Living languages are all about conversing, gossipping and chatting. Only dead languages, such as Latin and Anglo-Saxon (which I also understand) centre on reading. I used to listen to a wide range of podcasts but I find, this time around, that I’ve limited myself to the few […]</p>

    Recovering My French

    Posted on 5 August, 2011 | No Comments

    Ever since I achieved my DELF B1 certificate more than a year ago, I’ve allowed my French to slip. I just haven’t used it. I’m trying to correct this sorry state of affairs. Here’s how.

    First, as always for me, is listening practice. If you can’t understand what’s being said, there’s not much point. Living languages are all about conversing, gossipping and chatting. Only dead languages, such as Latin and Anglo-Saxon (which I also understand) centre on reading. I used to listen to a wide range of podcasts but I find, this time around, that I’ve limited myself to the few […]

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  • <p>You may remember some months ago I posted enthusiastically about teaching myself Italian with the help of a couple of friends and some online resources. Here’s the result:</p> <p>I studied. I tried. I failed.</p> <p>I can’t teach myself Italian. Sure, I’ve picked up a few words and phrases – and probably enough to keep out of trouble when I finally make it to Italy – but I can’t say I’ve really learned or understood anything about the language.</p> <p>I came across a number of specific difficulties. I may have been able to solve them if I’d put in more effort […]</p>

    Teach Myself Italian = Fail

    Posted on 22 April, 2011 | 2 Comments

    You may remember some months ago I posted enthusiastically about teaching myself Italian with the help of a couple of friends and some online resources. Here’s the result:

    I studied. I tried. I failed.

    I can’t teach myself Italian. Sure, I’ve picked up a few words and phrases – and probably enough to keep out of trouble when I finally make it to Italy – but I can’t say I’ve really learned or understood anything about the language.

    I came across a number of specific difficulties. I may have been able to solve them if I’d put in more effort […]

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  • <p>The thing which annoys me most at the moment is that I’m losing my French. After approximately 10 years of off-and-on study and achieving a DELF B1 certificate, I speak it passably well. But French and Quebequois friends are still correcting me (thanks!) for making dumb mistakes.</p> <p>The problem: I don’t think there’s much I can do about it. If you have any ideas, I’m desperate to hear them.</p> <p>I reason it out like this:</p> <p>In language acquisition, there comes a point of diminishing returns where the amount you learn from private study, attending classes, doing homework, etc falls well […]</p>

    Help! I’m Losing My French!

    Posted on 1 October, 2010 | 7 Comments

    The thing which annoys me most at the moment is that I’m losing my French. After approximately 10 years of off-and-on study and achieving a DELF B1 certificate, I speak it passably well. But French and Quebequois friends are still correcting me (thanks!) for making dumb mistakes.

    The problem: I don’t think there’s much I can do about it. If you have any ideas, I’m desperate to hear them.

    I reason it out like this:

    In language acquisition, there comes a point of diminishing returns where the amount you learn from private study, attending classes, doing homework, etc falls well […]

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  • <p>The next language on the <strong>must learn</strong> list is Italian: the language of Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch and the Renaissance. My problem is that I don’t have time right now for organised classes. How then will I learn it?</p> <p>The shotgun approach, I think, will suffice – at least until some time frees up for classes. This involves attacking and voraciously devouring all the language learning resources I can get my hands on: from podcasts to phrase books to academic text books. As long as I can devote 30-60 minutes a day, I’m learning something. In fact, 30-60 minutes a day […]</p>

    Learning Italian By Myself

    Posted on 17 September, 2010 | No Comments

    The next language on the must learn list is Italian: the language of Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch and the Renaissance. My problem is that I don’t have time right now for organised classes. How then will I learn it?

    The shotgun approach, I think, will suffice – at least until some time frees up for classes. This involves attacking and voraciously devouring all the language learning resources I can get my hands on: from podcasts to phrase books to academic text books. As long as I can devote 30-60 minutes a day, I’m learning something. In fact, 30-60 minutes a day […]

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  • <p>Regardless of how often I encounter them, there are a bunch of commonly used French words that I can never quite manage to remember. Every time I hear them or read them I’ve got to look them up in a dictionary. They’re all in one place here.</p> Prepositions and Conjuctions <p>Check out the Les Conjonctions lesson on french.about.com.</p> <ul> <li><strong>autant </strong>: en même quantité, au même degré, egalement,<em> as much, as many, in proportion</em> (d’autant)</li> <li><strong>cependant </strong>: pendant ce temps, il signifie plus fréquemment néanmoins ou toutefois, <em>while, meanwhile, nevertheless</em></li> <li><strong>d’ailleurs</strong> : d’autre part, en outre, <em>more over, besides</em></li> <li><strong>jadis </strong>: </li></ul><p> […]</p>

    French Words I Can Never Remember

    Posted on 25 June, 2010 | No Comments

    Regardless of how often I encounter them, there are a bunch of commonly used French words that I can never quite manage to remember. Every time I hear them or read them I’ve got to look them up in a dictionary. They’re all in one place here.

    Prepositions and Conjuctions

    Check out the Les Conjonctions lesson on french.about.com.

    • autant : en même quantité, au même degré, egalement, as much, as many, in proportion (d’autant)
    • cependant : pendant ce temps, il signifie plus fréquemment néanmoins ou toutefois, while, meanwhile, nevertheless
    • d’ailleurs : d’autre part, en outre, more over, besides
    • jadis :

    […]

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  • <p>Last Wednesday I sat my first French exam. It’s a first in that it’s the first time I’ve sat an exam in many, many years rather than it being the first of several. It’s also the first exam I’ve sat for a language which has been spoken anytime in the last 1000 years. And let me just say right now: it was tough, damed tough, and quite unlike any previous language exam I’ve sat for.</p> <p>The exam is comprised of four parts: oral comprehension (listening, in other words), written comprehension (reading), written production (writing) and oral production (speaking and interacting with […]</p>

    My French Exam – DELF B1

    Posted on 19 March, 2010 | No Comments

    Last Wednesday I sat my first French exam. It’s a first in that it’s the first time I’ve sat an exam in many, many years rather than it being the first of several. It’s also the first exam I’ve sat for a language which has been spoken anytime in the last 1000 years. And let me just say right now: it was tough, damed tough, and quite unlike any previous language exam I’ve sat for.

    The exam is comprised of four parts: oral comprehension (listening, in other words), written comprehension (reading), written production (writing) and oral production (speaking and interacting with […]

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  • <p>On 17 March, I’ll be sitting the DELF exam for level B1. Whether I pass or not, I reckon that this will mark the end of my formal studies of French. While I’ll not claim to speak the language well, I can be understood and I can understand others as long as they speak clearly. I’ll still read French history in French and watch french cinema. But the only way to become fluent from this point is to spend a significant amount of time in a French-speaking country — and I can’t see that happening in the near future.</p> <p>The question […]</p>

    What Is My Next Language?

    Posted on 19 February, 2010 | 5 Comments

    On 17 March, I’ll be sitting the DELF exam for level B1. Whether I pass or not, I reckon that this will mark the end of my formal studies of French. While I’ll not claim to speak the language well, I can be understood and I can understand others as long as they speak clearly. I’ll still read French history in French and watch french cinema. But the only way to become fluent from this point is to spend a significant amount of time in a French-speaking country — and I can’t see that happening in the near future.

    The question […]

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  • <p>I could only see five films again at this year’s French Film Festival because there’s so much going on at the moment. Hopefully, things will quieten down a bit in a month or so. </p> <p>The festival was pretty good and from what I hear there’s a few movies which I really should have seen. I think the festival organisers need to look at how they bill the films. Both this year and last year suffered for woefully inadequate and in some cases completely misleading film blurbs.</p> <p>Here’s the low-down of my festival:</p> <p><strong>Coupable</strong> (<strong>Guilty</strong>): Complete rubbish. There is […]</p>

    French Film Festival 2009 Wrap Up

    Posted on 28 March, 2009 | No Comments

    I could only see five films again at this year’s French Film Festival because there’s so much going on at the moment. Hopefully, things will quieten down a bit in a month or so.

    The festival was pretty good and from what I hear there’s a few movies which I really should have seen. I think the festival organisers need to look at how they bill the films. Both this year and last year suffered for woefully inadequate and in some cases completely misleading film blurbs.

    Here’s the low-down of my festival:

    Coupable (Guilty): Complete rubbish. There is […]

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  • <p>Lately I’ve been bemoaning the fact I’ve so little opportunities to interact with people in French. Oh, sure, I’ve several french-speaking friends on instant messenger and facebook and I’ve made quiet a few friends through the Alliance Francaise but it’s not enough. Conversations on IM are generally short and talking to the people at the Alliance is generally hindered by also having people in the gathering who don’t speak the language — it’s just rude to jabber on when others around you cannot participate. Watching French movies is always a cool way to listen to French (and is one of […]</p>

    Serendipity: n. Yay Me!

    Posted on 19 January, 2009 | No Comments

    Lately I’ve been bemoaning the fact I’ve so little opportunities to interact with people in French. Oh, sure, I’ve several french-speaking friends on instant messenger and facebook and I’ve made quiet a few friends through the Alliance Francaise but it’s not enough. Conversations on IM are generally short and talking to the people at the Alliance is generally hindered by also having people in the gathering who don’t speak the language — it’s just rude to jabber on when others around you cannot participate. Watching French movies is always a cool way to listen to French (and is one of […]

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  • <p></p> <p>Saturday, Peter Ball and I saw Nouvelle Vague at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Wow! Does the awesomeness ever stop! If you ever get a chance to see these guys, do it. </p> <p>For those who don’t know, Nouvelle Vague are a French band who take punk and new wave songs (early 1980) and re-interpret them as bossa nova, the dominant hip style of the French new wave (early 1960s). “New Wave” in French is “nouvelle vague.” Geddit?</p> <p>Among the classics that got the bossa nova treatment were:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Love Will Tear Us Apart</strong> (Joy Division)</li> <li><strong>Guns Of Brixton</strong> (The Clash)</li> <li><strong>Making Plans For </strong></li></ul><p> […]</p>

    Nouvelle Vague in Concert

    Posted on 22 December, 2008 | No Comments

    Saturday, Peter Ball and I saw Nouvelle Vague at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Wow! Does the awesomeness ever stop! If you ever get a chance to see these guys, do it.

    For those who don’t know, Nouvelle Vague are a French band who take punk and new wave songs (early 1980) and re-interpret them as bossa nova, the dominant hip style of the French new wave (early 1960s). “New Wave” in French is “nouvelle vague.” Geddit?

    Among the classics that got the bossa nova treatment were:

    • Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
    • Guns Of Brixton (The Clash)
    • Making Plans For

    […]

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