Learning French

[timeodanaos]

As of now, I speak, read and write three languages, Danish, English and German; I am able to read Latin although I have no real proficiency in writing the language (thanks to Danish educational system) - and also Greek.

This september, I am going to begin my Indo-European linguistic studies at the University of Copenhagen, in conjunction with which it is demanded that courses in Vedic Sanskrit and Gothic be taken.

I have long wanted to learn French, and so far my school has taken up the time I could have used learning this language - now I have in the vicinity of two months until I have to immerse myself in new languages, so the time is now!


Do any of you have suggestions for a complete beginner, enabling me to become proficient at least in reading in a few months' time? In time, I would want to be able to write and of course use the language orally.

"Thank you"s in advance

[Lucus Eques]

French in Action is awesome:

http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html

It's been enormously wonderful and helpful to me.

I wish I had something like this for Spanish.
And Italian.
And Greek.
And ... all of them.

[annis]

This september, I am going to begin my Indo-European linguistic studies at the University of Copenhagen, in conjunction with which it is demanded that courses in Vedic Sanskrit and Gothic be taken.

oooOOOooo. I'm jealous.

[timeodanaos]

This september, I am going to begin my Indo-European linguistic studies at the University of Copenhagen, in conjunction with which it is demanded that courses in Vedic Sanskrit and Gothic be taken.

oooOOOooo. I'm jealous.

I would be, too, had I simply chosen to study Latin, which is why I decided this was the only choice I really had.



Luce: Your suggestion seems reasonable, however, I don't have the more than thousand dollars this costs. I was rather seeking something along the lines of Ørbergs Lingua Latina, a simple (but preferably brilliant! ) book that will get me reading.

[Lucus Eques]

Thousand dollars?! The videos are free for you to download! Start with the second one; the first is an English intro.

French in Action is the video equivalent of a French Ørberg method.

[Essorant]

A few months ago, I bought a used grammarbook called "A Complete French Course, by Andre Parreaux" from abebooks.com and found it to be a very good grammar. If you wish to try it, there is a copy here for only $4.00.

[spiphany]

I've been using "Beginning French: A Cultural Approach" by Hendrix & Meiden. It's a reading-based (direct method) text from the 60s which was quite successful for a while but now out of print. It moves very quickly from simple sentences to a fairly high level of complexity. You would need to find some audio system to supplement it, however.

[Gonzalo]

I think that what Spiphany suggests would be the best option but, if you couldn´t find it out, maybe you´ll find useful this: http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/French.aspx
I am using FSI Modern Greek course and it works fairly well. So, you could try with French by means of such a course.

Regards,
Gonzalo

[swiftnicholas]

The French in Action videos are really great. For practice in reading, I used to read articles in Le Monde about which I had some background already, i.e., for me, American news and politics. That way I already knew the situation and context, many of the people involved, and could guess at most of the words that I didn't know. It helped me to read and acquire new vocabulary quickly.

[Amadeus]

Luke,

Did you just use the videos of French In Action to learn French, or did you also buy some of the books? This method looks very promising, I think I'm going to use it when my time comes to learn French.

It is a shame one cannot download them, just stream them.

[Lucus Eques]

Sure you can download them! I have them all backed up on CD, in fact. I have QuickTime Pro, and a Mac; that might have something to do with it.

And I know some rudimentary French from books, but that programme French in Action will cover just about everything you need for an awesome start.

[timeodanaos]

Thousand dollars?! The videos are free for you to download! Start with the second one; the first is an English intro.

French in Action is the video equivalent of a French Ørberg method.

I didn't realise that was a possibility - I just saw the prices of the DVDs. I'll look into them as soon as I have the time, some time during the week.

[timeodanaos]

oh, and not to forget my manners; thank you for all the suggestions!

[Interaxus]

Lucus Eques:

Since my new son-in-(common-)law is French, I decided to check out your French in Action site. Sadly, all I got was this:

Due to licensing agreements, viewing of the video French in Action - Planning and Anticipating I is restricted to network connections in the United States and Canada. Your connection appears to be based outside this area.
For information on purchasing this program please see our list of international distributors.

Any workarounds?

Cheers,
Int

[Lucus Eques]

Damn. If I send you the AVIs on CD, will you buy me the new Ørberg Cicero book?

[MiguelM]

Same problem as Interaxus.

And if you would also send them to me, I'd buy you the Lucretius one!

[Amadeus]

I used a US proxy, and I can view the videos just fine! I can even download them (though I'm kinda worried about that copyright notice).

[quendidil]

If one is not bothered by copyright issues, there is p2p.

[Gonzalo]

If one is not bothered by copyright issues, there is p2p.

I have been keeping my thoughts to myself for a while but if those interested in learning French -or other language- have not problem using p2p file-sharing programs, then try to find out Assimil French course.

[Interaxus]

Luce:

I'll take you up on that magnificent offer if I may (having failed to get a proxy to do the job). Is this the one you mean:

http://www.amazon.com/Lingua-Latina-Sal ... 8790696115

If so, pm me the address you want me to have it sent it to.

Cheers,
Int

[Lucus Eques]

We have a deal, Interaxe!

Miguel, you still in?

[MiguelM]

Yes, Luce!

I will be ordering it later today for myself (still thinking about whether the Enchiridia would be worth it, given that I can barely read Italian...), and will order one to your address. Also, I suggested De Rerum Natura but if you'd prefer any other, do specify-- same effort ordering that or another.

Valé!

[Lucus Eques]

By the way, at least one of the videos has an error where the video ends before the original recording has finished. I double checked, and the error is with the original stream, not my download.

[Amadeus]

I'm watching these lessons of French in Action and all I'm hearing is Spanish with a crooked mouth.

[Lucus Eques]

Funny, it sounds like you Spanish speakers just couldn't get Italian quite right ...

[Amadeus]

Funny, it sounds like you Spanish speakers just couldn't get Italian quite right ...

LMAO

[timeodanaos]

Funny, it sounds like you Spanish speakers just couldn't get Italian quite right ...

Those Italians just don't get the Latin right - if all speakers of romance language must do something wrong.

[mariek]

I watched French in Action a number of years ago and thought it was pretty good. They might still show it on TV. They were always on at odd hours so I'd have Tivo record it for me. I did not know that you could download them. That's pretty cool! I'll have to go take a lookie...

[DoctrinaeStudeo]

Do they have videos like this in Spanish?

Also, would this be considered "thread hijacking?" Should I start a new thread for this question?

[Gonzalo]

Hi,

Try this: http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html

And a topic was begun some time ago: http://www.textkit.com/greek-latin-foru ... php?t=8284 So, ask there whatever you want.

Regards,
Gonzalo

[DoctrinaeStudeo]

Hi,

Try this: http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html

Ah, thank you so much.

I can write Spanish fine (what I've learned so far, anyways), but when people speak it it is gibberish to me. Thank you again.

[Gonzalo]

Hi,

Try this: http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html

Ah, thank you so much.

I can write Spanish fine (what I've learned so far, anyways), but when people speak it it is gibberish to me. Thank you again.

Excuse me, I´ve rewritten my post when you were answering it. I posted useful links there to help in learning Spanish.

Regards,
Gonzalo

[DoctrinaeStudeo]

Excuse me, I´ve rewritten my post when you were answering it. I posted useful links there to help in learning Spanish.

Regards,
Gonzalo

Okay, I'll take a look at that too.

Thank you again.