La Guerre des Étoiles: A Review of the Dubbed FIlms

Salut mon amis

Much to my nerdy delight I discovered that all of my original Star Wars DVDs come with a French audio option. How did I not know this until now? I have been re-watching the original films in anticipation of the new Star Wars movie coming in December anyway, and so now with this new discovery I am watching them again in French.

Let's be honest, dubbed movies usually aren't very good. I tried watching the French dubbed Disney channel online once and it was terrible. Much to my surprise though the French dubbed versions of the original Star Wars movies are actually pretty good. They kept the very important character voices and intonations in tact. Although there were more typical French vocal fluctuations, the characters still sounded like themselves. For example, Han Solo still sounds sarcastic and cheeky. I was really surprised by the dubbing quality. I grew up watching dubbed Jackie Chan movies and the English in them is just awful. In most Asian dubbed movies the voices sound like non-native English speakers who have zero acting experience and oddly cartoon-y voices. This was not the case in the French Star Wars. Although maybe I am just being biased because I think French is such a beautiful language in general.

Besides the decent quality of dubbing, the French versions are a good watch for beginner French students because of the dialog. The original Star Wars have lots of action and slower 70's style dialog which means the French versions are the same way. The dialog was much slower than a typical French movie which made it easier to understand as a novice learner. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the 3 original movies in French! I am a huge nerd and Star Wars fan though so that probably helped. This was a fun way to do a little French studying!

In an unrelated story I learned the hard way on this week's French exam to never forget your prepositions. Leaving a preposition out can completely change the meaning of a sentence. I accidentally forgot avec (with) in a sentence on my exam and my teacher will not let me live it down. It's hard as a new learner because we tend to translate directly which doesn't always work and we're limited on what vocabulary we know which means sometimes you use a word that you wouldn't have used if you knew how to say the one you actually wanted to use. This is basically what happened to me in addition to forgetting the preposition.

I was trying to write a sentence about liking to spend time with my twin brother on the weekends, but didn't know how to say spend time so I went with manger (to eat). I figured saying I love to eat (meals) with my twin brother sort of conveys the same idea.

Here's what I actually wrote though: J'adore manger mon jumeax. 

That literally means I like/love to eat my brother. Yikes. My teacher keeps teasing me now about being a cannibal. Oops! At least that's where her mind went because when I got my exam back and saw the mistake I thought OMG I made an incest sentence. My mind went to the sexual meaning of "to eat someone". Either way they're both bad sentences.

What I should have wrote is: J'adore manger avec mon jumeax. 

Always remember your prepositions amis.

Trekkin' Along and Making Progress

Salut Mon Amis

Just a quick hello and update. My French class is still merveilleux. I love my instructor so much. She explains everything so thoroughly and gives great history lessons which help tie in why a word is a certain way. She's also hilarious which makes class really fun. I look forward to class every time. 

It has been hard to find the time to keep up with my self study and to do other hobbies. I haven't played my banjo since starting my class (see previous blog post on learning two new things at once). While doing homework for my French class is of course good French practice I miss the extra self studying I was doing. It's really hard to find the time to do it though. I work full time and have the usual busy adult life. With my new class being twice a week that means 4 nights a week are either dedicated to attending class or doing my homework for the next night's class. My weekends have been filled with chores, date nights (trying to have some fun), and babysitting (I have two baby nephews), so French practice is also hard to squeeze in on the weekends. 

Despite feeling behind on my self study I can definitely tell I am getting better, or at least more comfortable and relaxed with learning French. At first French was super overwhelming. The words are just pronounced so different than English or Spanish. I hadn't been in school in a really long time and so the adjustment to being back to learning something new was challenging. I can tell I am feeling more at ease and am actually enjoying learning (the initial stress and panic has subsided). It also feels SO amazing when you have those moments of realizing wow I know more than I thought. My brother recently showed me a French letter he received from an association in Canada and I was super surprised to find that I understand almost the entire letter. Granted it was pretty basic French since it was a just letter about an annual event, but still it felt really good to see that my hard work is paying off. 

Like most foreign language learners my weakest area of study is still verbal. I can get lots of reading and even listening practice in at home or in class, but getting to practice speaking out loud by yourself is hard to do. I need a study buddy! It's hard though because I don't really know anyone in my class very well yet and we are all busy adults. It would be so much easier if one of my family members or friends was learning French with me, but alas I am all alone in this endeavor. 


au revoir pour le moment

Crossroads

I am sure all foreign language students reach the same crossroads of having to decide if a certain class or learning method is working for them or not and whether or not to stick with it. That was me these last couple of weeks.

My self study at home has been going well. Thankfully I am naturally driven, academic, and an organized person so self study has been no issue. I don't want to just do self study though, especially for a foreign language. You need to have the speaking and auditory practice of an in-person class/lesson (at least in my opinion), which is why I had signed up for the beginner course at the local French cultural organization I am a member of.

Unfortunately the class was a frustrating experience for me. Our teacher was a native speaker and was very nice, however, the class was not designed for beginners. Because the class was not through a college there was no structure to the class. No lesson plans, learning objectives etc. The textbook is also the worst textbook I have ever used. I admit I am pickier than most in regards to textbooks and curriculum since I am a former teacher who researches and writes curriculum for a living. but still I think most people would agree it's terrible. I just felt like each class I didn't really learn anything and always left feeling frustrated and stressed. Not good.

My summer class ended this week though and so I was left with the decision of whether or not to stay in the class for the fall session or to look else where for a different class.

If I would have to just listened to my intuition (and my husband) it actually was a very easy decision...but of course I fought what I knew in my gut. The class I was in had multiple very obvious issues. I didn't gel with the instruction style, I had to start work 1.5 hours early just to get off in time to make it to the class, and I had to commute in rush hour traffic for 45-60 minutes. Really all of these factors made it obvious that I should not stick with the fall session of the class, but like I said I still resisted "quitting" and trying something different.

I did finally decide to at least look around for other class options this week since I was feeling so stressed and frustrated. There weren't many French course options during the summer, but I thought maybe since it is now the fall semester there would be more options. After a quick search I found a couple of evening class options at local community colleges. Of course I also quickly discovered the fall semester had already started this week, oops. Which meant I had to make an immediate decision. I decided to just go for it. If I ended up not liking a different course I could always go back to the course at the cultural organization. I chose the course that seemed the best time and location for me and then quickly went to work to get registered. I had to get permission from the instructor to be added late to the class since I had already missed the first class (on Tuesday night).

All of this means I went from finding the course, registering for the class, ordering my textbook, and then attending the class all in one day. Crazy! It's a Tuesday/Thursday evening class so I only missed the first class (since I attended last night). I was nervous about going. I've never taken a foreign language class at a community college (only university) and what if I also didn't like this new class. I was worried that maybe it was just me struggling with French and not the instruction style. Would a new class and instructor really make a difference?

So...I went to class last night and guess what, it was the best decision I have made for my French learning journey. I love my new instructor and more importantly I love her teaching style and class structure. I already learned a lot in the first class and left feeling happy and excited about the rest of the semester.

The truth is as much as I try to be an adventurous out-of-the box type of person I am just not, at least when it comes to academics. I am an OCD type A nerd plain and simple. I need structure and organization. I can't even express how embarrassingly excited I was to be given a syllabus and to have a PowerPoint outlining exactly all of the night's learning objectives. She wrote out clear notes and did activities with us that were fun and designed to help us remember French pronunciation...it was academic heaven.

I've learned a lot through this whole process. It's important to listen to your gut and it's important to know what your learning style is. And of course most importantly if something is not working it's okay to try something else. In fact not only is it okay it is necessary. This is my journey. I have to learn French in a way that is the best for me personally.  If you hit a road block it's not always about pushing through it, sometimes it's about getting off the road and taking an entirely different route instead.

À bientôt

Plus Resources

Bonjour

Here are some more French resources pour toi ...

In addition to the great Coffee Break French podcast, Mark also has a second podcast called VERBcast specifically for learning verb conjugation.

I am also liking the phone apps 123 French and Duolingo (I've been using them on my iPhone 6).

Here is a good list of other recommended French podcasts from Fluent U:
http://www.fluentu.com/french/blog/french-podcasts/

I also have two blogs listed under my recommend sites (on the right hand side of this blog), French Crazy and I Learn French. Both are excellent blogs!

And I watch France 24 everyday to get a small dose of French (and English) news.

Last but not least check out all the French movies and shows on Netflix. Some good ones include...

Movies:

• Amélie
• Populaire
• The Women on the 6th Floor
• Le Chef
• Barbecue
• Yves Saint Laurent (a little boring but an interesting look at his life)

TV Show:

• Witnesses (Les témoins) 

Witnesses - Trailer: Witnesses - Les Témoins - Watch full video free - France - Viki

First day of French class

 Survived first night of class

Salut

So last Wednesday was my first official night of French class. It was as overwhelming and exciting as I thought it would be. I've been out of school for many years and it was definitely hard to get my brain back into learning mode. A long work day and a stressful commute in rush hour traffic before class also didn't help either. Plus the class ended up being overcrowded (it's being split in two to remedy this) and the room didn't have very good AC (which is a big deal here in the desert since it's well over 100 F everyday).  I am sure as I adjust to going to class and being back in school I won't feel so stressed or overwhelmed.

My teacher is very nice. In usual fashion as a native speaker she rushes and thinks things are easier than they really are (at least to us students).  It was actually kind of funny. For example she said out loud what numbers 0-60 are and then had us repeat them as a class (once). Then as we continued practicing numbers with verbal math problems she would be like, "why are you looking at the book you should all know the numbers now since I just said them". Um it takes WAY more than hearing something once to have it memorized LOL.

Our textbook is from France. It's called Alter Ego 1 (Méthode De Français A1) hachette Français Langue Étrangére 

I was so grateful I had been studying at home prior to class because I would have been even more lost and overwhelmed if I didn't have the little background I did. Self directed study and practice is super important. I can already feel stuff slipping away since not practicing this last week while traveling.

I did go to a French bakery in Seattle while on vacation though and attempted to order in French. I must have sucked because the lady laughed at me...not a confidence builder for sure. Being brave enough to practice speaking out loud is hard and it doesn't help when the feedback is negative, but it's all a part of learning. Guess I just have to keep practicing. I also went to Vancouver, BC (Canada) during my vacation and while that side of Canada does not speak French all of the government signs are still bilingual (in both French and English), so I still got some French exposure.

Unfortunately I had to miss the second class last night since I had just gotten back into town. I am going to be behind now since this summer session is so condensed, but it couldn't be helped. It's back to studying and practicing for now.

Until next time...

numéros and updates

Salut

Just wanted to check in with a few updates. I discovered a fun way to help learn French numbers. My in-laws just moved to our city and live just a couple of doors down from us. They had a large ping pong table they didn't have room for so they gave it to us. My husband and I have been playing a quick game every night before bed just for fun. I realized last night that it is a great way for me to practice my numbers. We have to call out the score each serve, so I've just been doing it in French. Voilà

***A good website for learning French numbers is http://www.frenchnumbers.org.uk/ 

I've also really been enjoying all of the easy access to French resources online and through social media. Learners in this generation are so spoiled in that sense. We have access to so much. Below are some resources I've been enjoying.

***You can also change your cell phone language to French. If you don't want everything in French you can at least change your keyboard so that it's easier to type French words and accents. Also Windows let's you do the same thing on your computer. I can now choose between a French or English keyboard on my laptop. I love it. Typing is so much easier now.

Twitter:

•  Ètudier le français (@Eric_FLE)
• William Alexander (@64dollarTomato)
• Vogue.fr (@VogueParis)
• The Paris Review (@parisreview)
• Talk in French (@TalkinFrench)
• French Words (@frenchwords_)
• Transparent French (@frenchlanguage)
• Paris Match (@ParisMatch)
• France 24 Français (@France24_fr)

***You can also follow people who speak French or are learning French and practice tweeting in French with them. It's a really good way to practice.

Blogs:

• I Learn French (http://www.thefrenchblog.com/)
• French Crazy (http://frenchcrazy.com/)
• Coffee Break French (https://radiolingua.com/coffeebreakfrench/)

YouTube:

• French Sounds (https://www.youtube.com/user/frenchsounds)

***FluentU is a great app for practicing French and the activities are engaging and more fun than a traditional class. You can go to their website (http://www.fluentu.com/) for more information or look up their app in iTunes (app store)

Au revoir pour le moment

Adorable animals give you advice on speaking French

I LOVE this article from Talk in French. It's really cute, but also has some really solid advice.

Check it out...

http://www.talkinfrench.com/speaking-anxiety-french/

How can you not listen to advice from this ridiculously cute face?

Start at the beginning: being a "beginner" beginner

You know the Sound of Music song Do Re Mi, where she says “let’s start at the beginning, a very good place to start”? Well, truer words were never sung. I don’t know if it’s because I work in education and have taught at both the elementary and college level, but “beginner” lessons that don’t actually start at the beginning drive me bonkers. You always have to teach to your lowest denominator, which means if you say something is lesson 1, it better start at lesson 1 (nothing should need to be taught before it). You have to lay a foundation before you can build a house. For example, you can’t teach division unless students already know subtraction and multiplication. Breaking it down further you can’t learn subtraction unless you know what numbers are. A lot of French lessons will start with greetings for conversation or verb conjugation for reading, but that’s not really the beginning. If you assume that your student has never been exposed to French before, you have to start with the alphabet. Learning the French alphabet and pronunciation is step one. Another first step would be learning the pronouns before starting to learn verb conjugations. How can you conjugated a verb for “you” if you don’t know what “you” is?

Funny story, I was recently given a placement test for a French class even though I was automatically signed up for Beginner I since I have never taken ANY French before. The test was completely in French, even the directions. The “easy” section started with conjugating irregular verbs in full sentences (completely in French). Um that is not a test a brand new beginner should take, just sayin'. Would you give that test to a Kindergartener their first day of class? There’s a problem if you can’t even read or understand the directions. If someone is brand new to a language they aren't going to be able to read in that language yet.

It can be very discouraging to any student when they feel overwhelmed and like they don't know anything. It can actually detract from someone's ability to learn if they are emotionally discouraged. This is why finding a balance is so important. Full immersion (no English) is an excellent way to learn a new language, but it's the "sink or swim" method of learning. Not all learners respond well to this type of learning. Sometimes being overexposed to something new can cause the brain to just shut off because it's overwhelmed and that is a point when learning isn't happening anymore. 

It's important to spend time figuring out what works for you, how you learn best. Once you know how you need to learn, go from there.

Some take away tips:

• Start with the alphabet first. Pay extra attention to the vowels, accents, and silent letters. I find writing out phonetical pronunciations in English really helps until you have the pronunciations memorized. There are a lot of good videos on YouTube for learning the alphabet (just do a search for French alphabet). Most of the videos are geared towards children, but that’s alright you are learning at that level in the beginning anyway. Teaching products aimed at kids tend to be better products for novice learners…for some reason we forgot teaching strategies when students are adults and just assume they know how to do things. 

• Break sentences down and learn them just like you did when you first learned how to read and write in your native language. Meaning, learn what is the noun, pronoun, subject, verb, article etc. of a sentence. Break it apart and learn it piece by piece. This is why I think it’s easier to learn all of the pronouns (subjects) first before moving on to verbs. Sentences start with a subject so you should learn those first. 

• Pronunciation is one of the hardest things to learn, especially if the sounds are very different than your native language. I don’t find reading written pronunciations helpful (unless I write them out myself in a way I understand). I have to listen to a pronunciation while reading the letters/word at the same time. My brain doesn’t “get it” if I only see the word or only hear it…I need both together. One of the fastest ways to check the pronunciation of something is to type it into a Google search. If you pull up the English to French Google translator (just click the arrows in the middle to switch to French to English) you can type in any word and then it has a little sound icon next to it (on the right hand side), which when clicked will give you pronunciation audio. *Obviously make sure your computer's speakers are on first. 
  

• If something is not sticking, try learning it in a different way. Don't get stuck on something that isn't working. Get creative. It doesn't matter how weird or silly something is, if it helps you learn something use it! There is no room for pride when trying to learn a new language.

Learning two new things at once: bad idea or good idea?

In addition to learning French at the moment, I am also learning how to play the banjo. I learned piano when I was a child and then had a short stint with guitar as a teen. String instruments DO NOT come naturally to me at all (I miss piano). Why I decided to try another string instrument is beyond me. I love traditional American folk music though and think the banjo is such an amazing instrument. I can't tell yet if learning two new things at once is a good or bad thing. In some ways I am sure it helps my brain to be in learning mode, but at the same time I am probably overloading it as well.

It is interesting to see the similarities between learning a new instrument and learning a new language. Both things are brand new to me, which means I am have the same love/hate relationship to both. I hate being new at something! I feel stressed and uncomfortable when I don't know something. I am used to being good at things and so it is very out of my comfort zone when I am not.

It's challenging when learning something new because it's hard to know where to start and what to practice. It's also hard to find the right resources (ones that actually work for you). And of course it's hard to find the time to practice as a busy working adult.

I don't have the time or money to take banjo lessons right now which means I am self teaching (thank you YouTube and DVDs). At least for French I will have class once a week that will give me the oral practice. I would say finding ways to practice orally (wow that sounds dirty) is the biggest challenge for most language learners, at least if you don't live somewhere where they speak the language you are trying to learn.  It's easy to find resources online or in a book for learning to read & write a

language, but learning to speak means you need someone to practice with. It's especially important to practice with someone who knows the language so they can correct any errors you are making. Finding someone to practice speaking a foreign language with is hard though. My husband knows two and a half languages (English, Cantonese, & some Spanish), but not French. Which means right now the only "people" in my house who let me practice speaking French are my two little dogs...and unfortunately they don't answer back.

The biggest challenge for me when learning something new is having patience! You cannot master something overnight and it can be very discouraging how slow the learning process actually is. You just have to be gentle with yourself and be okay with taking it slow. Ugh that does not come easy to me! Here's to me slowing down and giving myself permission to not know everything!

I proudly claim the title of novice not very good banjo player and French speaker!

Getting started with verbs

I found a great practice book at a local bookstore (for $7 woohoo), it's called Beginner's French Verbs and Practice. I have started learning about conjugating -er verbs, while also focusing on the verbs être et avoir.  

être et avoir are irregular verbs that do not follow the usual conjugation rules and they are very commonly used verbs. They mean "to be" and "to have". Basically they're the "be" verbs of French. I am a very type A and OCD person so it's no surprise to me that I find making grammar charts a helpful part of my "homework".

Here's are some examples of what I've been learning and practicing...