- Thread starter Blackdog6
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Speaking Spanish should help. When I hear someone speaking French. I can usually catch what they are talking about. That's not to say I know French.
Absolutely no. Mrs. Clarke would be a lot better than my teacher... Some ###ing green owl named Duo in the Duolingo program. Giving me moral support... No Duo I need consonants.
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Yes, I get that with some of the other romance languages. French just seems to be like a square peg for a round hole in my brain when listening to it spoken or reading it out loud!
WHY? Just skip French and go staright to learning German, life will be easier on you.
While not trying to be a Victorian era Renaissance Man, I thought learning French would be a rewarding endeavor. I feel like the reward is diminishing.
German I like (lots of consonants and sweet letters like ß and ö) but other than publishing 10% of the worlds books and the #3 economy in the world... I'm not sure if I'd get to practice it
Hey. I feel your pain.
In Spanish (I make a living translating it), pretty much everything has phonic value; if you see it, generally, you say it. It's vowels and consonants forming syllables, and then forming words, but in Spanish you have this thing called "encabalgamiento," that when it refers to speaking means that we go from one logical "sound syllable" to the next without pause, and without worrying about running words together. Basically, consonants rule in Spanish pronunciation, and vowels in French. For example:
"El hombre vivió en España" becomes, when we say it, "E lhom bre vi vivióe nEs pa ña."
In French it would be:
"L'homme a vécu en Espagne," which pronounced is L'homme av écue nEs pagne," more or less. It's been over 20 years since I studied both French and Spanish linguistics. I could have probably picked a better French example, but once you get your head around the fact that "qu'est-ce que c'est" is only three sounds, it gets easier. Another thing: stuffed gets bunched up in French in what are called "breath groups," literally what you can do in a breath.
Out of curiosity, what method are you using for French? And if Mike is around, he might chime in.
Hey Veer,
I'm using a program called DuoLingo ( https://www.duolingo.com/ )
When I hear "ils" it sounds the same as "Elle". And I feel like there are a lot more silent S's on the end of every word that is giving me trust issues.
Phonic value... New term for the tool box!
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Stuff gets "closed off" phonetically in French when there's a vowel at the end. My daughter, "ma fille," comes out "mah fee ah," with the last sound really, really, really subdued. My son, "mon fils," comes out "mon fease," with nothing after the "s" sound. No vowel, S at the end, it's sibilant.
Gimme a PM. I can give you some pronunciation pointers.
Just take the French way out. Give up. And learn German!
Why do you think the French plant trees next to all their roads? So the German Army can march in the shade!
Cheers,
Sirhr
Why do you think the French plant trees next to all their roads? So the German Army can march in the shade!
Cheers,
Sirhr
I lived in Quebec for a couple of years. The best way is find a French speaker, and converse with them. Most are very patient and will help with your .accent and, more importantly, your syntax.
C'est plus facile.
C'est plus facile.
Especially the syntax. French is more restrictive than Spanish with choices for word order. If it isn't where it should be, it comes out gobbledegook, just like in English.
And as a matter of record, I don't like the Duo system, not one bit.
I'm guessing not because of some ad hominem argument towards the owl Duo. What's your preferred poison for programs?
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Duo is from the same guy who invented Captcha. Humans are used like picnic ants to process tiny bits of data, which are then sold. The sentences on Duo make little sense and some of the information is off, especially grammar explanations. Idiomatic expressions (think "Heads up!" or such) get little play.
I used to like Pimsleur, back in the day, and Routledge for programs, but, as Mike said, face-to-face rules. Look for a group in your area: https://www.meetup.com/topics/french/
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Already speak English and Spanish here. No desire to learn French, but do wanna learn Arabic and Dutch. Was funny back in High School when myself and others would take Spanish class for an easy A. Didn't work out that way. 
My HS French teacher was a hottie. I didn't learn a damned thing, but I did spank to her more than once.
My first-year Spanish teacher was from one of the Gulf states. First and last time in my life I heard "y'all" interjected into Spanish.
You got it easy, the last week or so I've been watching my wife attempt to learn Thai. Its really quite funny.
Holy ####. I just researched the crowd sourcing of Captcha and Duolingo...
I.HAD.NO.IDEA... I mean seriously no idea, not a single clue that was going on. Mind blown.
So learning is I suppose a byproduct of sweat shop microtranslating.
Thanks for that info. SH has a lot of SME's beyond the gun and I'm grateful for it!
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You'd be surprised at the depth and breadth. Glad to help.
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