Hey,
I have like 5 years of school french all of which I have lost. If I wanted to recover it, anyone have any idea how to best go about this? How long it would take? Etc.? I intended to start this over the summer, but that didn't happen.
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Hey,
I have like 5 years of school french all of which I have lost. If I wanted to recover it, anyone have any idea how to best go about this? How long it would take? Etc.? I intended to start this over the summer, but that didn't happen.
Ok, I did it by working in an exclusively French environment for four months, but that's probably less of an option for you.
A good way to get started is to immerse yourself as much as you possibly can. French movies, French TV, French Radio, French Magazines, read French books (start with teenager stuff if you have to). It'll suck and be incomprehensible for a while. But it really works. Just anything recreational that you do in English, try to force yourself to do en francais. Also, if you have friends who are francophone or bilingual, get them to talk to you in French- always. And try to respond in kind.
My mom did that for a month while she was prepping for her language exam. It worked for her. I know Ottawa probably has more of a French community to dip into than Toronto, but where there's a will, etc.
Bonne chance!
Ive always wanted to re-learn some of the French I was taught in high school. What about French on CD?
I second the immersion idea... I have French TV through Dish TV and I don't actually have any english language channels except free speech tv... I only buy dvd's that have a french soundtrack - DON'T use the english subtitles if you can avoid it, but if you can find them with a french soundtrack and french subtitles, use that -, read in french, listen to french music, etc...
But really crucial is not just to learn to read or listen, but to learn to speak, to do that, you must speak french!! so try to find french clubs, etc, that have conversation groups where you can go and actually use it... yes it will be frustrating at first but it is worth it...
This site isn't bad. It's all about immersion. But keep in mind its Parisian French, not Canadian.
http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html
you could probably skip the first few lessons as they're sooooo basic that no matter how little you remember you'll be bored out of your mind.
Your best bet is to get "immersed" in the language in which you want to learn. Book learning doesn't work. Is there a place of business where you could "work" while you are learning? There is a school by me that teaches languages (to kids though) that totally immerse them in the language for the whole class...they learn nothing by book, but by speaking, playing, singing, etc in whatever language they are learning.
See if there is an Alliance Francaise in your community...they give 4-8, or 12 week classes and are usually very well-organized. You might also want to try taking an intensive french course (lasting 2 weeksor more) somewhere in France where you will be forced to use the language with the locals..As much as I love Paris, I wouldn;t recommend it for reinforcing the use of French as English is widely spoken by everyone and they will only try to speak to you in English to practice their own skills. Try Bordeaux, Nice, Montpelier, Grenoble. sta travel and CEA are both great sites for language programs.
I believe Berliz offers immersion learning. But it's freggin expensive.