| Mar. 14th, 2012 @ 10:05 am Wrap up of a French challenge |
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Current Location: Work
Current Music: The Music of the NIght... wait! No...
On February 1st I started a Six Weeks Challenge (6WC) to learn French. I have never officially learned French before, but I did have a high level of passive understanding. I wanted to make that conscious and real. So here's a summary of what I did and what happened.
I used several resources that included:
*Pimsleur short course (8 lessons, but this had a defect and only 7 of them)
*Podcasts from FrenchPod101.com
*Mango language learning database
*RFI news broadcasts in slow/easy French
*TV7 internet streeming from Bordeaux
*Easy French reader
*Jules Verne audiobook
*Berlitz Essential French lesson book
*Various videos on YouTube and other sites
*Miscellaneous
At the end of the challenge, I had some 48 hours of time accounted for in French study. That was an average of just over 1 hour per day. While not much, it was more than I had been doing.
I noticed these milestones by time:
*Between 1-6 hours I was having flashbacks to the time when I was first working on French art songs in my voice lessons. By 12 hours, I had mostly gotten over that.
*By 24 hours I felt a substantial shift in my general understanding of French. Things that had seemed fast or even incomprehensible before ceased to be. I had the "feel" of the language even if I didn't always have the vocabulary to go with it.
*By 36 hours I had more vocabulary, and it was enough to open the world up yet again. I was amazed at how much French is in English. I knew that factually before going in, but it was a deeper revelation to see it in use and understand it.
The bad:
*I have not bridged the gap from understanding to speaking. Because I used podcasts and listening more than active speaking work, the skills I have reflect that. I do want to speak more, but that just didn't happen with the resources I was using. I think I would have been able to do more of this had I worked more with Mango (a resource I do have) or had access to the full Pimsleur lesson set (something I do not have right now).
So yes, I learned a lot, and I don't think my time with French was at all a waste. For example, the few things I can say, I pronounce fairly well. But... you won't see me yet asking for directions on the Champs-Elysées because I don't yet have enough conscious control of my vocabulary and the structures to do that.
I would also like to comment on FrenchPod101.com since I used more of those podcasts than any other. When I was first listening, I was put off by the two main French women hosts, Celine and Virginie. I just didn't get them, but as I listened more I appreciated them greatly. Virginie has a sense of humor that comes out in the higher level lessons when she is able to stay in French instead of constantly translating every little sound she makes. Now I would listen to lessons from either hostess, as long as neither was paired with Sam.
I never really liked the American, Sam, who worked with Celine. In the lessons it sounded like she didn't much care for him, either, and that he was always getting on her nerves. Though he's supposed to be an advanced French speaker, his own French is not as good as the other non-native speaking hosts. I have more confidence in the competence of hosts like Eric or JP than Sam.
I really liked the sound of Sylvain's voice, though he is only heard with Sam and Celine in the beginner lessons. Sylvain could read me the French phone book, and I'd be pretty happy about that. Eric and JP could join him, along with Virginie and Celine, and that would be my perfect FrenchPod101.com listening experience. |
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