How Many Of You Speak French?

avantgarde1 · 11.02.2007, 08:08 PM

i've wanted to learn french for along time but i'm lazy and never really got around to it. i was watching this french subtitled film after i got home from the bar last night and it really made me want to learn it again. so all you french sayers out there, what's the easiest way to learn? i don't wanna master the language or anything, just learn some phrases and enough to get me thru basic conversation if i ever decide to make tha tjump across the pond to visit. kinda like how i know enough spanish to steer my way around a bar and get outta trouble w/ the federalis. thanks for yr help.

PAULYBEE2656 · 11.02.2007, 08:14 PM

at a guess id say about 50%

i am not one of the cultured brigade. i can barely get my head around english! i cant even speak my own language (irish)! in fact i cant speak at all. just a series of grunts and coughs.....

avantgarde1 · 11.02.2007, 08:35 PM

kool, i'm irish! last names O'Connor. my dad always tells me that my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was the king of ireland @ one time, so technically we're royalty. but he's kinda dumb and i don't really believe him. i wasn't aware that the irish had their own language, unless you mean gaelic, which i thought no one spoke anymore anyways.

LittlePuppetBoy · 11.02.2007, 09:07 PM

I speak some. Not enough to be fully bilingual (I live in Montreal too).

Cardinal Rob · 11.02.2007, 09:50 PM

I'm the worst in the class yet I find the best ways of learning are reciting the words you want to learn in an extremely heavy accent, and observing sentence structures, concentrating hard on the ones you build y'self. In all honesty, as stubborn as it seems, I'm not too hugely interested in other languages as English is so eclectic and rich itself. French may sound hawt but there not being seven words for everything you can't twist the language into yr own personal stijl as well.

sonicl · 11.03.2007, 12:38 AM

I can make myself understood in French, sometimes fairly fluently. But when I've spoken to French boardies, I graciously allowed them to speak English... because they do so 10x better than I speak their language.

SYRFox · 11.03.2007, 03:01 AM

In fact, french is more difficult than english, in my opinion, because there's lots of different conjugations for verbs... And the phrase structure is also different, which can cause problem.

As for avantgarde's question... I don't know =D

cryptowonderdruginvogue · 11.03.2007, 03:39 AM

"Angela, tu es infâme."
"Non," répond-elle, "je suis une femme."

PAULYBEE2656 · 11.03.2007, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avantgarde1

.......... i wasn't aware that the irish had their own language, unless you mean gaelic, which i thought no one spoke anymore anyways.

yeah gaelic. no one uses it apart from the signposts have to have gaelic and it is still taught in schools right up to final exams. it is still used in smal communities in the west but in general its redundant. its sad cuz it is our heritage.

pbradley · 11.03.2007, 05:01 AM

I got an F in French.

PAULYBEE2656 · 11.03.2007, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbradley

I got an F in French.

who got the remaining letters?

Prisstina · 11.03.2007, 08:44 AM

i'm a sophomore in high school so i'm taking french 2 this year. i have a great grade in that class, but i'm pretty terrible at speaking and writing.

i can piece together some pointless phrases ("je voudrais le poulet et le riz, mon frere") and i'm fairly good with vocab, but conjugating/grammar in general is a headache.

!@#$%! · 11.03.2007, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prisstina

i"je voudrais le poulet et le riz, mon frere"

ha ha ha ha. you funny.

--

i do speak/read but i went to a school ran by french priests so i guess all that dull homework paid off. however i had almost forgotten until one summer some years ago i took some private lessons-- very effective. i also used to go out w/ a couple of frenchies & i went to france. so the practice is there.

however i am (obviously) often at loss with coloquial expressions, slang, etc. because it's been a while.

anyway the other day i was in the minnehaha airport and i found a stand for this product:

we tested it and it look like lots of fun and EASY to use & learn. truly. for $200 per "level" i think you can give it a whirl without much fear of being the victim of a scam-- it's not a scam though.

they have it in a bunch of languages and i'm thinking of getting the chinese or japanese versions. or german, which i totally ignore. what should it be? hm... but anyway yeah it seems to werke. ha.

pokkeherrie · 11.03.2007, 10:37 AM

To say I can "speak it" would be exaggerating, but I have had some years of French at school and I can read/understand some. I hardly ever use it though, so I don't have it directly available in my head. But whenever I'm in France/Brussels/Wallonia for more than a couple of days then it suddenly improves a lot and it's always surprising to see how quickly so much of it comes back then, speaking and listening. It will always remain at best my 4th language though.

Easiest way to learn it would be by hanging out with French people in combination with learning some basic grammar/vocabulary. I'm sure you could find those online... or look for some second hand school book. a language course/cd rom set would definitely help too but is much more expensive.

touch me i'm sick · 11.03.2007, 10:41 AM

i've spoken fluently since i was 4 or 5. the way i learned though was from harcore immersion. if you go to a french speaking region for a while, you'll pick up on things pretty fast. the hardest part is grammar for sure.

Torn Curtain · 11.03.2007, 04:44 PM

French has stupid spelling and grammar rules. Pronunciation can also be tough for native English speakers (stupid but famous example: "j'ai mal au cou" pronounced "j'ai mal au cul"

).

Sorry I have no idea what's the best way to learn French as a foreign language, as some have said immersion maybe.

Torn Curtain · 11.03.2007, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prisstina

i can piece together some pointless phrases ("je voudrais le poulet et le riz, mon frere")

Pointless indeed

avantgarde1 · 11.03.2007, 06:01 PM

yeah fuck that rosetta stone shit... way too expensive. i found some free sites at work last night, even one that has free podcasts. imma put it on my ipod and listen to it like those old books on tapes things. i really just wanna learn a few phrases. like how to manuver around a bar and basic hello, how you doing, good evening crap. already got that last night. wikipedia was very helpful... i fucking love that site. thanks for yr collective help though. thread closed!

towerhamlets · 11.03.2007, 07:48 PM

I can speak some French--took a semester in h.s. and then more French all through uni-- but my French still isn't that great. I can read perfectly, and write okay, but people speak so quickly that when I'm in France I always feel like I'm trying desperately to follow the conversation.

Massenvernichtungswaffen · 11.03.2007, 10:50 PM

je parle le francais mais pas boucoup. je suis canadienne. j'ai etudier dans l'ecole.

ich spreche auch deutsch. meiner Meinung nach ist deutsch xmal besser als franzözisch!! Franzözisch enthält grammatische Anlagen, die schwerer zu meistern seien.

english sucks.

11.02.2007, 08:08 PM	#1
avantgarde1 the end of the ugly Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 968	i've wanted to learn french for along time but i'm lazy and never really got around to it. i was watching this french subtitled film after i got home from the bar last night and it really made me want to learn it again. so all you french sayers out there, what's the easiest way to learn? i don't wanna master the language or anything, just learn some phrases and enough to get me thru basic conversation if i ever decide to make tha tjump across the pond to visit. kinda like how i know enough spanish to steer my way around a bar and get outta trouble w/ the federalis. thanks for yr help. __________________ aka ZEROpumpkins
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11.02.2007, 08:14 PM	#2
PAULYBEE2656 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: wexford, rep of ireland Posts: 6,930	at a guess id say about 50% i am not one of the cultured brigade. i can barely get my head around english! i cant even speak my own language (irish)! in fact i cant speak at all. just a series of grunts and coughs..... __________________ myspace facebook *twitter*
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11.02.2007, 08:35 PM	#3
avantgarde1 the end of the ugly Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 968	kool, i'm irish! last names O'Connor. my dad always tells me that my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was the king of ireland @ one time, so technically we're royalty. but he's kinda dumb and i don't really believe him. i wasn't aware that the irish had their own language, unless you mean gaelic, which i thought no one spoke anymore anyways. __________________ aka ZEROpumpkins
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.02.2007, 09:07 PM	#4
LittlePuppetBoy expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Aylmer(now Gatineau), Quebec Posts: 1,756	I speak some. Not enough to be fully bilingual (I live in Montreal too). __________________
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11.02.2007, 09:50 PM	#5
Cardinal Rob the destroyed room Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: In the O.. O.. Organ Loft, West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 553	I'm the worst in the class yet I find the best ways of learning are reciting the words you want to learn in an extremely heavy accent, and observing sentence structures, concentrating hard on the ones you build y'self. In all honesty, as stubborn as it seems, I'm not too hugely interested in other languages as English is so eclectic and rich itself. French may sound hawt but there not being seven words for everything you can't twist the language into yr own personal stijl as well. __________________ lastFM \| RYM \| MySpace
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 12:38 AM	#6
sonicl invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 9,527	I can make myself understood in French, sometimes fairly fluently. But when I've spoken to French boardies, I graciously allowed them to speak English... because they do so 10x better than I speak their language.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 03:01 AM	#7
SYRFox invito al cielo Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Paris Posts: 7,492	In fact, french is more difficult than english, in my opinion, because there's lots of different conjugations for verbs... And the phrase structure is also different, which can cause problem. As for avantgarde's question... I don't know =D
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 03:39 AM	#8
cryptowonderdruginvogue invito al cielo Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: the party Posts: 10,281	"Angela, tu es infâme." "Non," répond-elle, "je suis une femme."
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11.03.2007, 05:01 AM	#10
pbradley invito al cielo Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: SoKo Posts: 10,621	I got an F in French.
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11.03.2007, 08:44 AM	#12
Prisstina the end of the ugly Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Killwaukee Posts: 996	i'm a sophomore in high school so i'm taking french 2 this year. i have a great grade in that class, but i'm pretty terrible at speaking and writing. i can piece together some pointless phrases ("je voudrais le poulet et le riz, mon frere") and i'm fairly good with vocab, but conjugating/grammar in general is a headache. __________________
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 10:37 AM	#14
pokkeherrie invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,289	To say I can "speak it" would be exaggerating, but I have had some years of French at school and I can read/understand some. I hardly ever use it though, so I don't have it directly available in my head. But whenever I'm in France/Brussels/Wallonia for more than a couple of days then it suddenly improves a lot and it's always surprising to see how quickly so much of it comes back then, speaking and listening. It will always remain at best my 4th language though. Easiest way to learn it would be by hanging out with French people in combination with learning some basic grammar/vocabulary. I'm sure you could find those online... or look for some second hand school book. a language course/cd rom set would definitely help too but is much more expensive.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 10:41 AM	#15
touch me i'm sick expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,936	i've spoken fluently since i was 4 or 5. the way i learned though was from harcore immersion. if you go to a french speaking region for a while, you'll pick up on things pretty fast. the hardest part is grammar for sure.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 04:44 PM	#16
Torn Curtain invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: France Posts: 7,997	French has stupid spelling and grammar rules. Pronunciation can also be tough for native English speakers (stupid but famous example: "j'ai mal au cou" pronounced "j'ai mal au cul" ). Sorry I have no idea what's the best way to learn French as a foreign language, as some have said immersion maybe.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 06:01 PM	#18
avantgarde1 the end of the ugly Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 968	yeah fuck that rosetta stone shit... way too expensive. i found some free sites at work last night, even one that has free podcasts. imma put it on my ipod and listen to it like those old books on tapes things. i really just wanna learn a few phrases. like how to manuver around a bar and basic hello, how you doing, good evening crap. already got that last night. wikipedia was very helpful... i fucking love that site. thanks for yr collective help though. thread closed! __________________ aka ZEROpumpkins
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

11.03.2007, 07:48 PM	#19
towerhamlets little trouble girl Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: central London Posts: 35	I can speak some French--took a semester in h.s. and then more French all through uni-- but my French still isn't that great. I can read perfectly, and write okay, but people speak so quickly that when I'm in France I always feel like I'm trying desperately to follow the conversation. __________________ http://www.myspace.com/hautedamn http://www.facebook.com/psychichearts
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11.03.2007, 10:50 PM	#20
Massenvernichtungswaffen stalker Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: On a large piece of rock in the Ocean Posts: 403	je parle le francais mais pas boucoup. je suis canadienne. j'ai etudier dans l'ecole. ich spreche auch deutsch. meiner Meinung nach ist deutsch xmal besser als franzözisch!! Franzözisch enthält grammatische Anlagen, die schwerer zu meistern seien. english sucks. __________________ Jeg kysser katastrofer.
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