Learning French

I took 2 years of French and pretty much all I remember is "Je ne sais pas" aka "I don't know". I now wish that Greek or Hebrew had been offered instead.

It seems like a lot of universities allow people who are over 62 to audit classes for free, so my mom has been learning both modern and biblical Hebrew. I just need to make enough free time to dedicate to it.

Have you tried duolingo? You can learn French for free.
https://www.duolingo.com/

I speak French as my first language. I could answer some of your questions if ever you have any.

I took 1 and a half year of french thinking that it would be easy to learn. Boy, was I mistaken. however my being Canadian, i see a lot of french word in my daily activities. Not only that, we have a dedicated channel on tv only in french. My french is currently rusty and I am currently in college studying automotives so I don't have any time to study french. However I still have my text book for French that I took before, and I also bought a book that I can use to practice french. its quite a challenge to retain french as i don't use it. Like the saying go "if you don't use it, you lose it." I've found that the best way to retain and learn french is to be totally immersed in that French culture, i.e. France. and you are forced to learn and retain french. eh bien. C'est la vie.

Bonné chance.
P

Paul K said:

I took 1 and a half year of french thinking that it would be easy to learn. Boy, was I mistaken. however my being Canadian, i see a lot of french word in my daily activities. Not only that, we have a dedicated channel on tv only in french. My french is currently rusty and I am currently in college studying automotives so I don't have any time to study french. However I still have my text book for French that I took before, and I also bought a book that I can use to practice french. its quite a challenge to retain french as i don't use it. Like the saying go "if you don't use it, you lose it." I've found that the best way to retain and learn french is to be totally immersed in that French culture, i.e. France. and you are forced to learn and retain french. eh bien. C'est la vie.

Bonné chance.
P

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You're totally right, this is the only way to really learn a language! If you need any advice for a french book (or a question about the language), feel free to ask

I am learning French on my own (after 3 years of learning at school and 2 years of shamefully nothing more). I am studying from a grammar book and reading things on France 24 (I read it mostly in English — but, when I choose to practise French, then I switch it to French).

Alors comment ça va les amis? Le français, c'est la plus belle langue du monde! Bon il y a l'espagnol aussi, bien sûr!

Paul K said:

I took 1 and a half year of french thinking that it would be easy to learn. Boy, was I mistaken. however my being Canadian, i see a lot of french word in my daily activities. Not only that, we have a dedicated channel on tv only in french. My french is currently rusty and I am currently in college studying automotives so I don't have any time to study french. However I still have my text book for French that I took before, and I also bought a book that I can use to practice french. its quite a challenge to retain french as i don't use it. Like the saying go "if you don't use it, you lose it." I've found that the best way to retain and learn french is to be totally immersed in that French culture, i.e. France. and you are forced to learn and retain french. eh bien. C'est la vie.

Bonné chance.
P

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Uuuuuhm, *arhem*. Mr. Canadian, tu sais qu'on parle français au Canada aussi, n'est ce pas? Moi je suis à Québec et quoique l'on parle un joale à certains endroits, c'est vrai, ça reste du français quand même! "Oh boy" en effet, même si très belle, la langue française est un défi à apprendre et surtout à écrire! Même pour moi qui suis francophone et qui me considère au-dessus de la moyenne.

En tous cas, passez tous une bonne soirée et que Dieu vous bénisse!

-Jean

Sapien,

you are correct. In Quebec, they speak french. however I am from Alberta where we don't speak french or write french. French is optional here and a lot of schools offer french immersion. In my school, no such french immersion was offered. I decided to take it up because of my daily exposure to french here as in Canada French is a required language to offer in everything that's sold here. To be honest, French is a beautiful language. Like you said in the beginning, Le français, c'est la plus belle langue du monde! I am also trying to learn Russian because of my family's heritage, but that is even more challenging. For now, French would be my priority.

Paul

Paul K said:

Sapien,

you are correct. In Quebec, they speak french. however I am from Alberta where we don't speak french or write french. French is optional here and a lot of schools offer french immersion. In my school, no such french immersion was offered. I decided to take it up because of my daily exposure to french here as in Canada French is a required language to offer in everything that's sold here. To be honest, French is a beautiful language. Like you said in the beginning, Le français, c'est la plus belle langue du monde! I am also trying to learn Russian because of my family's heritage, but that is even more challenging. For now, French would be my priority.

Paul

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Aaaaah, I see. It surprises me though. I thought it was mandatory all accross Canada. I've got family in B.C. and they had to take it.

Well I admire your courage then! I've heard once that of all the european languages French is one of the hardest to learn (I mean, it can't beat Swedish and Hungarian!).

I guess you just have to set reasonable goals and you'll succeed. Surely by now you'll have noticed that your greatest challenge will be the gender and the grammar. It will come with time.

Sapiens said:

Alors comment ça va les amis? Le français, c'est la plus belle langue du monde! Bon il y a l'espagnol aussi, bien sûr!



Uuuuuhm, *arhem*. Mr. Canadian, tu sais qu'on parle français au Canada aussi, n'est ce pas? Moi je suis à Québec et quoique l'on parle un joale à certains endroits, c'est vrai, ça reste du français quand même! "Oh boy" en effet, même si très belle, la langue française est un défi à apprendre et surtout à écrire! Même pour moi qui suis francophone et qui me considère au-dessus de la moyenne.

En tous cas, passez tous une bonne soirée et que Dieu vous bénisse!

-Jean

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Un francophone! Hourrah!
Petite question: c'est quoi un joale?! J'ai jamais entendu ça, ça doit être une expression québécoise
ah l'espagnol j'ai un peu de mal, pas trop ma tasse de thé (ça c'est le sang italien qui ressort). Et puis l'italien c'est juste teeeellement magnifique!
Pire que le suédois, le finlandais. J'ai jamais vu un nombre de cas et de déclinaisons pareil, ça doit être juste infernal à parler. Mais le hongrois je suis d'accord, j'ai une copine qui est allée en Hongrie quelques mois l'an passé: et quand elle est revenue elle était plus que perplexe devant la difficulté de la langue. Apparemment ça ressemble à strictement rien d'autre!


Paul K: Yeah, when it comes to french grammar this is an another story. We love exceptions and impossible syntax. But don't worry, this is quite easy to learn the french of every day! The "great" and literary french.. Well, good luck!
I may look a little chauvinist, but I agree with you, le français est la plus belle langue du monde! I deeply love my language. Its difficulty makes me love it even more!

Flavie (everyone sign so I sign too)

Sapiens said:

Alors comment ça va les amis? Le français, c'est la plus belle langue du monde! Bon il y a l'espagnol aussi, bien sûr! [...]

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thehehe said:

[...] I may look a little chauvinist, but I agree with you, le français est la plus belle langue du monde! I deeply love my language. Its difficulty makes me love it even more![...]

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Je ne suis pas d'accord! La plus belle langue est le portugais! Ou peut-être l'anglais. Ou peut-être le français. Ou peut-être l'allemand. Mais pas l'espagnol!

I love my native language too! I understand the feeling.