Do you speak French? Or are you planning to learn it? I´ve been on and off the train “Learning French” for the past two years – well, more off than on, if I´m honest. 😉
And to be even more honest with you: I was quite fed up with myself for not already being able to understand or speak French properly. It seems that somehow I was waiting for the knowledge to simply find its way into my brain on its own, preferably while I´m asleep. 😉
But in the last couple of weeks I finally started to see it through: I spent nearly every day at least half an hour with learning French – and it slowly but surely begins to show!
Sure, the grammar is quite tough but what hindered me most was my lack of vocabulary, and even worse: my lacking will to actually pound these words into my head.
Learning a new language can be a slow process, but I think that by learning everyday a bit, I will actually have more success than by sitting at my desk for a more lengthy period just once a week.
Besides my dictionary to help me make sense of the words I encounter in children´s and young adults books, I use a little pocket computer by Franklin (see above in the drawing) which was a go-away gift from a friend who left Germany for France a couple of years ago. It´s especially helpful when it comes to irregular verbs. You simply type in the verb and it coughs up the infinitive for you!
I´m currently working my way through “Les Horloges de M. Svonok” (The timepieces of Mr Svonok) by François Gravel, a book about four friends confronted with ghostly apparitions and inexplicable losses of time. It´s a very good read and I even catched myself picking it up to read more beyond my self-imposed study time. 😉
And if you´re asking yourself why I´m going through all this hard work when really English will get you pretty much everywhere on this planet, just have a quick look at this hilarious and awesome piece of interview with the French actress Marion Cotillard on Late Show, where it will be demonstrated to you that everything sounds so much more intriguing when said in French… :
And for those of you who are interested, here are the translations for the words seen in my drawing above:
le funambule – the tight-rope walker
bougonner – to grumble
j´ai – I have
la ride – the wrinkle
sembler – to seem
hâter – to accelerate
à – to; in; at; with (… and many, many more meanings)
poussiéreux, -se – dusty
la clameur – the clamor
le hasard – the chance
flou, -e – blurry, fuzzy
fier – proud
l´aube – dawn
étonner – to amaze
pourtant – however
grimper – to climb
hausser les épaules – to shrug (typically French thing so it can´t hurt knowing this phrase 😉 )
toi – you
le pêcheur – the fisher
la marée – the tide
couvrir – to cover
la verrière – glass
oui – yes
I’m sure that constant practice is the key. I’m convinced my best chance is total immersion, preferably in a nice little wine-producing village, or perhaps Tahiti? I’m allowed to dream, right?
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Hehe 😉 Yes, I bet the wine would help loosen one´s tongue to get it all right 😉
And if one weren´t allowed to dream, this world would be a very sad place… And who knows, some dreams do come true 😉 xxxxx
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That is very true 🙂 Hope you’re having a good weekend. xxx
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Beautiful drawing and such a funny video! I have tried to learn French so many times (usually before I’ve been going to travel there) but am still hopeless. I can read it better than I speak — and as soon as anyone speaks to me in French I’m a gibbering wreck. Hopefully I’ll have more success with Maori. 🙂 xxx
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Thanks a lot, Su! 😀
Hehe! 😉 It seems French is rather difficult to learn and I´m not the only one having trouble with it, which relieves me endlessly! 😀 Lately I haven´t found much time to read in French but I try to practice at least daily with my Duolingo app, this should keep my brain in the loop 😉 xxxxxx
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such a good video – lmao
and I used to like colbert when he had his show on comedy central – but this was really good and wow that he did not mention Trump – jk
anyhow, I have been working on my French on and off since 1992….
ugh
and glad yours is going well
🙂
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Glad you like it 🙂 I can watch it again and again and laugh my head off! I´m actually trying to sound as mysterious as her when speaking French 😉 Though to be honest, most of the time the context of what I say i s actually a mystery to me!!! 😀 LOL!
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well as you can tell – I had a chance to peek around your blog and get caught up – felt nice feeling your vibe again and this was a fun post = there are so many more sides to the artsy Miss G
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And it’s so lovely to know that you had a good time here 😄 That’s all I can hope to achieve with blogging, that and enjoy the hard work my blogging friends like you put into theirs. Look so much forward to many of our conversations to come! 😄
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Oh I know – an later I need to share an update on my nephew (the one that passed) – and thanks again for your support last February when we first had the news. I really enjoyed our comment chat!!!
oh and back to this post for a second.
Someone once asked folks what their regrest were… like little things and whatnot –
I do not have many – cos you know – try to accept and just not let regretful thinking have any room.
“ but i did think of a couple regrets – and just little bitty things –
and one of them ties into your post here.
in the late 1990s – the hubs and I were dining out at an upscale restaurant with some friends. Those friends had other friends come and they brought this movie start guy and his wife.
well during dinner – the guy heard my name (and it is French) and he started speaking to me in French. just basic conversation stuff and I clammed up. I was feeling as if my French would suck too bad – but then I realized even choppy French would have been just fun….
but it was a split second decision – and when he asked me if I spoke “un peu” I said and then missed the chance to share.
who really cares – but since that time – I speak my bits of French (or Spanglish) and just do the best I can
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I remember our chat from back then too 😊 And look forward to the update on your nephew, Yvette.
Yes, I agree that it is best not to regret too many things but I understand why you regret not having jumped on the opportunity to use your bits of French back then. But at least you did learn from this very understandable mistake which is all we can do. 😄
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yeah – and I am not even sure I would call it a mistake – and I guess it goes to show how sometimes we make split second decisions for a variety of reasons – and I just clammed up – but we live life in real time and so maybe that single – and brief – experience prepped me so that I spoke up at a different time that mattered more – ? hm
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You should listen daily to a French radio, il helps a lot, that’s how my father speaks flawless French, even though he was 15 when he arrived in France from Vietnam
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Thanks for the advice, mon roi! 😀 I will give it a try, actually I do listen to it sometimes but it is awfully hard – they are talking so rapidly!! But I am watching sometimes movies in French with subtitles on.
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Good 🙂 … And you can read my blog 😀
je parle très bien français (obviously) !
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I know 😉 And I will! It´s not only good practice but also fun! Bonne weekend! 🙂
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Reblogged this on From 1 Blogger 2 Another.
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Aww, Douglas – thanks so much again! 😀 You totally make my day! Wish you a wonderful weekend!
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You too! 🙂
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I hear you, it’s Thai for me and that is so hard because it has 5 tones, so I think I’m saying it right, but actually I have said it with the wrong tone which makes for baffled expressions, LOL all part of the fun.., I, like you, want to acquire it while asleep! 😉 I admire anyone that can speak more than one language 🙂 xx
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I admire you for trying to learn Thai – it sounds just as tough as Chinese or Japanese with the different tones! I tried to learn a few phrases of Chinese once with a friend and she always kept saying that I intoned it totally wrong and insulted her all the time! 😀 I quickly gave up then and started learning Spanish – much safer 😉 xx
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I agree, I used to go to Thai lessons, but haven’t been for ages. I need to live in a country where the language is easier LOL xx
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Haha! 😀 Don´t give up yet, Gill – I´m sure the weather makes up for the difficulties the language provides 😉
Have a lovely weekend! xx
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I am in the minority in my family – I am only proficient in one language while many of them have such an ear and tongue for languages! I have taken many hours of French lessons, but the only time I felt like I was making any progress at all was when I visited France and had to actually use the language.
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Thank you very much for your comment and for your visit, Ju-Lyn! 😀
It seems always a bit unfair when some people just learn a new language by listening to it, while others (like me) have to really work hard to get there. Luckily I have some friends who are French and live here, so I can use them as my language dummies 😉
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I hear you! struggling in the midst of folks who seem to inhale new languages. It is wonderful that you have a community with whom you can practice the French. Bonne chance!
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Merci beaucoup! 😀
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De rien!
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I’ve learned basic French at high-school, but didn’t like the language (sorry French neighbors) and never did use it again. Now I can speak, read and write (some better as others) Dutch, German and English and I hope to learn Spanish. But first I need to learn the Indonesian language, since I going to visit this country next year with my dad 🙂
So, Bravo Sarah for sticking to it this time. Big hug and je t’aime 🙂
XxX
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Thank you, Patty! 🙂
You will find Spanish much easier than French I think.
And Kudos to you for wanting to learn Malayan before your trip to Indonesia! Most people would just rely on their English 😉 Are you going to visit courses to learn it or do you want to do it on your own? I´m not even sure if they teach it around here, at least not at my evening school 😉
Good luck with that!
Have a lovely day! Big hugs! 🙂 xxx
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Your French lessons are very similar with my Italian… 😉 I enjoyed the video, thank you for sharing!
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Haha! 😀 My pleasure, Inese. I could watch this video over and over again 😉 xxxxx
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You have hit a nerve here, Sarah. I love the French language and tried to take in school. Our teacher was more interested in the journalism class and school newspaper so when I moved schools the next year, too far behind. Being brought up until age 5 bilingual, (German primary, English secondary) I found myself not proficient at neither. Once we came to the States, we were not allowed to use our German again. Never learned the grammar well but remember many words. I keep thinking I will practice but there are so many other things on my plate, I never quite get to it. If I had the funds, I would go back and spend 6 months to a year in immersion learning. But at my age, why? Getting too old to have it be useful. My daughter studied French but had no one to use it with. Now she is learning Japanese so she can watch Anime movies and understand what they are saying without subtitles. 🙂 What ever works I guess. I bought a book in German but can’t even get the English books finished. I need to live to be 108 to get it all done that I want to do. 🙂 I hope you accomplish your goal of learning the language.
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French certainly is one of the most intriguing languages and I have always been drawn to its sound too.
And kudos to your daughter for learning Japanese – it´s such a difficult language, especially for our western minds.
Have you heard of the smartphone app Duolingo? A friend on WP just recommended it to me and I think it´s very good. It´s for free and you can use it for as many languages as you want, so maybe you could just give it a go for German and French even if you think it can´t be of any use anymore? Because I know that at least it´s good food for the brain and it´s actually fun doing these lessons. Think about it 😉
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Thank you for the information, Sarah. I just downloaded the app. I agree that we need to keep challenging the brain. Who knows what can happen. I’ve been challenging mine to recover from the damage Bells Palsy did to my brain 7 years ago. Lost most of my words and writing helps me work to bring them back. Retraining the brain is a big deal for me. 🙂 Thanks.
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You’re very welcome, Marlene! I’m glad I could be of help 😄 I’m sure the creative part of your brain does help you with regaining what was lost. Hope you will enjoy the app! 😄
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I’ve been using the app and only have difficulty with the grammar. 😦 I’ll keep at it.
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I just love this piece – it may be my favorite of all of yours. Something about it, I just love it!
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Oh, wow! Thank you so much, Sarah!! I’m so happy you love it! Means so much to me! 😄😘
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Oui! I know a bit of French. I took high school courses and also first year French in university. But it’s been many years now since I’ve been in a classroom. Good that you are taking this up and I like the art you created, as well as the list of terms for learning more 🙂 I think practice helps when learning a language and I wish you all the best with your mastery of French 🙂 ❤
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Thanks a lot, Christy!
Practice is definitely the key to mastering any language. The first weeks were tough though, I was always looking out for something else to do instead of just sit at my desk for half an our and learn – like washing the dishes or dusting 😉 Now it really has become a habit I even look forward to! 🙂 ❤
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Je parle un peu mal Français…but I keep trying. 🇫🇷
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That’s all it takes 😄 Keep on trying, Kerry – it’s worth it! And if you add that radiant smile to everything you say in French, I’m sure they will oversee any mistakes you might make 😉😘
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Thank you, Sarah – what a sweet compliment! Two older Mexican passengers were showering my with kisses and hugs when I (hopefully) got them to their cruise ship on time in bad Spanish. Pronto, pronto!!
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See? Your charm works without words 🙂 Have a lovely day, Kerry! 😀
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😍
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This is so wonderful, Sarah. My six weeks in France in high school with no English spoken was the best way to learn French. Merci beaucoup. Bravo to your French.
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Thank you very much, Jennie! That must have been a wonderful time for you 🙂 Do you still practice your French? Have a lovely fin de semaine! 🙂 ❤
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I do in bits and pieces, particularly with the children when we learn about France. They love singing our “Days of the Week” song in French instead of English. Lots of substituting common words. Fun!
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And it´s so much easier to learn languages when you´re a child! Especially by singing songs – “Frère Jaques” is still embedded in my head 😉
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Yes! 🙂
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I did my best to learn a little French before I visited there seven years ago, with mixed success. I learned enough phrases to be polite, and to order my Diet Cokes with ice, but the worst part for me was the accent, which I failed at completely. I was a lot better and reading French signs than speaking the language. Even so, almost all of the people I met over there were polite, and many of them were kind.
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It´s almost impossible to sound French if you haven´t lived there for years I suppose – and even if you have it might still be impossible. Accents are a tricky thing but I wouldn’t worry too much about them – like you said most people are simply delighted when you try 🙂
Do you practice your French from time to time to keep it somewhat fresh?
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Sadly, no. I studied Spanish in school, so I concentrate more on that, but I’m not particularly good at Spanish either. I only learned the French for the visit to France. I do think I need to work more on the Spanish, though, since so many people in our country speak it.
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I also studied Spanish – it’s so much easier than French I think 😉
Yes, many people speak Spanish in the US and it can only be of advantage to know it too. Apart from Chinese it’s one of the most spoken languages worldwide!
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Yes, learning a language is hard. I am always puzzled how we manage to learn one when we are young at all. The first language we learn has shape our brain in certain way which may be in totally conflict with the new language to learn.
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That´s true, it´s especially fascinating to compare eastern and western languages in that matter. I once tried to learn Chinese – and utterly failed! Had I learned it when I was much younger, I maybe would have stand a chance 😉
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I adore your cute little drawing, Sarah! I used to have one of those little Franklin devices that I used for Spanish. I love France, the French, the language, the country, the decor, the food, and don’t forget the desserts! I love anything French. Many years ago, after studying Spanish for 3 years, I was going to learn French before I visited the country. I did learn a bit, as French-Italian-Spanish go really well together and many, many words are similar, alas, I learned a bit for the trip, then forgot it. I have also terribly lapsed on my Spanish. I was determined to study more during this summer (because I do substitute teach in Bilingual classrooms), but I was just not able to fit it in. I do wish I could be accomplished enough to do at least 30 minutes a day as you do. I admire you for that. The Colbert/Cotillard video cracked me up! Keep on keeping on and you will get there! Much love to you. xo
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Thank you so much, Lana! But don´t look to closely at the drawing – I forgot several letters! 😉
I´m with you in loving everything French – it´s an amazing culture! I have a deep and troubling love affair with croissants 😉 No matter how hard I try, I can´t say no and they ruthlessly take advantage of me 😉
It´s always the best to practice the language in a country where it´s actually spoken, your trip must have been wonderful. And you´re right, all these three languages go so well together! I can keep talking in Spanish with someone Italian and we perfectly understand each other! But I have to get back to practice it more often too, Spanish that is. I´ve been neglecting it terribly ever since I started concentrating on French.
Maybe you can fit in 15 minutes a day? I´m sure it will suffice especially since you already learned it 🙂 I also keep “cheating” by sometimes just listening to French radio for half an hour or watching a film in French with subtitles on. 😉 xoxo
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Yes, I am going to do my best, I mean, 15 minutes isn’t so much. I used to watch Spanish telenovelas on TV, so I think the fact you listen to radio or watch a film is great! Have you heard of the Duolingo phone app? That is what I have been using for Spanish, I think they have several languages. It is free, but you have to put up with the ads, of course, lol! xoxo
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Oh, I love Spanish telenovelas! They are so funny (and dramatic of course 😉 ), it´s an awesome way to practice one´s hearing skills.
And thank you so much for pointing me out to Duolingo, I haven´t heard of it before but am going to download it for both French and Spanish – it sounds great!!! Have a super lovely weekend with wonderful sunshine and flower-scented air! Much love! 🙂 xoxo
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You’ll like the app for sure! I hope you are enjoying the weekend also, much love, Sarah. xo! 😀
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I do like it and already started a course for both, French and Spanish 😀 Thanks again! 🙂 ❤
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Very welcome, Sarah. One of the cool thing about having blogging friends is that we learn so much from each other. 😀
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True! 😀
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Oui, me too! 😉 A lovely write and interesting video… I use google translate too! Haha, merci beaucoup , Sarah 😃 ❤ 🌻
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Thank you, Iris! It´s good to know that I have company on that train ride 😀
Have an awesome day! 🙂 ❤ xoxo
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My pleasure, Sarah! Enjoy your weekend, mon amie ❤ 😃 🎶
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Good luck! I had French classes back in Junior High School a couple of years ago but I hardly remember anything, chiefly vocabulary and expressions. We had to choose between French and German but most students had no interest for either language so you can imagine what the class was like… Our teacher was very kind though!
I’m currently learning Japanese on my own which proves to be a challenge but I pick up something every day. As the Japanese say:
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Thank you! I will need it 😀
Being German I tend to think that it´s a much easier language 😉 In a way it definitely is: it´s always pronounced how it is spelled 😉
Wow! Japanese is so tough. A friend of mine has just moved there and is learning it too. Luckily the signs are the same as in Chinese and that she already can (being Chinese 😉 ).
Good luck to you too! 🙂
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Thanks!
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We had to take French in school. I enjoyed learning the language because some of my favourite authors were French. Sadly, I never continued to study French seriously after school. But it’s never too late. Congratulations to you on your progress, I’m sure your hard work will pay off. Thanks for sharing the video. 🙂
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Oh, which authors would that be? Maybe Voltaire or Victor Hugo? Jules Verne, Dumas, Flaubert or Balzac? I like them all and hope to be able to read their works in French one day.
There was no French at my school unfortunately, we had to be content with Latin and Ancient Greek besides English of course. I don´t regret that, Latin is a wonderful language to build upon most European languages on, as is actually Ancient Greek – did you know that almost fifty percent of English descends of greek? Besides it´s one of the most beautiful languages in my mind 🙂
Maybe you can start reactivating your French by reading some graphic novels. I always find that a good way to practice 🙂
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All the authors you suggested are great. I would add Camus and St. Exupery to that list. 🙂 Reading graphic novels in French is an excellent suggestion, thank you Sarah. 🙂
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But of course! I love both of them as well – though St. Exupery a bit more, being forever in love with The Little Prince 😉
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Even living in France for nearly four years I struggle with the grammar and the wretched conjugations. I always say I’ve got a huge vocabulary but I can’t string a sentence together! When I first moved to France I spent an hour a day studying, joined the local library and put my most têtu head on …. it does pay dividends. We have just been back to our village for it’s annual 15th August fête which is called ‘Lez’Arts Dans la Rue’ (a play on the word for Lizard 🦎 since a very dapper lézard is the mascot. I will be writing about it in the next few days (I promised them I would so now I have to) but the real thing was that I was chatting away to a lady and she suddenly said ‘where are you from?’ – I’m English I replied … ‘you speak French really well’ she said – I didn’t need the help of the wonderful musicians playing in the streets to have a little dance on air – really such a bottle-it moment for me. And another was when we arrived home last night and I opened my mailbox – thank you! She is beautiful — like her creator! Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Oh!!! I´m so glad it arrived!!! And that you like it!!! 😀 That´s huge weight off my shoulders!
French conjugations are indeed wretched – I can even say that I loathe them 😉 And what is it with that subjunctive?! No one really needs that! Ah well, I guess, I will have to live with it… 😉
Wow! I´m so impressed! When a French lady asks you where you´re from that´s like being knighted! Well done you! I probably would have asked her to repeat it so I could record it on my phone 😉 😀
Whenever I´m in Spain, people ask me if I´m French, so I kind of hope I can dazzle the French when I visit France one day 😉 But maybe they will just ask me if I´m Spanish! 😀
At least it seems I can hide my German accent sufficiently 😉 I think that´s due to having learned both languages with native speakers. Unlike English I´m afraid which I learned at school taught by a German teacher and thus seem unable to shake the accent entirely off 😦
Ah well, there are worse things… like having to learn Chinese!! 😉
Wish you a beautiful evening, Fiona! Much love and many hugs to you! xxxxxxxxxxxx
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I did nearly ask her to repeat several times and then sign and affidavit to the effect that I can (sort of) speak French. Most recently I have been asked often if I am Belgian which I was pretty pleased with but this was aeons better. I have my husband with me for a week so beautiful evening is guaranteed (even though he is in the other room working!!) I wish you a gorgeous one too! xxxxxxx
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Hahaha! 😀 I would have loved to see her face then!
Have a wonderful time with your husband at home – and make him spend more time with you instead of his work 😉 xxxxxxxxxxx
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On a sombre note, I had a note from Terry last night which I shared with my husband. We had also watched the dreadful news coming out of Spain yesterday. As he sat with tears streaming down his face he said ‘we have to make the most of every moment. Never waste a thing’. Xxxxxxxxxx
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What´s happening to dear Terry and what happened in Spain makes my heart bleed so much… I wish there was something, anything I could do but there isn´t and I feel so powerless. The only thing to do is to do exactly what your husband says – never waste a thing and make the most of every moment, to live our life to the fullest. Much love and many hugs to you! xxxxxxxxxxxx
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J’ai adoré votre écriture, Sarah, mon amie! I also enjoyed the video — Marion Cotillard and Stephen Colbert were so funny. I admire you learning French; a very difficult language to master. My French is borrowed from Google Translation. Lol. ❤
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Merci beaucoup ma belle Rose! 🙂
I wish I had learned French at school like so many others did, but I learned Latin instead. Which does help I suppose, at least that´s what the others say! 😉
And your French is adorable 😀
Bon Soirée, mon amie! xxxxx ❤
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It’s never too late to learn; especially if one has the passion to see it through. March on, sweet Sarah. ❤ xo
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I will! Thank you for cheering me on, Rose! Have a lovely week ahead! 😄😘💕
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I’ve been on the same French train as you. (…hahaha).
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LOL 😄
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