Three / Tres / Trois

My second semester of French is just about over, and I just finished my third video project (second for this semester). Two things really stood out to me:

1) How much grammar I learned in the past year. I went from almost no knowledge of French (I don’t think that “bonjour,” “comment allez-vous?,” and “merci” count) to being able to write short essays in French using multiple verb tenses and moods: pour l’indicatif - présent, passé composée, imparfait, impératif, futur, et conditionnel présent, et pour le subjonctif - présent.

2) How my pronunciation has improved, though my Spanish still interferes. It was really interesting to see that, in my second video, I accidentally said “sí” and immediately corrected myself to “oui.” In this last video, I pronounced the French “un” like I would the Spanish “un.”

This week’s my last week of class; then I’ve got an exam next week, and I’ll be done with my year of introductory French. I still want to practice during the summer, though! Maybe I’ll read a relatively easy French novel? Suggestions are welcome!

I am so jealous of bilinguals. Aside from their ability to seamlessly switch from one language to another, I am impressed by the sound of their language.

I’m listening to a guy speaking in Spanish right now, and I can’t tell you how badly I want to be able to speak with the cadence of a native speaker and without my silly American accent. I don’t want to have to think of what I want to say in English, translate it to Spanish or French in my head, say the words in my second/third language, listen to the response in my non-native tongue, translate the response in my head, and repeat the process.

I just want to be fluent, dammit!

I’m going to start posting French + Spanish + English vocabulary images again, but I need your help! What kinds of vocab do you want to see? I can do single photos, photosets, and maybe at some point, I can start doing gifsets. Please suggest words and/or topics!

Rough French and Spanish translations below. (Please message me with any corrections!)

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Je recommencer à poster des photos, genre vocabulaire en français, espagnole, et anglais, et j’ai besoin de votre aide. Quelle sorte de vocabulaire voulez-vous voir? Je pourrais les faire en photos indivduelles ou groupées ensemble; un jour, on aura d’ailleurs des sets de gifs. Envoyez-mois vos mots et thèmes!

(Merci à damoiseaux pour votre aide avec la traduction!)

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Voy a empezar publicar las fotos de vocabulario en francés, español, y inglés otra vez, pero necesito su ayuda! Qué tipo de vocabulario le gusta ver? Puedo hacer fotos solas, photosets, y en algún momento, puedo empezar hacer gifsets. Por favor, sugiere unas palabras y/o temas!

fuckyeahpolyglot:

Whether you are Christian, or another religion, or not religious at all, the Bible is an amazing and free resource for learning a language. Many historical polyglots taught themselves new languages this way, and the Bible in their own language has for centuries been a crucial tool for converting people all over the world to Christianity.

Before you say it: I’m not pushing religion on anyone. I myself am nonreligious and use the Bible in my studies. Think about it for a moment. The Bible is the number one best seller in the world - it has also been translated into more languages than any other work on earth. Most of the time, you can find a complete Bible on the Internet for free - without using torrents or stealing. Every Bible, though obviously tweaked to suit each language (for example, some languages have words that turn into entire sentences in other languages), a Japanese Bible will say the same thing as a Swahili Bible or an English Bible or a Cantonese Bible. The Bible is an amazing resource for comparing the structures of different languages (if you study more than one) or for filling in the blank - that is, if you already know in your native language what you’re reading, it is easier to determine what word X is in your target language. As an added bonus (and again, you don’t need to be religious to look at a Bible), the stories within are captivating and wondrous (though sometimes dry, depending on the translation).

The above linked site will take you to World Bibles, a website that functions like a Bible Google. Search by country or by language and World Bibles will pull up an exhaustive list of online Bibles and places to buy a Bible in your target language, if you prefer a hard copy.

A note: The New Testament has been translated into more languages, and in more degrees of completeness, than the Old. The Gospels are usually easily found in any language.

Again, I’m not pushing religion. Whether you choose to see the Bible as fact or as literature, or choose not to use it at all, it is still an amazing and almost always free resource for language students that I’ve found is often overlooked.

(via thelanguagecommunity)

I’m closing the sign-up link tonight, so fill out the form if you want to participate! Confused/curious? More info here.

aniperi:

********************Drop -re at end of words********************

You usually do not pronounce -re at the end of a word, whether it’s a verb (mettre) or adjective (notre).

Allez, à bientôt ! A un de ces quat’ ! See you soon one of these days! 
C’est pas vot’ problème, c’est not’ problème. It’s not your problem, it’s our problem.
Y faut pas êt’ si bête. You shouldn’t be so stupid.

********************Use Filler Words********************

Quoi is the most common filler that I hear in everyday speech. It can be used to add emphasis to emotions or thoughts or to show impatience. It is usually said at the very end of the sentence.

Voilà is often used with quoi at the end of the sentence.

A la limite is mostly used by young people, and can be translated as I suppose or I mean.

Tu vois ? you know?

Bon begins or ends a thought, similar to ok. It also can express anger or impatience, similar to fine! (Ah, bon ?actually means “really?” and not “good.”)

Ben (pronounced liked bain) adds emphasis to questions, statements, commands and yes or no. 

Bon ben is used to wrap up a thought or conversation. 

Donc emphasizes a question or command.

Alors emphasizes an interjection and yes or no.

Moi is commonly added to commands involving the senses. The closest translation in English is “just.” Regarde-moi-ça ! Just look at that!

Eh bien means well… at the beginning of a sentence or thought.

Hein ? is similar to eh? at the end of a sentence.

Euh... is the filler equivalent to uh or um when you’re thinking of what to say next.

Voyons… is similar to let’s see.

peripheric:

So we were learning how to negate things in French yesterday, and when my professor told us that «ne… ni… ni…» is the equivalent of “neither… nor,” she laughed and said, “It’s like Monty Python, right?”

I was the only one who got the reference.