French audio

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 5:31 pm

Have you ever used the range of French audio cd's. I have just booked my first french class ( one to one) and mentioned the audio cd's. Didn't seem to impressed, saying the basic french starts at to an advanced stage Cool

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:37 pm

Trish has just been listening to one ....that is very good Very Happy

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:12 pm

Je suis heureux que je ne sois pas seul avec les leçons françaises Laughing

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:19 pm

Et moi aussi! (But see what I said in the lake section!)

The Michel Thomas CDs I'm using seem good but I did do some French and Latin at school. Within an hour he had me asking 'What do you think of the political and economic situation in France at this time?' Not much good, since I'd be unlikely to understand the response ... but good for your confidence when you can string something like that together!

Though it was a long time since I took it at school it does seem to come back when you try. It's hard knowing where to start, though, isn't it? You don't want to miss out on the basic building blocks but you don't want to get bored by too much back-tracking either.

I did think about 1 to 1s but thought I'd try this first to brush up then maybe work with someone 1 to 1 in taking it further. I'm finding fairly simple reading and writing not too bad (though newspapers are difficult) and I found last week that it's getting easier to understand spoken French face to face when I've listened to someone for a bit so I get their accent and personal style and they're sympathetic and speak relatively slowly! Accents are difficult though - you can be using the right word but just a small change can mean the difference between being understood and gaining confidence and not being understood and losing it! You do need a reaction to judge whether you got it right or not. (And I confess, it bothers me when I get it wrong, which doesn't help!)

I think it's down to practice really .....and it's fun to be learning something again, however we do it, isn't it? I'm hoping inflicting my French on the locals round the lake will help.... and at the end of the day it's easier for them if they understand 3/4 of what I say and then we fill in the gaps rather then them have to try to think of the English!

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:43 pm

I have been using the BBC cd range but as you have said they go rather fast. The 1-1 is better for me though.

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:05 am

Where did you find your tutor CG? And if I can be nosy (you could PM?) I've been wondering how much it might cost to have 1 to 1 sessions.

Have you practised in France yet?