Parlez-vous francais?
I’m well aware that dreams don’t come true over night. For the most part, they take work, preparation and lots of baby steps. Well, you’d be happy to know, Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder and I have a baby step in the mail.
Rosetta Stone Levels 1 through 5! Whew, what a challenge. Here’s Levels 1-5 in a nutshell…
“The complete French set will enable you to fully express your ideas and opinions in French and master the conversational skills required to plan adventures, care for your health, and move abroad.”
Pretty nifty, huh? Now, I realize that some of you will be thrilled to hear to this new and others will just huff and say, “What a waste”, “Why would you want to learn French?” blah, blah, blah. Just know that my brain and my heart are not accepting negative attitudes at the moment. So if you are excited, if you are intrigued, please read on. Here are my top reasons for taking this baby step.
I want to learn French…
… so I can communicate with my new friend in France.
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| Emily at Rue de France |
… because I don’t want France to just be a fleeting memory, I haven’t had enough yet.
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| Historic Village of Crillon le Brave, by CMJ |
… because it exercises my brain.
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| Layers of Paint, Chateauneuf du Pape, by KHJ |
… because it’s romantic.
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| St. Remy de Provence, by KHJ |
… because I like new challenges.
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| Alley in Arles, by KHJ |
… because hearing the language makes my heart beat faster and sometimes cry.
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| Arles Saturday Market, by KHJ |
… because I want to know what she’s saying.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFRuLFR91e4?fs=1]
… because I am tired of “talking” about the things I want to do in life, I’m ready for action.
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| Arles Amphitheater, by CMJ |
I want to learn French…
… so when I go here,
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| Crillon le Brave at nightfall, by KHJ |
I will be able to tell them how much I’m in love with this place.
… because when I go here,
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| Vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape, by CMJ |
I want to be able to talk intelligently with the locals about their wine.
… because when I look at him,
I want to be able to tell him how much I love him in the language of my soul.
So do you? Parlez-vous francais?
Comments (7)
oui! J'adore le francias. I took it in highschool and college. When we went to France it was so fun to be able to speak it – even if it was kind of broken – at least I could find out when the Louvre closed that day. Bon chance!
I wish I took languages more seriously in school 🙁
With Rosetta Stone, I found it’s never too late to start learning a new language! I used the online e-classroom for Spanish and found it to be a wonderful way to pick up a new language. I was able to access Rosetta Stone through a college ( http://www.cbcwebcollege.com ) where I get a great deal with access to all the languages and all the levels for $48. I explored the French lessons and found them to be in a similar format. Soon as I complete all the Spanish levels, French is next on my list.
I agree that the best part is speaking the new language. I read in the Rosetta Stone instructions that you can use the software without the headset and microphone but I think that messes up the real positive part of the whole experience – the ability to speak back to the computer and have it correct your pronunciation. That is a great way to reinforce what you’ve learned and get in the habit of practicing your new language skills.
One of my college instructors gave me sine great words of wisdom – when you get to the point where you stop mentally translating every word and you start thinking in the new language, the learning will speed up and become a lot easier
The Rosetta Stone corporation should also be applauded commitment to saving and archiving languages that are disappearing forever.
I LOVE this goal! You can do it! 🙂 Living here in SoCal, I have picked up a little Spanish and it is a goal of mine to be fluent one day soon.
I understand your reasons behind wanting to learn French. That's how Czech is for me. I have the findest memories of The Czech Republic and think it's the most beautiful language. I don't think it's very realistic for me to learn it [it's a crazy Slovak language that I wont get to practice], but I think it's beautiful all the same 🙂
La langue français est belle. Bonne chance dans votre voyage pour apprendre à parler français! Ok, so maybe I don't speak it fluently, or much at all, I had to look up a few words 😉 I think it's great you're learning the language. I dated a French guy for a few years and I really wish I had learned more from him. I took French in high school and remembered a little which helped as I was constantly immersed in it with him. I got to the point that I could understand what they were talking about if they spoke slowly. I was never great at speaking it. I hope your hubby will be learning along with you so you can practice. Bonne chance!
I can't believe I somehow missed this post!
Just wanted to say B R A V O ! I am proud of you for taking on this challenge. How's it going so far?
I'm a huge language nerd (always have been) & so it should come as no surprise that nothing is more exciting to me than learning a new word, expression, idiom… Even after speaking French for about 15 years now (!) it still happens & I just marvel at how wonderful learning a foreign language is!
So, bon courage! Tu verras, la vie est plus belle en français!
And hey, when you come & visit, I'll send you out to get croissants all on your lonesome & you'll impress the local baker to no end, I'm sure!
Kisses from France!
A huge thanks to everyone for all of your
kind words and encouragement.
Chelsea – You can do it! I hear Spanish is super easy to pick up as a second language. You and Philip should do it together, that would be fun.
Terri – Chris will be learning with me. He took French in high school, so he already knows a little bit.
Emily – The idea of shopping for croissants in your neck of the woods makes me smile from ear to ear. With all the snow and being stranded at my Dad's house, we haven't had a chance to get into it yet. We hope to kick things off this weekend. I'm so excited, but kind of nervous. I'll let you know how it goes.