Any french speakers here?

Jamal514

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I really gotta practice my French more, I've been losing it these last few years after moving to a mostly Anglo part of Montreal.

Je suis encore capable de me débrouiller un peu.
 

Maschine_Man

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How hard is it to learn as an English speaker? I really need to learn either french, Arabic or tamazight languages because when I'm in morocco I get finessed like crazy for being a foreigner. I think french would be easier to learn for someone who only speaks English.

How quick is it to pick up?
If you are fully immersed in the language, culture, etc. you can learn it a hell of a lot quicker than if you just read some shyt online.

where are you currently living? are you close to any french speaking places?
 

African_brehda

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I've been studying French since the 2nd grade. I'm in college now, and I can't even hold a simple convo :deadmanny:
 

MoroccanBoy

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If you are fully immersed in the language, culture, etc. you can learn it a hell of a lot quicker than if you just read some shyt online.

where are you currently living? are you close to any french speaking places?

I'm in england atm :to:
 

King & Duck

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despite what duolingo and other apps tell you.. you aint gonna learn or even be conversational in a language unless you immerse yourself in the language 24/7

So go to french speaking country, watch nothing but french tv, read in french, hang around french people etc
 

Maschine_Man

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I'm in england atm :to:
best thing to do is hop on that train and spend a couple days/nights/weekends in France and get yourself immersed in the language/culture.

I found watching kids cartoons(on youtube) in french helps. especially with the comprehension. for me, understanding what ppl were saying was more important than knowing how to talk fluently. As long as I could comprehend what they were saying, then I could get by with my basic(intermediate french) that I know.

cartoons are good, because they are simple, clear, and usually don't have much slang. Parisian french is also a hell of a lot easier to learn/understand/speak, than this b*stardized version over here in North America (well, mostly Quebec).

shyt, I went to France and one of my friends from Quebec tried talking to ppl, and they would just shrug him off and speak to me in english.
 
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Maschine_Man

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I follow these guys on FB
Nat Geo Wild France

I like nature shyt, they are short videos, and they are in french. usually new vids up every day.


I found the biggest problem with trying to learn french, was not finding very much interesting to watch or listen to.
 

thatrapsfan

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best thing to do is hop on that train and spend a couple days/nights/weekends in France and get yourself immersed in the language/culture.

I found watching kids cartoons(on youtube) in french helps. especially with the comprehension. for me, understanding what ppl were saying was more important than knowing how to talk fluently. As long as I could comprehend what they were saying, then I could get by with my basic(intermediate french) that I know.

cartoons are good, because they are simple, clear, and usually don't have much slang. Parisian french is also a hell of a lot easier to learn/understand/speak, than this b*stardized version over here in North America (well, mostly Quebec).

shyt, I went to France and one of my friends from Quebec tried talking to ppl, and they would just shrug him off and speak to me in english.
How was your French level during your trip to France? How would people react to you speaking if its average/below average?
 

Maschine_Man

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How was your French level during your trip to France? How would people react to you speaking if its average/below average?
back then when I went there my French was very very basic, I didn't really speak at all back then(about ten years ago). In paris, most ppl would just speak english with me. like I said, they would rather speak in English(even poor english) than speak to the quebecois :mjlol:

but since then I've learned more, and I lived in Montreal for 3 years, and have gotten much better, at least to a manageable level. I should probably work harder to get better, but not to many french ppl around me now.

I'd say I'm a solid intermediate and can get by in most conversations, at least in professional or more formal settings. I also find it a lot easier to talk with(and understand) native english speakers, that speak french.
 

dennis roadman

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despite what duolingo and other apps tell you.. you aint gonna learn or even be conversational in a language unless you immerse yourself in the language 24/7

So go to french speaking country, watch nothing but french tv, read in french, hang around french people etc
this is bullshyt

you can definitely learn languages while not immersed, but it takes 500x more discipline and probably a natural gift for language, but the only way to find out if you have that is to try

duolingo and memrise are not replacements for conversation but for familiarity with vocabulary and structure they are excellent
 

GrindtooFilthy

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Well i started learning english at 14 but I didnt move to the U.S. at 15 or 16. I'm not gonna lie it was tough since the syntaxes of english are so different. :sadcam:
Mainly you have to get used to (what I call) English's backwards way of describing things and people. That was the biggest adjustment for me.

FOR EXAMPLE: When describing a sports car in french you say WHAT IT IS (a car) first and then describe it. In english it's backwards; You describe the thing before you ever say what it is:
  • Une voiture de sport americaine rouge et blanc
  • A red and white american sports car
Notice in english you told me it was red and white and american-made and of the sports kind before you ever tell me it's a fukking car. WHereas in french the very first thing you tell me is that it's a car, then you go on to describe it's origin, color , type, etc. That was the biggest struggle for me.

And of course by nature, French speakers have trouble properly pronouncing the the word "THE" at the beginning. It's not a sound that we are used to. We try to pronounce it like "DE" or "DEUX" or better yet how we pronounce "oeufs" in french.

I managed to be as fluent in english as i am now because in the schools and workd environments I was in I didnt have too many fellow haitians or other creole or french speakers to speak to so it forced me to speak english constantly thus why im so fluent.
english syntax is backwards for most languages
 

intruder

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english syntax is backwards for most languages
VERY.


But once you get used to that backwords syntax I do like English in the way it simplifies a lot of things when it comes to grammar. I still struggle with certain things like spelling of some common words like "training" and "happened" because coming from a french background im always trying to add an extra "n" in there. lol
 
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