Learning French

Bonjour!!

So I'm sure many of you are familar with me from the AEG and Kurioban forums. If not ... hi my name is Dace. The purpose of this post is fairly simple and I hope I have the right forum for my request.

I have recently started studying the French language in college. However I do find it some what over whelming. I am hopping that my Scorpion brethren in France can offer up advice that might help me to learn French.

Thank you in advance for any advice or tips you might offer.

Hey Dace,

Welcome here.

Go ahead and post here in French. Our Scorpion friends will be happy to help you improve your spelling.
Be my guest, there are several topics about strategy, deck building, etc.
However if you are looking for a sexy schoolteacher it is not the right place.

Oh I already have a hot French teacher. I was just hopping to get some advice to help with the learning process. I will likely post in French once I feel more comfortable with my vocabulary. Still in the beginning learning phase of it all.

Bonjour, bonjour!

Well learning French isn't easy, I heard.

First you need to know some grammar which is sometimes quite different from English. At first, go for the "bigs lines" of this. There are often exeptions to the grammatical rules but you don't need to know them all at first.

Then there is the vocabulary. Well you should know it by studying and once you get more familiar with it you will discover other words here on Kyuden Bayushi.

Later you can also watch movies in French with English subtitles. I do that to learn English and it's quite fun.

Aaaaand don't forget here you can also learn words you won't learn at your college! How to play to L5R in French? How to insult in French?

My advice would be:

first of all, try to focus on basic grammar (as said above) and try to understand the basic "skeleton" of a sentence

sujet / verbe / complement (same as english)

Then french sentences (long ones) are usually divided into "sub-skeletons", same as the english equivalent " ... the one THAT did the thing WHICH made him blah blah.." . In a general manner, try to make short phrases. It will be easier for you, and to be understood. Long sentences are for writers ^^


On a second time, you will have to focus on the "conjugaison" of the verbs. This is very important to make a proper sentence, and to be understood.
They are divided into several groups (3), and each group has its own "conjugaison".

Present / Futur / Imparfait / Passé composé / Passé simple
almost quivalent to : (----> not exactly!!! ask your teacher!!!)
I do / I'll do / I was doing / I have done / I did

Do not worry about genre (feminin, masculin) in the beginning. You will learn that gradually.

Some of the grammar rules are seeming a bit tricky at start. And the book frustrates me to no end. The most recent example was when I was learning to use On this weekend and the book explains that you replace Nous with On. Then proceeds to give me the example of Nous on est de Lille. Leaving me perplexed for the entire weekend as to why the book told me to replace Nous with On.

My instructor told me Monday that Nous, On is more formal but that On est de Lille would also be acceptable in conversation *shakes fist at book*

And as Hikari said, I think you really should watch movies in french with english subtitles.
It's quite an efficient and fun way to improve your skills. Watch it first with the subtitles, then watch it again without. That's how I learned english, actually.

You can also try your own translations of french lyrics, from a song or music genre you like. It's fairly funny to discover how dumb are lyrics sometimes

And as grammar goes, I admit the french one is very complex, as I studied it. But don't worry, a few basics will be enough to have simple conversations.
As for any language, start with :

- The pronouns, as subjects :
SINGULAR
I > Je
You > tu
He/She > il/elle
It > [french has no neutral]
PLURAL
We > nous
You > vous
They > ils/elles

Examples : [pronoun]+[verb : to be > être]+[happy >content]

Je suis content. I am happy.
Tu es content. You are happy.
Il/elle est content(e). He/she is happy
Nous sommes contents. We are happy
Vous êtes contents. You are happy.
Ils/elles sont contents. They are happy.

So now you can conjugate the verb "être" (to be) in present simple.

You can see plural forms take an S. As simple as it gets.

If you want some more lessons by mail, just ask me. I can go on with another verb (to do...), and some other complements
And maybe then you'll be able to discuss geeky cardboard stuff in genuine Molière's language