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View Full Version : How to link sounds with thoughts.


Hare_Geist
2008-01-18, 01:12
I have been studying French for less than a year now, using Michel Thomas audiotapes. I have very quickly acquired the ability to read chunks of text from French websites, but I have trouble associating sounds with what they signify when listening to native speakers. I have improved, however, because beforehand I could not separate one word from another, but now I can more or less do this and catch snippets of what is being said.

I think what helped me was listening to this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=hbUYsQR3Mes) again and again, trying to comprehend what Michel Foucault was saying first with the subtitles, and then without them. So I have three questions: (1) are there anymore videos or audio-recordings like this, with subtitles or a transcript, (2) are there other methods for improving my comprehension of spoken French, and (3), out of the blue, how can I build my French vocabulary?

Harrythehorton
2008-01-19, 16:31
I've taken two semester's of French and learned a decent amount for the amount of work I did. I love the language, it just feels so elegant to speak, if spoken right.

The thing that helped me with listening is this: Most people when learning another language follow this process when understanding writing or spoken word... Reading/listening- - -the English equivalent of the word - - - what the English word is associated with in regards to one's memory.

for instance. if someone says je ne mange pas les chats. most people would first translate it as fast as they can to "i don't eat cats". then for understanding your mind recognizes I being yourself, don't as being the negating term, eat as being the action that you do, and cats as being that little fuzzy thing that meows and eats mice.

My ability in French skyrocketed once i realized that you need to cut out the middle-man in understanding a foreign language. don't translate... understand.

whenever you read, or hear, 'je'... don't think 'I'... infact try not to think about the word... just try to associate 'je' with your feeling of self. This process works with all words, and you find yourself in a state of understanding what is being communicated, rather than struggling to keep up as you translate everything split second.

in short, understand, don't translate.

Be careful about watching videos with English subtitles. I've watched many a movie in Spanish and French where the subtitles may be completely different from how you might want to understand the French that's said. This is esp. true with old sayings, seeing as how they change from place to place.

Even French subtitles can be completely different from what's actually being said. . . it's to make the writing more proper [English ex: guy says "boi I aint no-day gone to dat place da blueclub" but the subtitle would say something like "I've never gone to the blueclub" ]

Videos help tremendously, but beware of subtitles, they can be false friends.

The thing that helps me the most is actual people. Find some penpal websites and try to meet some french speaking people around the world. Yes you get different dialects(so i recommend Parisians as your first target), but as long as you get someone who writes semi intelligently, you'll learn far more than you'd expect. You can also be more exposed to how different people communicate with french.

But the hands down best way to learn any language is total immersion. If you could go work in a French speaking area for a summer or something, that would obviously be amazing for your learning. It forces you to understand without the middle-man of english. Man is made to understand language, it just takes time to be familiar with the sounds and spellings

Hare_Geist
2008-01-20, 00:39
Thanks for the information. I have been trying to associate the word with its English equivalent, which usually makes me lose track of what is being said. Next time I listen to the lectures of Roland Barthes, I will try to comprehend what is being said without attempting to link the words to their English equivalents.