FORUM

I am trying to establish if there are any French class in or around Thuir

There is one on 2:30 at Tuesdays. See the posters in the window of the Salle des Jeunes opposite Caves Byrrh.

Rainbow if you do go to the Thuir classes could you let me know what they're like? You could PM me. I'm going to be in Thuir for a few months next year and may be interested in them. I'm also hoping to go to Alfmed, in Perpignan, only a 1 euro bus ride away, to do a 2 week French course .

Zen wrote:Rainbow if you do go to the Thuir classes could you let me know what they're like? You could PM me. I'm going to be in Thuir for a few months next year and may be interested in them. I'm also hoping to go to Alfmed, in Perpignan, only a 1 euro bus ride away, to do a 2 week French course .

If you arrange can receive French FTA TV in the UK then why not give yourself a head start? Watch easy to follow programmes with the subtitles turned on. It's a very effective learning tool.

Gus

with all due respect, watching French TV is no replacement for French language lessons. French is a language founded in complex verb conjugations and the accordance of adjectives with their nouns.

Sure, you can copy a few phrases from the TV but as soon as someone rephrases something or you have to read or write a letter, you will be completely out of your depth.

That's why French school kids are still studying the fundamentals of their language for their Brevet.

You need to do both. Watching French TV is a great idea. Subtitles help. Easily understandable formats such as game shows help. The important part is that it is "comprehensible input".

I have made a fulltime income for ten years from teaching Grammar but it is only a part of learning a language. Listen and read as much as you can.

Pearson

Thanks, Pearsonb. for your words of support. Much appreciated. Nice to know somebody else appreciates the thrust of my submission.

Gus

I'm a great fan of watching French TV with subtitles - over the years it's really helped increase my vocabulary, as well as being great for improving the 'ear' for listening/understanding French. Obviously grammar has its place, but so is the ability to understand/use spoken French.

Watching telly is an important part of your listening skills. It's no good delivering a grammatically perfect speech if you don't understand the response. As Pearson says, both have their place......and depending on what you want to do with your French learning, for most people, grammar is far less important than communication. It's sexy to speak with an accent, little mistakes are cute as long as it doesn't affect the ultimate communication.

Santiago wrote:with all due respect, watching French TV is no replacement for French language lessons. French is a language founded in complex verb conjugations and the accordance of adjectives with their nouns.

Sure, you can copy a few phrases from the TV but as soon as someone rephrases something or you have to read or write a letter, you will be completely out of your depth.

That's why French school kids are still studying the fundamentals of their language for their Brevet.

Nothing is a replacement for anything else, but exposure of any kind tends to sink in, subconsciously, over the decades. I would recommend simply junking any English-language news media and using only Le Monde, Midi Libre, L'Independant... or Figaro if you must.

They have free websites/apps, decent coverage (apart from the test scores) and not very difficult French. As Santiago almost says, most French speakers find the tiresome bits almost as tiresome as we do.

[quote="Pearsonb"]You need to do both. Watching French TV is a great idea. Subtitles help.[/quot

Depending on the direction. The first film I ever saw in France was Dracula Prince of Darkness (in 1968 from memory: I think they were more relaxed about age limits here): The English went, roughly, "So Dracula, you blood-sucking fiend, at last I have found you". The subtitle said "Alors".

Alors !! thats not the word i would have used if i saw Dracula

I previously asked about French lessons in or around Thuir there are none locally available however the suggestion about television hasn't help.

rainbow wrote:I previously asked about French lessons in or around Thuir there are none locally available however the suggestion about television hasn't help.

I get an endless parade of online ads for language-learning apps: learn a new language in 21 days etc. They’re probably trying to tell me something. But they might be worth a look.

I suspect the best advice is negative: don’t use English, even to ask your significant other (if you have one) to pass the salt.

It’s taken me years to train Google to give me results mostly in French, which is mostly what I want, seeing as I live here. But it happens if you persevere.

Rainbow there are French lessons at the MJC in Thuir on Tuesdays and Fridays most weeks, 2.30 I think. One day tends to be a higher level but can't recall which way round so best check with them or you can just go along to see. Its a small variable group with varying abilities. If you wish more details I can get from someone who goes.

MJC - Maison des Jeunes. Does that mean that us old fogies can't go?

Russell

Zen wrote:Rainbow there are French lessons at the MJC in Thuir on Tuesdays and Fridays most weeks, 2.30 I think. One day tends to be a higher level but can't recall which way round so best check with them or you can just go along to see. Its a small variable group with varying abilities. If you wish more details I can get from someone who goes.

Thanks for your information I am back in the UK for a few weeks will try again when I am back in France