I'm starting this blog, my first blog, to help me meet the challenge of studying French as part of my degree. I want to share my experiences and hopefully learn from others as I work through the Overture course starting in October.
Becoming a better writer at the same time would be a good thing, as the other half of my degree is creative writing.
At the moment, I am intensively studying the course books 1 to 6 of Bon Départ in preparation. So far, I am familiar with much of the grammar and vocabulary, based on 'O' level French studied many years ago. The books are actually quite fun, but intensive. If this course feels challenging at times, what am I going to feel like when I actually start Overture?
I haven't yet signed up to for the course in October. I'm not sure if I'm scared of receiving another box of books before I have finished studying the ones I have or if part of me wants to keep my options open. I will report in this blog, when I have signed up for the course and reached the point of no turning back. So far I have completed 60 and 30 point modules in Arts and Humanities, so there is always the options of staying in that area for the last 30 points for year one. Classics looks tempting, or possibly linguistics.
But seriously, my goal is to be able to speak a second language fluently and use it for work if possible. I hope to re-read this blog, this time next year and laugh at my fears, or at least feel I have meet the challenge.
Comments
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I did both these courses a few years ago. You will be fine with 'Ouverture' as it is a gradual progression, not a big jump. Good luck!
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Have you tried 'Rosetta Stone SharedTalk'? I have made a few good friends (both French and Spanish) through there who I write to regularly and also chat to once or twice a week on Skype. I don't use the chat rooms as they tend to be full of much younger people (I'm 52) but I have found this a good resource.
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I'm signed in for this too, though yet to commit. I've spent the last year on Rosetta Stone and enjoyed it, but need to learn to write reasonable French, not simply to understand, read and speak it.
Rosetta Stone shared talk
Hi Jacqueline, thanks for the suggestion I will have a look at that. I want to write one or two posts about the various tools I have come across that help with learning a new language.
Rosetta Stone
Hi Jonathan, I have spent some time on Rosetta Stone, but I think I need a formal course to keep me on track. Good luck with the studying.