Learning French

[Fulham Fan]

Parles-tu anglais?

Yes, there are two ways of forming the interrogative (asking a question) in French. You can invert the subject-verb order & hyphenate (though this way is seldom used with "je"---a notable exception being "Suis-je"), or you can keep the subject-verb order the same and begin with Est-ce que.

There's also the conjugation for asking, "Does he speak English?" It's not "Parle-il ..." but rather "Parle-t-il anglais?" You have to pay attention to the music of a language. "Parle-t-il," va-t-il," "va-t-on" ... this is how you separate the vowel sounds between verb and pronoun when it's necessary to do so. French is a steadly flow and there are a lot of little things in the language to make sure that happens. Once you learn them, you gain confidence because you realize how the language works.

[guignol]

Question about the whole vous/tu thing. When you ask a question, for example: "Do you speak English," it would be translated "parlez-vous anglais?" with the pronoun hyphened after the verb and all that.

If you're using "tu," would it just be "parlez-tu anglais?" or something different?answer in three parts:

first, the correct conjugation is: parles-tu anglais?

second, forming questions by inverting noun and verb with tu seems clumsy to me. it's much more common to ask, est-ce que tu parles anglais?

last, if you don't know if they speak english, you probably don't know them well enough to use tu. it's never rude to use vous, always start with that. only if the other party repeatedly addresses you with tu would it seem priggish not to follow suit.

[quentinc]

Would anyone be so kind as to provide a list of general footballing terms, en français? I figure a good way to get practice is to read websites about stuff I'm interested in. Of course, for whatever reason, my internet connection shuts down when I visit the ASSE website:confused: :rolleyes:

[Fulham Fan]

Would anyone be so kind as to provide a list of general footballing terms, en français? I figure a good way to get practice is to read websites about stuff I'm interested in. Of course, for whatever reason, my internet connection shuts down when I visit the ASSE website:confused: :rolleyes:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football

[Montréal United]

Congrats distrunner450 for trying to learn!!!


Yes, social positionning is more important in France than in other cultural areas. The "vous" as polite pronoun doesn't exist in canadian or african french, for example..

We use the “vous” in a similar as France to be polite with older folks… ;)

i lived 6 months in québec, out in the countryside of the south bank of the st.laurent. the most curious thing was québecois swearing: it's all church related. a mild oath might be baptême, or hostie... if you're really steamed its tabernacle! and just like english dang or darn, there's tabernouche, taberhouette... for people who don't use bad words.

You left out “ciboire”… All I can say is that our swearing repertoire is much more richer than the English one.

The fact it’s all church related shows the important place of religion in our society through the last centuries.



Funny that, are we all moving to Canada ? Thanks to excellent research policy by our government :( , I'm currently looking for a job there myself. So far, I've been in contact with Dalhousie (Halifax). Hope I will convince them I can actually do some research, if they are really naive.

Is Toronto really bilingual ? I thought McGill, in Montréal, was the first bilingual University in Canada. Toronto U ? 60 000 students, you won't feel alone, pal.

Canada, our last best hope for peace.

Don’t go to Dalhousie… You’ll be bored to death… also, no soccer there. I’m sure you can find a place in Quebec for a job.

McGill is a very good U to go to. Not that much bilingual, but much more than U of Toronto

I've heard that the Quebec form of French is more pure, is this true?

And Quebec City is a really nice place. I enjoyed it more than Montreal.

for example the quebecois use "ARRÊT" on their stop signs rather than "STOP"

but in general, i'm not sure, i've talked to a lot of people from qc (montreal mainly) and they mix and match french and english all the time. Logically, as larger percentage of city dwellers are bilingual in quebec than in france, it would make more sense that the former would employ anglicisms and english slang more frequently. That said, it's been a while seen i've last been to france (although that will change next semester).

yea me too, but both are great.

oh. one last note. Canadian chicks = ugly. Filles/Femmes/Nanas quebecoises = HOT.

Ok, first, we have much more a « let’s defend our French » mentality due to our geopolitical situation and laws.

Second, Quebec is nice to vacation in, but Montreal's much better to live in for a real nightlife, cultural place, sports, etc.

Then, living here and having travelled in our nation, I’ll attest the Canadian chicks = ugly. Filles quebecoises = HOT assumption.

I'm starting to get comfortable with reading it, and am getting pretty good at verb conjugations and vocabulary and all that. But I'm concerned that my pronounciation might be off, since I don't have a way to hear it. Outside of getting some audio program (or actually going to France), I don't know how I can actually hear the language spoken.

You can combine your love for French soccer and need for audio programs by listening to RTL “on refait le match” or RMC’s show with Luis Fernandez or Rolland Courbis. Archives on the web are available.

I could give you some links to Quebec’s online radio also and even send you some taped TV shows that are great if you want.

[Pierre-Henri]

Don’t go to Dalhousie… You’ll be bored to death… also, no soccer there. I’m sure you can find a place in Quebec for a job.



But I'm PLANNING to be bored, I WANT to be bored, I'm ACHING for boredom. As a french researcher, I'm DREAMING about a very boring university, where I would have nothing else to do than go to the library and work.

No crime, no vandalism, no graffitis, no firebombs to dodge, no sovietic-style lecture halls, no 650 students classrooms, no kafkaesque bureaucracy, no more blunt and illiterate students, no rush hour madness ...

Nothing else than books, the blue sea and neverending green pastures...

Keep your megalopolis, Montreal kid, I'm planning to live 120 years in peace.

[Gnafron]

But I'm PLANNING to be bored, I WANT to be bored, I'm ACHING for boredom. As a french researcher, I'm DREAMING about a very boring university, where I would have nothing else to do than go to the library and work.

Nothing else than books, the blue sea and neverending green pastures...

Keep your megalopolis, Montreal kid, I'm planning to live 120 years in peace.

Michel Foucault went to Upsala (Sweden) for that but i think you should consider a really marvellous place to study peacefully :

http://www.futura-sciences.com/communiquer/g/data/503/grece_01.jpg

[quentinc]

You can combine your love for French soccer and need for audio programs by listening to RTL “on refait le match” or RMC’s show with Luis Fernandez or Rolland Courbis. Archives on the web are available.

I could give you some links to Quebec’s online radio also and even send you some taped TV shows that are great if you want.
Yeah, links to that would be great. If you're happy to send the tapes, I can PM you.

[fishbiproduct]

Yeah, links to that would be great. If you're happy to send the tapes, I can PM you.


Sorry, Montréal United, I had these (RMC's) handy
so I'll just post them... ;)


So, here are links to RMC and its shows:

I listen to this very often while working on my computer...

They are pretty good with football, live broadcast and
shows.


RMC Info (http://www.rmcinfo.fr/#)
(click "RMC en direct", top-left, to launch player)

Right now, ""integrale foot L1 samedi", a two hours
show during which they follow and comment all L1
games.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Now on to shows, which are pretty interesting at times:
good interviews with players, coaches, etc. They
are archived, so you can listen to them at any time:









Jean-Michel Larqué (http://www.rmcinfo.fr/index.php?id=jmlarque)
Being an ASSE fan, you have to know who Larqué is, am I correct?


his archived shows:
"Larqué Foot" (http://www.rmcinfo.fr/index.php?id=pagesearch0&tx_radio_pi9[emission]=19)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luis Fernandez (http://www.rmcinfo.fr/index.php?id=lfernandez)
I'm sure you also know who he is, right? Former player, international
(Platini-"era"), coach, etc, etc.


his archived shows:
"Luis attaque" (http://www.rmcinfo.fr/index.php?id=pagesearch0&tx_radio_pi9[emission]=8)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Rolland Courbis (http://www.rmcinfo.fr/index.php?id=rcourbis)
Former player, coach, etc etc. My least favorite of these three but...

his archived shows:
"Coach Courbis" (http://www.rmcinfo.fr/index.php?id=pagesearch0&tx_radio_pi9[emission]=10)


Enjoy.

[Gnafron]

You can "podcast" them using iTunes for e.g.

[quentinc]

Yeah, I noticed that, and I might try it, since I can listen to it over and over.

Also, the live commentaries work really well. I was able to "watch" the ASSE-Bordeaux match, and with a French-English dictonary, get a good idea of what's going on.

And no, I don't know who Jean-Michel Larqué is. (Forgive me, I'm only 16!)

[Montréal United]

RTL's show: http://www.rtl.fr/radio/emission.asp?dicid=89172

Too much shouting at times, but still nice to listen to.

[guignol]

And no, I don't know who Jean-Michel Larqué is. (Forgive me, I'm only 16!)alors un googlage rapide s'impose!

Jean-Michel LARQUE est une figure du football français. Son palmarès est impressionnant. Vainqueur du concours du jeune footballeur dès 1964, il passe rapidement international junior, espoir et universitaire. Puis c'est la consécration avec quatorze sélections en Equipe de France, dont il sera capitaine. Il remporte des succès nationaux, avec sept titres de champion de France avec l'A.S. Saint-Étienne et trois Coupes de France. Il est élu meilleur joueur français par ses pairs. Il se distingue aussi au plan européen. En 1975, il est demi-finaliste de la Coupe d’Europe, et en 1976 capitaine de la grande équipe de Saint-Étienne battue à Glasgow en finale de la Coupe d’Europe des clubs champions par le Bayern de Munich.

[gaijin]

alors un googlage rapide s'impose!

Jean-Michel LARQUE est une figure du football français. Son palmarès est impressionnant. Vainqueur du concours du jeune footballeur dès 1964, il passe rapidement international junior, espoir et universitaire. Puis c'est la consécration avec quatorze sélections en Equipe de France, dont il sera capitaine. Il remporte des succès nationaux, avec sept titres de champion de France avec l'A.S. Saint-Étienne et trois Coupes de France. Il est élu meilleur joueur français par ses pairs. Il se distingue aussi au plan européen. En 1975, il est demi-finaliste de la Coupe d’Europe, et en 1976 capitaine de la grande équipe de Saint-Étienne battue à Glasgow en finale de la Coupe d’Europe des clubs champions par le Bayern de Munich.
Played for us as well iirc.

During that time when we buying up all of Les Verts best players it seemed....

[quentinc]

alors un googlage rapide s'impose!

Jean-Michel LARQUE est une figure du football français. Son palmarès est impressionnant. Vainqueur du concours du jeune footballeur dès 1964, il passe rapidement international junior, espoir et universitaire. Puis c'est la consécration avec quatorze sélections en Equipe de France, dont il sera capitaine. Il remporte des succès nationaux, avec sept titres de champion de France avec l'A.S. Saint-Étienne et trois Coupes de France. Il est élu meilleur joueur français par ses pairs. Il se distingue aussi au plan européen. En 1975, il est demi-finaliste de la Coupe d’Europe, et en 1976 capitaine de la grande équipe de Saint-Étienne battue à Glasgow en finale de la Coupe d’Europe des clubs champions par le Bayern de Munich.
Thanks! I'm also slightly impressed that I was able to read that entire thing and get the basic gist of it.

[guignol]

Thanks! I'm also slightly impressed that I was able to read that entire thing and get the basic gist of it.congratulations!

[gaijin]

Bump...

Any help you peeps want?

[gaijin]

Bump. :)

I have a question...or query.

Accents over capital letters (be they grave or acute)? Oui ou non?

I was always told to not put them on capital letters when I was at a school.

But you see something like 'Saint Étienne' with it on. Am I to assume that proper nouns are exempt or is this fair game?

Please explain...

[Gnafron]

Capital letters should get accents just like other letters.

Accentuation des majuscules

Quant à l’utilisation des accents sur les majuscules, il est malheureusement manifeste que l’usage est flottant. On observe dans les textes manuscrits une tendance certaine à l’omission des accents. Il en va de même dans les textes dactylographiés, en raison notamment des possibilités limitées qu’offrent les machines traditionnelles. En typographie, enfin, certains suppriment tous les accents sur les capitales sous prétexte de modernisme, en fait pour réduire les frais de composition.
Il convient cependant d’observer qu’en français, l’accent a pleine valeur orthographique. Son absence ralentit la lecture, fait hésiter sur la prononciation, et peut même induire en erreur.
On veille donc, en bonne typographie, à utiliser systématiquement les capitales accentuées, y compris la préposition À, comme le font bien sûr tous les dictionnaires, à commencer par le Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, ou les grammaires, comme le Bon usage de Grevisse, mais aussi l’Imprimerie nationale, la Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, etc. Quant aux textes manuscrits ou dactylographiés, il est évident que leurs auteurs, dans un souci de clarté et de correction, auraient tout intérêt à suivre également cette règle, en tirant éventuellement parti des ressources nouvelles que peuvent offrir les traitements de texte modernes.
Il en va de même pour le tréma et la cédille.

Here's a nice link (http://www.academie-francaise.fr/langue/questions.html) to the Académie Française's site about usual issues concerning French.

[StrikerCW]

Interesting thread. Taking French I for the second time (took equivalent in HS) hopefully next semester. You guys say the best way to truely start to understand and 'attempt' to become more fluentish is conversation?