Answers
Jun 29, 2012 - 03:00 AM
I was therefore really pleased to have come across the "News in Slow French" website http://www.newsinslowfrench.com/ where, for a subscription fee http://www.newsinslowfrench.com/subsc..., you can listen to current news stories spoken in French at a slow-enough speed that even I can follow. For instance, one episode was about a riot that erupted between Polish and Russian football fans, and another episode was about the election of the new Egyptian president. They offer three price levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold) with rates depending on the level of features you personally desire and the length of time you want to subscribe. Rates start at $9.90 for a Month at Bronze level and go up to $129.90 for a Year at the Gold level. The subscription link above provides a grid breakdown of levels and features offered. (Although they normally accept payment through PayPal, they accepted my personal check instead.)
I think they offer an excellent listening supplement that compliments the more intensive five levels of lessons provided by Fluenz. Each week, they post four new episodes with 30 minutes of audio accompanied by French text translations (hovering over the blue text provides instant English translations of those phrases; they do not provide a full English transcript of each article). The default is to listen to the articles spoken at a slower speed (thus the name of the company "News in Slow French"), but you also have the option to click on the "rabbit" icon to listen to the same articles recorded at the faster speed normally spoken by the French. You can then click back on the "turtle" icon to go back to the slower version :). Along with the news stories, they post a PDF file with a long list of words and phrases in both French and English gleaned from that week's news and cover conversation (their version of Flashcards--the link instantly downloads the file). They also offer downloadable podcasts, grammar and expression lessons, pronunciation practice (requires Java to record your voice), and interactive grammar quizzes. And all subscriptions provide access to all previous lessons (they're at Lesson #69 as I write this).
Because this site offered exactly what I was seeking (i.e., a way that I could actually listen to French at a speed I could understand), I thought I would pass along this information to you about their site in case you, too, might find it useful. If you'd like to try their various offerings, you can do so for FREE (registration is not required) via their main page http://www.newsinslowfrench.com/
Jun 29, 2012 - 08:44 AM
Jun 29, 2012 - 01:15 PM
Jun 29, 2012 - 05:02 PM
Jul 02, 2012 - 10:48 AM
Jul 13, 2012 - 10:41 PM
Jul 17, 2012 - 12:59 AM
The episode I mention is "The Gap"
Jul 21, 2012 - 11:15 PM
But even in earlier Sessions in Level 2, especially the conversation with the taxi driver, I've found myself unable to comprehend words in almost every spoken sentence. So I'll play the sentence back multiple times as long as I can figure out even one or two more words to type. But when I can no longer understand anything, I just display the answer, finish typing the text from the written answer, and move on. It's very discouraging and has left me wondering if I'm going to be able to learn French after all. If it's this difficult already in Level 2, what must it be like in Levels 3, 4, and 5? I'm beginning to think maybe I should just settle for learning to read and write French rather than learning how to speak and understand it.
I like the Flashcards and use them much more than I do the actual lessons from the CDs. I think it would be useful if the Flashcards included a separate feature where, instead of English text being presented for us to type it back in French, someone from Fluenz would pronounce words or phrases in French so that we can type in French the words we hear. Well, assuming that the spoken French in the Flashcards is something we can comprehend :)
Jul 22, 2012 - 07:33 AM
Jul 26, 2012 - 12:00 PM
Aug 02, 2012 - 03:54 AM
My problem is that I cannot comprehend real spoken French. My mind thinks in English and I am constantly struggling to translate to French as I try to listen or speak.
I think Sonia's blog gves some good advice. For my part I Google "Live streaming French" and get a selection of dozens of free French radio streams. I just play it all day in the background as I get on with other stuff. I cannot understand 99.9% of what is being said. But my ear gets tuned to French and I pick up a word or two here and there.
In the long run you really need to be in a French speaking environment for a long time and be constantly challenged in French. That is not possible for me. This is one of the nearest substitutes
What do you guys think?
Aug 02, 2012 - 07:45 AM
But on the other hand, I'd like to tell you my French story. I learned French in what you might call middle and high school for seven years. I got top grades in it all the time, I loved it. On my first trip to France, I struck up a conversation with a French kid about 6 or 7 years old. He was convinced that I was French (didn't seem to want to believe me when I told him after a few minutes that I'm English). But... I have the hardest time, still, trying to understand adult native speakers. They speak too fast, and when I learned in school it was from recordings and teachers who spoke slowly. To this day, I can read French books and newspapers tolerably well, but that impediment stays with me.
I firmly believe that the reason is that my brain didn't have to learn to handle the natural speed of the language from the beginning. For it to do so now, it would have to pretty well start over again.
By the way, there is solid, respected, learning theory supporting this notion. (Yes, I'm a teacher too, I teach people to fly, and I teach computer programming in industry). The F.A.A. refers to this as the "Principle of Primacy". in essence "what is learned first is learned best".
So, of course do what makes you happy (if you're dissatisfied with your own progress, you'll quit and that's definitely the worst outcome (that's part of the principle of "Readiness" that applies to adults in particular). But if you can make yourself listen to the sentences in Fluenz again and again until you learn to pull apart the words at full speed, I firmly believe you'll be glad you did in the long run.
BTW, I'm currently learning Mandarin with Fluenz, and I have the same problem, but I stick with the sentences using the Mandarin subtitles and just listen over and over until I can hear the separate sounds. Now I'm a month into this, and about about lesson 35 and it's beginning to make sense. I've even been able to carry on small conversations with Chinese restaurateurs.
Anyway, do with that what you will, and above all keep feeling good about what you're doing!
Cheers,
Simon
Aug 02, 2012 - 07:39 PM
Aug 04, 2012 - 05:44 PM
As far as News In Slow French goes, I really like the ability to listen to French spoken more slowly so that I can learn to pick out the French words and phrases that I've learned in Fluenz, and so I'm not mentally translating them back into English. Then I can click on the Rabbit button to listen to the same French spoken at a much faster pace to get a better feel of French spoken normally. For me, it allows me the ability to transition between the slower speech and the faster speech. Unlike the French radio stations that I have listened to, I am able to start picking up some of the French right away. Not being able to pick out any of it, again for me, makes me feel like I haven't learned anything. And having a chance to hear about current events on News In Slow French, like an article about the Olympics, gives me a great incentive to learn more because not only am I picking up the French words but the articles are interesting.
I still wish Fluenz would create verbal flashcards where the practice words or phrases are spoken in French (rather than having English text appear), and then we can type the French words that we hear. That would give us much more practice in listening to French, and would encourage us to get away from constantly translating the words back and forth between the two languages.