Dunkield Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 OK I have a smattering of schoolboy French and I fancy learning more, I don't want to go back to college so I am looking for the lazy mans option as I haven't mastered English yet! Anyone tried doing it from CD's or any other interactive media? and if so, with what success, and can you recommend any companies products? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jonrms Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 My wife ( who teaches spanish and French ) and oh yeah is head of dept at a high school ..... said that those CD's are not good. She always reccomends going to a night class or ... getting a tutor. you need to be able to interact with someone ... not just listen etc.. otherwise you wont be able to pick it up well ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Thanks for the quick reply Jon I have been interacting with someone, and I would like to interact with them more! (It's a long story HD knows what I mean) I am sure the Cd's will get you started though, so you can build on that by talking to an actual foreign person, what does your missus reckon to that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jonrms Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I dont know..shes at school teaching now.. but I am sure as a extra tool it would be good. Alison told me when I was going to get a CD to forget about it... because it doesnt really string along sentences well. She refuses to teach me because she thinks I am difficult enough.. lol anyway I think its a good idea.... but I will ask her later tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 So you want french lessons from your Italian friend?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave66 Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Stuart, I did A-level Spanish at night school a couple of years ago, I tried CD's and books, but it was hard going. I signed up ay my local high school and did a two year course ( One night a week ) AS then A-level, sat in a class with a load of 18 year old female students, my wife could not understand my enthusiasm for attending clases ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 So you want french lessons from your Italian friend?? Well kinda, (she speaks a bit of French and no English) I would like to be able to speak more French anyway, and apart from that I would say Italian is a fairly useless language to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jonrms Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 So you want french lessons from your Italian friend?? Well kinda, (she speaks a bit of French and no English) I would like to be able to speak more French anyway, and apart from that I would say Italian is a fairly useless language to learn. I wouldnt tell her that italian is a useless language I wish you luck... if you need anything I am sure I can get my wife to put some basic things together for you... Free of charge of course.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Ditch the CDs, and any dismal text books. You need to immerse yourself in another language as much as possible, so night classes are the most productive way ahead. Conversing with a fluent French-speaker is ideal - you pick it up so much quicker than listening to a lunatic on a CD. Also, once you can converse/write/read in French, learning Italian is pretty simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jonrms Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Baldwick.. your only proving my wife right...... ahhhhh lmao. I wont tell her that a few of you agree with her.. it will make her head explode and i will never hear the end of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I have to agree with everyone else, CD's and tapes are OK for refreshers and as "homework", but are nowhere near as effective as a good night school class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Stuart, I did A-level Spanish at night school a couple of years ago, I tried CD's and books, but it was hard going. I signed up ay my local high school and did a two year course ( One night a week ) AS then A-level, sat in a class with a load of 18 year old female students, my wife could not understand my enthusiasm for attending clases ! Nuts to CD's I am off to high school Joking aside (and for legal reasons I have to say this) the main reason for my current enthusiasm, is we have just come back from an Italian resort, but French run, where very few people spoke English. For the first time in my life I really fealt we were missing out on something. Our son is pretty handy with French and is improving all the time, but he was off making friends with the Frenchies and the Italians - mainly because of his ability to at least have a go at speaking their language - so we were left a bit high and dry at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 what you really need is a 18yr old live in french maid , :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down South Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Get a tutor, you can't converse with a CD. How can Italian be a useless language to learn when you want to speak to an Italian? Maybe she speaks French but what are you going to get when she finds out you're learning Italian for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il cacciatore Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I learned Italian and went to Italy to do it, when you cant avoid talking and listening to it every day then you pick it up real quick. Whoever made the point that Italian is a useless language to learn is quite correct (if your talking about the number of countries that speak it) although it shares alot of structure and rules with that of Spanish so once youve learned one then theres not alot of work learning the other. Italian is a complex and difficult language as well. Though in Italy very few people actually talk Italian as a matter of course as much of the central and southern regions as well as the Islands speak in their own respective dialects which are usually completely different from Italian and have different structure and rules governing them. I learned it for personal reasons and not for economical gain. I think everyone should have a second language cause its one of the most useful things you can have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorfolkBoy Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I tried to learn spanish with a tutor last year for work purposes in Mexico.....failed miserably. :yp: The tutor was very good .........but an Italian ...His English and Spanish were excellent though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I have a wierd friend Stuart, well lots of them but I digress, he listened to recordings at night for a month when he went to bed. Then he done the evening class bit and fell straight into it. He believes it was because he had subconsciously heard the phrases/wording and it had got into his head LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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