French |
Indo-European:Romance |
ÐÐÐ |
A favorite among upper class people worldwide,
french is less in vogue now, but still attracts a lot of people fascinated by the
cuisine, litterature and great country it can open. As Barry
Farber says :"No matter your other language achievement, you will be judged
by your french" Click for the pop-up window "10 reasons to learn French" |
Introduction
- ©www.micheloud.com |
Usefulness
definition |
Moderately useful
unless you're into haute cuisine or France related activities : whatever great
minds french can have, they are poor polyglots. If you go to France and want to understand
something of the country, speaking french is a must. |
Beauty
Definition... |
Some people say it's
the most beautiful language they know, maybe for the culture associated with it. |
Chic factor
Definition... |
French is one of the
most chic languages to speak, recalling diplomacy or luxury restaurants for others, left
wing intellectuals for others. A note for our American friends here : if you speak french
so badly that people can't understand you, it's better not to speak, because the french
are not forgiving. |
Speakers
Definition... |
About 75 mio speak
french as their mother tongue, but a further 55 mio know it as a communication language. |
Countries
Definition... |
France, Belgium,
Switzerland, Canada, some parts of Africa. |
Regional
variations
Definition... |
Mainly in accents and
some words, like the belgian maousse, the Swiss panosse or the Canadian breuvage,
but if you go deep enough into Quebec it might take you a few hours before you get fluent
with the locals. As always, accents are a matter of cultural domination, but as a Swiss I
still advise you to learn french in France. The also have an accent, but it's the
mainstream. |
Travel
Definition... |
France is the most
visited country on earth for good reasons, and you could spend a lifetime there. Knowing
the language helps a lot. |
Culture
Definition... |
Litterature, high brow
films, incredible museums, some rather good newspapers (although often very self centered
and partisans), some TV channels should keep you busy for a long time. |
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Difficulty - ©www.micheloud.com |
Phonemes
Definition... |
The tricky part is
mainly the vowels, with many strange nasal sounds (a close rival to Brazilian portuguese)
that foreigners have a hard time to master. mû, peint, aucun, paon, pont, saut, vote,
etc... all are a variation of a vowel. |
Syntax
Definition... |
Similar to other
romance languages, with the difference that some things are still written but no longer
spoken, which does not help the student. |
Vocabulary
Definition... |
Many words will come
easily to people who already speak another indo-european language, or even better, a
romance language. |
Orthograph
Definition... |
Much more difficult
than spanish and than it could be. The french language is "conserved" by a very
conservative body of septueranian, the Académie Française, who decide how the
language should be written and spoken. Set up under Louis de XIV, this institution has
freezed the language in an illogical orthograph where you can spell a given sound a 3, 4
or more different ways depending on the whims of history. And if you think that you can
write as you you wish as long as people understand, keep in mind that this the country
where people watch the Dictée on the TV ! |
Overall
difficulty
Definition... |
I rate this language
as ÐÐÐ, that is, rather difficult to learn, at least for people who do
not speak other romance languages. Orthograph is difficult, phonetics not easy, people
unforgiving for errors, so you must be more careful that you could be, say, in russian. |
Time needed
Definition... |
One year of work for
normal people, less if you work hard or are just bright. |
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Learning
material - ©www.micheloud.com |
Books and
tapes
Definition... |
There's a wealth of
material to learn french. Among the best - if not the cheapest - packages, are : Pimsleur Speak and Read Essential French, 3 volumes, 90 lessons, 45 hours.
The best deal is to buy through Amazon.com, as they are even cheaper than the publisher,
Simon and Schuster.
FSI Basic French, published by Barron's Educational Series
for about $55 through the link below, cheaper than anywhere else I know :
(I have tested these methods for other languages with great
success) |
Schools
Definition... |
The standard Diploma
that you can get from french schools around the world is the "Alliance
Française". I suggest you try your hand in France, there are many good
teachers there. |
Links
|
http://www.yahoo.fr |