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Hello Everyone. Level of fluency.
Hello Everyone, I just wanted to know what everyone's level of fluency is and how long it took them to get through the three books? If you go up to the advanced, how much time a day did you spend to become fluent. Also do you attend francophone activities or groups? Thanks for the info in advance!
Comments
Au revoir !
Jo :-)
Thank you for the information on where I can find some additional help. Yes, when I said fluent, i meant comfortable enough to have a conversation with someone. I used to know French when i was younger, but without people to talk to, i completely forgot the language and am only able to speak 2 other languages fluently. I want to get back into the language to speak with my family and others for effectively. Thanks for the advice!
Ro
As Erin mentioned level of fluency / proficiency is mainly a question exposure and practice along with studying. I managed to get fairly good at French mixing self studies with Skype language exchanges and frequent listening exposure. I pretty much only listen to foreign language podcasts when I drive around town now.
Tips for good exposure in French that helped me a lot:
1. DVDs.
Most US DVD movies will have a dubbed French audio track and subtitle track on them due to the Canadian market. French dubbing is a good way to start because dubbed language is "cleaner" and easier to understand than the original French dialog of French films. You've seen the movie, you know what's going on, now watch it in French.
2. Radio Podcasts
iTunes has a TON of radio podcasts in every language. For best results, temporarily turn your iTunes store region setting to "France" and search their podcast directory. Find a show about a subject that interest you to begin with. Listen every day.
3. Radio Apps
The above mentioned Radio France, along with RTL and some others, will have a dedicated App for your smart phone so you can listen either to their live feed, or podcasts of their shows.
4. Start With the News (!)
Chances are, you already know what's happening in the world, so listening to news shows is the best way to ease into everyday listening, because you'll often have advance knowledge of the events being described. This is especially true with TV news (video podcasts) because the very thing they talk about it being shown on the video.
Doing these things daily -- even when you don't understand any of it at first -- will do wonders for your proficiency. Again, this is assuming you're also actively studying the language with a primary method such as Living Language.
Hope this helps.
TMax