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| evan | Tuesday 31st of August 2004 01:18:23 AM |
| Anything can help! - I am able to speak quite a bit of French. Not to mention understand it. I would love to get better, someday I'm hoping I might be able to live in or around France. If anyone has any tips on studying habits, or anything at all, that would be great! I know to learn a language you have to be immersed in it, so everyday I try to study as much French as I can. Thanks for your time! | |
| zarkann | Tuesday 31st of August 2004 12:32:47 PM |
| - Bonjour !
Comment vas-tu ? Pourquoi tu veux apprendre le Français ? Et oui ! pour apprendre une langue il faut une immersion complete ! Bref, si tu veux, je t'aiderai.. You know what is my trick to learn Japanese... is to listen as much as i can Japanese anime lol and it work ! i can understand all what they say now :P so if you want an advice.. beside of speaking and reading from internet, i suggest you to listen as much as you can french television.. you surely have at least 1 or 2 french channels :) i'm also listening webradio from Windows media player.. that can help too :) | |
| evan | Tuesday 31st of August 2004 07:53:49 PM |
| thanks - Well I am happy to hear that you learned Japanese! That is neat! I will certainly listen to as much French as possible. I need to talk to my TV company and order the french channel. Right now it only comes on at 6 pm, the rest is just Japanese. Anyway, Merci beaucoup!
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| zarkann | Wednesday 01st of September 2004 12:29:50 PM |
| - Yeah i learnt Japanese because i love anime and that help me alots :P
The trick for reading is to cut the phrase / sentence in few like J'aime les Classrooms J' (je) = personal pronoun (that mean I) aime = Verb 'to love' at the first person of singular (mean 'love') les = Article (plurial article) cats = plurial noun (mean 'cats') If you don't know something, you get the dictionary and you find it.. In example, if you don't know what mean 'les' search for it.. and don't leave it until you know exactly what it mean and what is it. So after, you can make the complete literal translation... I love cats. ;) j'ai conduis une voiture. j' = First person singular ai = To have at the first person (past tense) conduis = drive une = feminin article (because car is feminin) voiture = car translation : i drove a car you can't say : j'ai conduis voiture... because is not grammatically correct. you need to specify an article.. there is the list of Articles _______________________________________________________ The Definite and Indefinite Articles _______________________________________________________ In a broad sense, an article is a type of adjective--that is, it describes a noun. The articles are perhaps the "simplest" adjectives--so simple that we often don't recognize that they are really adjectives. In English, this is not so vital, but in French, it is. This is because adjectives in French must agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. ***What is a definite article?*** In English, the definite article is "the". Fortunately for us, "the" is invariable. It does not depend on the number (or gender, if we had that concept) of the noun it describes. "Definite" means that "the" refers to some specific thing as contrasted with "a" or "an" which does not refer to one specific individual or individuals of a noun. Thus, if I say "the book", you know to which book I refer, as opposed to "a book" which is general and does not refer to any specific book. In French, the definite article is often used to indicate preferences for whole classes of things. When used in this sense, the definite article is usually left out in the English translation. For example, in English, we say, "I like bread." No article is used. In French, we say, "J'aime le pain." The definite article indicates that we like bread generally is required for the sentence to be grammatically correct. This will be contrasted with the partitive described below. ***What is an indefinite article?*** The indefinite article is just the opposite of the definite article. In English, the indefinite articles are "a, an, some, any." They are "indefinite" because they do not refer to a particular thing as "the" does, but simply refer to an individual or individuals of the noun in a broad sense. To better understand the distinction, picture the following scenario in your mind and ask yourself which one expresses my intent most clearly: I point to a bookshelf full of books and say, "Give me the book.", pointing to the largest book on the shelf. or I point to a bookshelf full of books and say, "Give me a book.", waving my finger only in the general direction of the top shelf. In the second scenario, you are free to pick any book that might be on the bookshelf because "a" does not refer to a particular book. However, in the first scenario, it is clear that I'm referring to a particular book because of the word "the." _______________________________________________________ The Indefinite Articles in French _______________________________________________________ As we've discussed before, articles are really adjectives and therefore have to agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. Here are a list of the indefinite articles in French: un--masculine singular une--feminine singular des--masculine or feminine plural de, d'--used when the indefinite article is negated.* Here are some examples of these articles in use: un ami--a friend une tasse--a cup des cartes--some (any) maps des calendriers--some (any) calendars Note in the preceding example that cartes is feminine and calendriers is masculine, but the indefinite article remains the same in the plural, regardless of gender. *When the indefinite article is used in a negative sense, all of its forms become de or d'. Here are some examples: J'ai un chien. = I have a dog. Je n'ai pas de chien. = I do not have a dog. Nous avons des oncles. = We have (some) uncles. Nous n'avons pas d'oncles. = We do not have any uncles. _______________________________________________________ The Definite Articles in French ______________________________________________________ The definite articles in French are as follows and mean "the": le--masculine singular la--feminine singular l'--masculine or feminine singular before a vowel or vowel sound les--masculine and feminine plural Just like the indefinite articles, the masculine and feminine plural share the same form. Also note that le and la become l' before a vowel or vowel sound. Here are some examples: le Classroom--the cat la piscine--the swimming pool l'homme--the man les livres--the books les voitures--the cars Note that homme begins with a silent 'h' and requires l'. Not all words beginning with 'h' in French require l'. Some words begin with an "aspirate h" and require the corresponding unamended definite article. Any French language dictionary will indicate whether words beginning with 'h' are aspirate. Here are some examples: la hâche--the axe (aspirate 'h') le homard--the lobster (aspirate 'h') l'hôtel--the hotel (silent 'h') _______________________________________________________ The Partitive in French _______________________________________________________ ***What is the partitive?*** In some sense, the partitive is a third type of article. The partitive is used in French to indicate a part of a whole. Unlike the indefinite article which indicates an intact whole, such as "a car" or "an apple", the partitive is by definition a division of something. The partitive's use may be difficult for some English speakers to grasp because it is so often left out in English. Normally, it would be translated as "some" in English. Here are the forms of the partitive: du--masculine singular noun de la--feminine plural noun de l'--before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound des--plural* de, d'--after a negative *Note that des is normally considered the plural of the indefinite article, but is included in this list for clarity. Just like the indefinite articles, the partitive changes to de or d' in a negative context. Here are some examples of the usage of the partitive. En ce qui me concernait, mes parents avaient de la patience! = In regard to me, my parents had patience! J'ai du fromage. = I have (some) cheese. Vous ne mangez pas de fraises. = You don't eat (any) strawberries. Nous prendrons de l'eau. = We will have (some) water. Remember that when talking about a preference or taste in a general sense, use the definite article. That usage is described above, but note the distinction below: Elle aime la bière. = A general preference for beer is stated. Elle a de la bière. = A possession of some beer is indicated. Here, in the first example, the verb aimer is stating a general taste or preference. Such use requires the definite article. In the second sentence, a possession is indicated. Obviously, the person does not have ALL the beer in the world, so, in French, it is necessary to indicate the partitive aspect of the possession. _______________________________________________________ I hope that will help you a bit :) articles are the most complicated things to learn in french. lol well don't hesitate with any question ! :P | |
| evan | Wednesday 01st of September 2004 06:56:39 PM |
| - Merci encore | |
| Marta | Friday 03rd of September 2004 02:08:22 AM |
| can i join? - can i join this nice conversation:>?
i would also like to learn sth new in French, and your lesson about articles was very useful for me:) The only thing i don't understand is aspirate 'h' - how do you say that? Examples which you gave are unknown for me, so i have no idea...help! merci et a bientot | |
| zarkann | Friday 03rd of September 2004 04:57:59 AM |
| Hiya ! :P - Sure you can join ! the more the merrier :D
There are two different kinds of H's in French, and neither one is pronounced. The H muet is silent - the word acts exactly as if it began with a vowel. This means that contractions and liaisons are done as if the H were not there: l'homme, les hommes = [lay zuhm]. The other H is called H aspiré, but don't let the word "aspiré" fool you. The H aspiré is just as silent as the H muet; however, you cannot make a contraction or liaison in front of it: le homard, les homards = [lay uhmar]. H's in words borrowed from other languages are usually H aspirés. The following words and their derivatives begin with an h aspiré. As always, please note that there are exceptions and that the English equivalents given here are only guide. When in doubt, consult a good French dictionary. There will be an asterisk or some other symbol to distinguish the two kinds of H's. la hache axe haut high hacher to chop le havre haven le hachisch hashish la Haye The Hague la haie hedge le heaume helmet le haillon rag héler to hail (a taxi) la haine hatred hennir to neigh haïr to hate le hérisson hedgehog le hâle suntan la hernie hernia haleter to pant le héron heron le hall hall le héros hero la halle market le hêtre beech tree le halo halo heurter to strike la halte break le hibou owl le hamac hammock hideux hideous le hameau hamlet la hiérarchie hierarchy la hampe pole hisser to hoist le hamster hamster hocher to nod la hanche hip le hockey hockey le hand-ball handball la Hollande Holland le handicap handicap le homard lobster le hangar shed Hong-Kong Hong Kong hanter to haunt la Hongrie Hungary harasser to exhaust la honte shame harceler to harass le hoquet hiccup hardi daring hors outside le hareng herring la houille coal le haricot bean le huguenot Huguenot la harpe harp huit eight le hasard luck hurler to shriek la hâte haste la hutte hut hâter to hasten So, i hope these examples will help you understand :) | |
| hangdog | Friday 03rd of September 2004 06:06:15 AM |
| Re: learning french - Hi Zark,
l am really impressed by your explanation and what you said about listening to the language that you wish to learn is more than true because l had bad experience before with my Japanese language. I spent too much time on the writing and reading and then l found l had difficulty understanding spoken Japanese. Now l try not to do that to my French. I corrected my fault in Japanese by listening and that took quite a bit of my time. What do you do Zark? お仕事 は なに を します か? I need to find someone who wish to learn Chinese to exchange language do you know anyone who may wish to do so, l mean serious study not just for a couple of weeks and then disappear. Anyway if you know please do help out give me their contact. お世話 に なります。でわ また ね。 | |
| zarkann | Friday 03rd of September 2004 01:53:40 PM |
| - Thanks for the comment Hangdog :P
Hai, Japanese people talk too damn fast lol so you have to start asap to listen at them talking in their slang/plain . I will always say 'don't hesitate to listen at Japanese anime, you will learn alots about their culture, slang and so..'! well you will also have to listen at TV news , radio etc.. to have the polite form too :P Beside that.. what Chinese language you want to learn ? , i will probably start Mandarin soon since i'm a big fan of martial arts hehehe :P i have all the Pimsleur mandarin box set.. and alots of DvD's in mandarin with mandarin, english and french subtitle. Thats will help too. | |
