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| Mery | Saturday 16th of April 2005 12:22:03 AM |
| Feedback - Salut tout le monde,
I really would like to know why most people who have joined the French group have never posted a single message in our forum. What's the problem? What did you expect when you joined the group? I've received loads of emails from people willing to start learning French. I've always replied to them! Usually when French learners know they have to post in the forum, they don't do it, but why? We just ask you to post at least one message per week. Don't tell me you're too busy to do that, I won't believe you. So, can you please tell me what you would like to see in our forum since apparently what's here isn't good enough for you? All your ideas are welcome! :) What are the negative and positive aspects of the French forum? What would you like to change? What do you think of my work? (I am not asking to be thanked or congratulated, but only because I think the problem might come from me). Anyone can give them opinion here, not only the members of the French group. Merci beaucoup! :) | |
| tenacious | Saturday 16th of April 2005 10:24:58 AM |
| sorry - When I first joined I was very excited at the aspect of learning more french. I love the language, and always dreamed of being fluent someday. The first day, I went through all the posts, and lessons I could find and printed them. I soon realized that this was more advanced than I could do at this point. I think words, with the pronunciation, and meaning would be good for beginners. I have very limited time, (2 kids and a home business) but I still want to learn. It will have to be at a slow pace. I actually did do one of the assignments. The exercise about internet use (the 4 questions) I worked hard, and really strained my brain to remember something from highschool that would make some sort of sense. When I hit post my message never appeared, and I didn't have enough energy to re-do it. I also tried to get in to the audio files but to no avail. After that I kinda just forgot about it. I appreciate your effort, and realize you spend a lot of time on this. I would like to be part of your beginner group if you'll still have me.
Bonsoir, shelly | |
| nandoht | Saturday 16th of April 2005 12:44:24 PM |
| My Opinion - I am not good at English. But I want to say a few words. I think French is relatively easy for a west learner, but hard for a east learner. Even the basic knowledge is relatively not easy for a person who speaks one of the Asian languages. So for a beginner, a teacher should repeat again and again the basic knowledge such as the pronounciations, the basic expessions, the basic grammar, etc. When they have grasped those, then a teacher can give them the more advanced materials. You have offered the greatest effort, so thank you very much again. | |
| Ulven | Saturday 16th of April 2005 04:01:40 PM |
| - It seems obvious that there is difficulty for this forum to reach both beginners and more advanced students in it's current state of organization.
I myself will over the next few days try to index threads that beginners should seek out, and ones that advanced students should seek out. If I do a good enough job of it, it could be 'sticky' so everyone knows where to look for the information they seek. In fact, all major language sections of Phrasebase could do with some sort of index as 'sticky'. And, I think that at the moment there may be too many 'sticky' posts. If an index is done well, then they can be unsticky'd. But, not before a proper job of an index has been achieved. Help on this index is welcome, of course. This 'beginner's thread' sounds perfect, Mery. That way, you don't have to scroll through endless threads, and all beginners will know exactly where to ask their questions. And more advanced students can assist in answering the utmost basic ones (eg. "How can you tell if a word is feminine or masculine?" type questions that don't neccessarily require a native to give an answer to). If things are organized well, it will be easy for newcomers to know which threads Mery answers, and which ones she doesn't. Of course, sometime it is appropriate for brand new threads for queries that don't fit into any ready-made category. As for the status of 'being in the French Group', I'm not sure how relevant this should be for beginners. So long as the personis making an effort to post in the right place, and is making an effort not to ask questions that have already been answered a million times before by the same person (ie. Mery), I think things can work out well. Organization (which we can provide the suggestions for) is all that is needed for Mery to know what's a waste of her time and what isn't. And it needs to be us that put for the ideas of how to organize things. Because teaching AND filing the files isn't something that is plausible for a single person to do. I mean, when was the last time a record company executive composed and perform the music aswell? So, all students can put some thought into how best to organize the forum itself. | |
| Ian D | Saturday 16th of April 2005 06:59:24 PM |
| - J`en suis désolé- Mary (and others) I am sorry if I cannot keep up with the exercises etc., but (un)Fortunately work has started up again and I am not on the computer half as much as I was (real life means I have to make a living) This does not mean that I do not appreciate all the work that the Forum posts but unfortunately I am pretty much a beginner and am much slower than others. Also, the usual `class` setting does not apply as different people visit the forum at different times so we are all at different stages.
If I do not reply to all postings it can mean (a) I have not yet got that far (b) I can not open the thread. If it has a `sticky` I can open or if it has only one `heading` I can open but most of them when I click just tells me that it is `not found` Thank you for all the lessons so far and please do NOT take it personally if the rest of us are following slowly behind. Go raibh maith agat (God be with you) - IAN | |
| snotra | Saturday 16th of April 2005 07:29:39 PM |
| - hey mery,
my writing is bad & thats the main reason why i dont write here.i want to keep this forum clean.:) i want b part of thi forum. if u dont want this forum to b clean & full of dirty french i will post here & (there too) every day. i have some suggetions as follows------- 1.take a class or discusion in Classroom room & i will talk to u in detail, directly. | |
| Mery | Saturday 16th of April 2005 07:58:34 PM |
| - Shelly and Nandoht, I am glad to know that your lack of participation wasn't due to a lack of interest. You both gave me an idea. I want to split the members of the French group into 4 groups including two groups for beginners (level 1 and 2). The members of the level 1 group will learn French a bit more slowly and will receive more explanations. We'll start with general comments about the French language, then we'll learn the basics and do exercises (not many :)).
Ulven, I love your idea. We definetely need an index and you were right to mention that too many threads are sticky. We should only keep one. Before listing all the different threads of our forum, I'd like to have a kind of introduction for new members. I want them to know more about the French group, know that politeness and motivation are extremely important in our forum etc. I'd like to help you to split the different threads into categories. Like Ulven said, I can't do everything on my own, I really need help from all of you. Now I don't consider myself as busy, but I might be in a few weeks when I get a job. So, any help is welcome! :) Ian, it's not a problem if you can't take part in our activities anymore. I'm so sorry that you still have problems opening some threads. I'll PM Anya to ask her what we can do to solve that problem. If you change your mind and want to join our level 1 group, you're still welcome here :) | |
| Caramelicious | Saturday 16th of April 2005 10:31:17 PM |
| - If you need help, like always I am here. I have recently figured out the phrasebase allows alot of HTML in their posts. I don't know how much they allow I will try some harder stuff later on. From now on I can make two textareas inside of my posts using HTML one For Beginners with more indepth explinations of things that I know in french.
As soon as I figure out how much I can do with HTML my posts might become a little more detailed and have boxes inside of boxes and scrolling words and stuff :D. As well as looking cool, I can make things more organized ! | |
| rahulchan | Saturday 16th of April 2005 11:28:29 PM |
| hi mery - salut mery,
this forum is very interesting for pepople who want tpo learn french, because audio files,lot of phrases and discussions are there. regards rahul | |
| Josh | Sunday 17th of April 2005 01:18:24 AM |
| bien! bien! - Bonjour Mery!
this grouip is tres fantastique! I realy love it, ever scince I've joind theres been nothing but support flowing through all fo your messages and audio files! heh :) Im hopefully gonna stick with this group till after my gcse's and beyond and I realy want to tell all of you my results (when I have my exams in a years time!) merci! aurevoir! | |
| snotra | Sunday 17th of April 2005 10:33:46 AM |
| -
oh oh oh ???? | |
| snotra | Sunday 17th of April 2005 10:33:48 AM |
| - hi mery,
i dont understood why u have not replied to my post, i want a class or discussion at least in a week or class per week in Classroom room; u even not mentioned my name in ur responce? i m quite shocked bcz of it....... if i am wrong correct me & if i have not behaved well with u then too u tell me that.i m sorry if i have said anything wrong to you/about u !!! i hope nxt time u will not ignore me :) & one thing i want to ask u that why u give importance to forums & posts so much? one can have can have 10000000000 post in a month with no real - linguastic,grammatical,verbal,conversational,cultural and any value attached to it in french or france forum! does that mean he is making a good contribution? or make him/her a good dedicated & serious student?? presonally i dont like to do anything without good preperations, thats why u see my so less posts here..... any way i would like to suggest u that we should not be quantitive, french forum is a good place but a little time is needed to understand it & settle here....... i hope u will get the point :) i again request u to correct me if i m wrong :) merci beaucoup....... Snotra. | |
| Mery | Sunday 17th of April 2005 07:26:37 PM |
| - [color=red]Snotra[/color], I didn't reply to your message yesterday because I saw it after I posted mine. I had no time to edit my post to comment on what you wrote because I had to go the hospital to see my grandfather. In the evening I was online on Phrasebase, not to work in the French forum, but in the Phrases section. I don't have time to reply to all my messages everyday, I am sorry.
I take your idea about the lesson in the Classroomroom into consideration. It is definitely a good idea Snotra :) The only problem is that I don't dare to speak English :s , so if we have a lesson in the Classroomroom, I'll only speak French! Sorry. You're not obligated to post a lot in the forum, I've never said that. I just asked people to post at least one message per week for me to know that they're still part of the group. I am sure you can do that Snotra ;) Being a beginner you probably have loads of questions to ask in the 'beginners' thread I created because you asked for it. I hope it answers your questions and don't worry, I'd never ignore you, I am just busy sometimes and can't reply to my messages. [color=red]Caramel[/color], I am very interested in your idea. The other day I tried to post a picture in the forum, but it didn't work. I'd really like to learn how you can do that :) [color=red]Rahul[/color], thanks for you kind words. I hope you found the answers to your questions in the 'beginners' thread. [color=red]Josh[/color], merci beaucoup :D I am glad you like the group and we all hope you'll pass your exam next year. On va travailler beaucoup pour y arriver ;) | |
| eiffelfowler | Sunday 17th of April 2005 07:52:07 PM |
| why i'm not posting much - Hi,
Just wanted to say that I appreciate all the effort that everyone is putting in. It is very obvious when someone compares it to the other forums on phrasebase. Personally, I am based in rural Kenya and so rarely get a chance to use the internet. i download the questions and answer them at home, but often people have moved on by the next time I am at the internet. That doesn't mean the work isn't appreciated, only that I am constrained by technology. Thanks for all teh good work. As an intermediate user, i findi it difficult to find good resources online. Any list that outlined those would be very helpful! Ben | |
| snotra | Sunday 17th of April 2005 08:24:15 PM |
| i m sorry; i admit my mistake :( - mery,
i am sorry for my quite a rude behavior!! thanx u did took my idea in consideration!!!! as u ca not spik english i can not spik french, so lets try both in classroom!!!! both will improve :) i hope u will declare classroom schedule soon,,,,,,,, c yaa bye, Snotra. | |
| Kaari | Monday 18th of April 2005 11:32:51 AM |
| Re: Feedback - Bonjour tout le monde!
I think the lessons are very good at this point! As I mentioned in another thread, I have not been participating lately because of university finals. Other than the past two weeks, it's very easy to fit time in for it. The only thing that I find hard to understand at this point is what is expected of us each unit. I get confused by all the posts everywhere! But that may just be me! I'll get the hang of it eventually! Thanks for all your hard work Caramelicious and Mery! You guys are awesome! Kaari | |
| Ulven | Monday 18th of April 2005 05:27:43 PM |
| - I didn't realize just how many pages there were in the French forum, so indexing them will take a longer than I thought. It'll take a bit of thought to know how best to organize the index. So, 'a few days' was me being over-eager;). I still hope to achieve a good index though, but I'll contemplate it a bit first before posting anything. | |
| Caramelicious | Monday 18th of April 2005 05:57:44 PM |
| - Kaari, what is expected each unit is that you know the material presented. Mery and myself post information to help other people learn french. I myself am learning french along with you. The people who are participating in the simulation need to know that we present the information. It is your choice to learn it or not. If you don't learn it, there is nothing that we can do about it, it is just one less thing that you will not know.
This is how things are supposed to be posted: France Forum - Unit # Explination -- Unit # Vocabulary ---Unit # Grammar (Explination and Exercise) ---- Inside the Assignments Thread there are assignments ---- that you are expected to complete. There are many ---- exercises on each unit, plus Extra practice things. In the France Forum the different units are organized into an Explination, which provides some quick details on what you will / should be learning in the unit, plus where you are in the simulation. A Vocabulary lesson, Vocabulary is provided so that you have a good vocabulary once you start to use your french. Grammar lessons are also provided in each unit. Grammar is there so that you can learn the french grammar. We have yet come up with a "Final Test", but I think that we should. This will help you and us to know how much you learned and what you do and don't understand. There will be some units where we do mostly review so that people can ask questions, catch up, etc. etc. If you have any questions, feel free to PM Mery or Myself and we will try to get back with you when the time is most convenient. | |
| Kaari | Tuesday 19th of April 2005 01:12:36 AM |
| - "The people who are participating in the simulation need to know that we present the information. It is your choice to learn it or not. If you don't learn it, there is nothing that we can do about it, it is just one less thing that you will not know."
Caramelicious, I'm not quite sure what you are trying to say here but I feel that got the wrong idea about what I was saying. The multiple posts are simiply hard to sort through. When I go into the forums, sometimes I don't know what is part of the simulation and what is not. A clear outline like the one you posted above was all I needed. Now I know what kind of posts to look for each unit. Thanks so much! Kaari Edited to say, I see Ulven is already addressing the issue I brought up!! Re-indexing will help alot! | |
| tasya-la-poliglota | Tuesday 19th of April 2005 11:25:42 PM |
| Desolée -
Mery as well as Caramelicious have been doing a great job. I really like the topics and discussions here in the french forums. But recently I wasn't able to post that much, because I have been really busy with work and school. This is just to let you know that I really appreciate everything that you're doing to make the French Forums and the French Group itself be successful. Thank you so much for all the effort, the time, the corrections, the audio files, and all the suggestions you give us to make us learn French. I find the forums extremely helpful in learning the french language. :) | |
| Mery | Wednesday 20th of April 2005 08:17:25 PM |
| - Hi everyone,
Thanks to all of you for your nice comments. No one should worry if they are busy and can't post a lot. All of you who have showed us their interest either by sending me an email or posting in this thread remain members of the group. You're always welcome here, so come back whenever you want :) À très bientôt! | |
| Caramelicious | Wednesday 20th of April 2005 08:28:50 PM |
| How I post things in the France Forum - I like Ulven's idea of re-indexing, I don't know how it works though, but it sounds like a good idea !
[quote]"The people who are participating in the simulation need to know that we present the information. It is your choice to learn it or not. If you don't learn it, there is nothing that we can do about it, it is just one less thing that you will not know." [/quote] This just means that whne either Mery or Myself posts information, I feel that it is the person who is learnings responcibility to read the lesson and do the exercise. There are some people who ask questions and say that they can't find things, but in reality they might not even be looking. I was just saying that if we put the information out there, that is all that we can do, we cannot force you to sit down and do the exercises and learn the material, that is your choice. I hope I don't come off in the wrong way, I am just trying to make somethings clear and help. :D | |
| Krissa | Saturday 23rd of April 2005 08:13:58 PM |
| Sorry - I know myself, that I havent been posting anything. Im just not confortable with it if you know what I mean. Im very greatful for all the effort Mery and Caramelicious are putting forth to aid those who want to learn french. I practice by listening to the audio files but they cant even get to hard for me becasue in school we only write.
Basically all im trying to say is thankyou, and im sorry for not posting anything but french is the second language I wish to learn on here. Sooner or later I will be visiting more often when there are some more easier threads that I myself could read. Im sorry and thankyou! | |
| Mery | Saturday 23rd of April 2005 09:38:17 PM |
| - Bonjour Krissa,
Thanks for expressing your opinion here. I promise I'll create a special thread for beginners as soon as possible. I wish I was less busy at the moment. You don't need to apologize if you haven't posted in the forum. I can understand. I'll send you an e-mail when the new beginner is created and I hope it'll be easier for you to come here and post messages. À très bientôt et merci! | |
| Krissa | Sunday 24th of April 2005 12:47:39 AM |
| Merci - Merci mery, your devotion to everyone here is outstanding thankyou so much | |
| compaore | Tuesday 03rd of May 2005 01:28:39 PM |
| bonjour - it is being hard for me to find a way to use this site
i can not open audio files first of all and i suggest transcription which will help to remember the pronunciation and spelling of words as well i really appreciate all u are doing and i am willing to be here all the time and i wish all the necessary info could be available in one particular place. merci baoucoup | |
| Ulven | Tuesday 03rd of May 2005 04:18:27 PM |
| - Firstly, an attempt make it easier to find your way around is here--->[url]http://phrasebase.c../../forum/read.php?TID=5467[/url]. It isn't complete, though. But you'll find such audio samples with trascriptions you're looking for here. The "Le Petit Prince" thread has audio and the French script and English translation.
Here is one that doesn't have audio. But it has French, then English written. It is a short story, Thumbellina. [url]http://phrasebase.c../../forum/read.php?TID=4450[/url] | |
| cutepurni | Sunday 22nd of May 2005 10:42:10 AM |
| Posting a topic - Hi Mery,
I know only individual words.When i mailed u ,u said about simulation group.But i feel so difficult to make sentences. and i dont know where i can learn small sentence formations. and all the links are listed one by one so it taking long time for me to find out a particular place.Because i felt i was lagging so behind i am not able to post single time also Merci Poorni | |
| Ulven | Sunday 22nd of May 2005 03:03:24 PM |
| - That's a good idea about small sentence formations, Cutepurni. Do you mean like...
[u]to go = aller[/u] I go/am going = je vais you go/are going = tu vas they go/are going = ils vont we go/are going = on va I [b]am going[/b] [u]there[/u] [i]now[/i]. - J'[u]y[/u] [b]vais[/b] [i]maintenant[/i]. You [b]are going[/b] [u]somewhere[/u] [i]now[/i]. - Tu [b]vas[/b] [u]quelque part[/u] [i]maintenant[/i]. They [b]are leaving[/b] [i]now[/i]. - Ils en [b]partent[/b] [i]maintenant[/i]. (en = of it/from there/from here) [i]Now[/i], we[b]'re going to do[/b] the [u]shopping.[/u] (literally. [u]shops[/u]). - [i]Maintenant[/i] on [b]va faire[/b] les [u]magasins[/u]. [i]Later[/i], they[b]'re going[/b] [u]home[/u]. - Elles [b]vont[/b] [u]chez elles[/u] [i]plus tard[/i]. (*chez = place of, elles ([i]fem.[/i]) = them. So, chez elles = their home) ...with sentences broken up into their seperate parts? Explanations so you can change which noun you use when speaking in real life siruations (shop, home, car etc.) with common verbs. Easy sentences. That type of thing? Though some sentences weren't as simple as I meant. (It's hard to simplify French :D) | |
| Mery | Wednesday 01st of June 2005 06:27:56 PM |
| - Bonne explication Ulven mais quelques petites erreurs... ;)
je y vais* should be [b]j'y vais[/b] maintenant on va au magazins* should be [b]maintenant, on va aux magasins[/b], but I don't think a French speaking person would say that... On va faire les magasins is better The rest is ok, except maybe 'ils vont maintenant', you should mention where the people are going. I guess you meant 'ils partent maintenant'. Many French learners say 'je dois aller maintenant' instead of 'je dois partir maintenant' :) | |
| Tier | Sunday 03rd of July 2005 12:10:22 AM |
| - Bonjour à tous :)
Je suis nouveau ici et je découvre les forums. Les forums Français me semblent d'intérêt et variés (bien que trustés par Mery et Caramelicious :) Pour ce qui est de "faire les magasins" en fait, c'est très ringard et obsolète. Les français disent tous "faire du shopping" (sic) :) A bientôt. I'm a noobie here and I discover the forums. French ones seems fair and developped (but mainly used by Mery and Caramelicious :) Concerning "faire des magasins", in fact it's really outdated. French people use "faire du shopping" instead (sic) :) CU soon. PS : this translation is not perfect (I'm only of average skill in English) but could may be help someone. Good luck Tier | |
| Mery | Sunday 03rd of July 2005 04:23:37 AM |
| - Salut Thierry,
Bienvenue dans nos forums :) Vous savez, si les forums français sont si intéressants, c'est parce que Caramel et moi y passons beaucoup de temps. Nous postons régulièrement des leçons, des jeux etc. Personne ne s'est jamais plaint auparavant de notre monopolisation du forum, bien au contraire. Nous sommes souvent remerciés. Avant que je devienne French Admin, ce forum était vide. Il pouvait se passer un mois sans qu'un message n'y soit posté. Depuis que je m'occupe du French forum, le nombre de visiteurs a considérablement augmenté. En général, je connais bien les gens qui postent ici. Les questions qu'ils posent me sont généralement destinées... ;) Je tiens aussi à revenir sur l'expression 'faire les magasins'. Je pense qu'elle est souvent utilisée. Je ne la considère pas comme étant obsolète. J'avoue que vous avez néanmoins raison en ce qui concerne 'faire du shopping'. On l'emploie très souvent. A bientôt! | |
| Tier | Sunday 03rd of July 2005 05:34:33 PM |
| - Bonjour Mery :)
Je suis désolé que tu n'ai pas compris le sens de mon allusion quand je disais que toi et Caramelicious trustaient le forum. Si tu regardes attentivement, il y a un grand sourire juste après. Vos posts sont très intéressants, très sympas et ils font vivre ce forum. Mon message n'était pas à prendre dans ce sens mais plutôt dans celui ou beaucoup d'étudiants viennent lire les posts sur ce forum mais trop peu s'expriment à mon avis. Donc je me joint à vos supporters pour vous remercier et vous encourager toi et Caramelicious :) Tier | |
| Caramelicious | Monday 04th of July 2005 01:30:08 AM |
| - Merci Tier :)
Oui, Mery et je, nous essayons de faire beacoup ici sur le French Forum aider. :D Oui, je consens avec vous. [quote]beaucoup d'étudiants viennent lire les posts sur ce forum mais trop peu s'expriment à mon avis[/quote] :( . Vous devez savoir que en decembre, je ne sais pas le français, et parce que de Mery, je peux m'exprimer en français maitenant... un peu. ;) Oui, mais beaucoup d'étudiants ne écrivent pas dans les messages... j'aime venir et aider ici encore, et j'apprends aussi! :D. | |
| Mery | Monday 04th of July 2005 03:17:02 AM |
| - Thierry, je suis désolée, j'aurais dû lire votre post plus attentivement :) Aussi, il ne faut pas faire attention si je suis parfois très directe, c'est normal ;)
Caramel, c'est incroyable le progrès que tu as fait depuis décembre. Je suis si fière de toi :D | |
| Tier | Tuesday 05th of July 2005 04:53:59 AM |
| - Pas de problèmes Mery :)
Quand à toi Caramelicious : je suis sidéré, impressionné, sur le cul (slang : literally : I fell on my ass). Le français est vraiment une langue très difficile, bravo pour tes progrès ;) Amicalement Tier | |
