Has anyone ever used duolingo?

[Apple]

Someone on another board turned me onto this site, and I'm loving it.

I've been trying to refresh my French, and get better at it, so that when we travel in June I can have at least some limited conversation (especially since we'll be meeting some distant relatives who speak limited English).  

I have it on my laptop and the app on my phone, and between the two, I've managed to meet my practice goal for every day except one (I had started to do it at lunch, but I lost cell reception).  With a combination of this and some old CDs I have, I finally feel like I'm making a little progress again, just wish I'd started months ago (well, I had, but then the sexual harassment stuff escalated and took up most my down time).  

I wonder if I can find some french books for the kindle and have it read them to me as I fall asleep

[chiver78]

I've never heard of it, but I am intrigued. will totally be looking it up!

are you looking for recommendations for books? I've always found children's books to be good for refreshing my language skills. definitely include le petit prince in your downloads.

sent from my electronic distraction

[Apple]

I'll take recommendations, especially if the downloads are free!  And, I love fairy tales, so kids books would be great

[Apple]

I found La Belle et la Bete on kindle for 99 cents, but I have a dollar in credits I can use, so got that.  I should go to Portland and see if they have some books there.

[saveinla]

I am using it as an added tool for my Spanish classes. I like it too.

[weltschmerz]

May 3, 2015 21:09:06 GMT -5 Apple said:

Someone on another board turned me onto this site, and I'm loving it.

I've been trying to refresh my French, and get better at it, so that when we travel in June I can have at least some limited conversation (especially since we'll be meeting some distant relatives who speak limited English).  

I have it on my laptop and the app on my phone, and between the two, I've managed to meet my practice goal for every day except one (I had started to do it at lunch, but I lost cell reception).  With a combination of this and some old CDs I have, I finally feel like I'm making a little progress again, just wish I'd started months ago (well, I had, but then the sexual harassment stuff escalated and took up most my down time).  

I wonder if I can find some french books for the kindle and have it read them to me as I fall asleep

Here you go!

www.journaldemontreal.com/

www.ledevoir.com/

[giramomma]

Thanks for all of this. We are traveling to French-speaking Canada  this summer. I need to brush up on my french skills, and I want to teach the kids a little as well, so the older two can take care of some basic needs (find a bathroom, get a water, etc) without me when I'm focused on the little one.

[sarcasticgirl]

I am using it now to brush up on my spanish. I like it!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using proboards

[happyhoix]

If you have Netflix, can you watch some French films with subtitles?

I've got the set of Fluenz French DVD's  that I'm working through (slowly - learning languages has always been hard for me) but I like the format and the way they teach it. My problem is I have problems with spelling in English, and those problems are magnified in French, where they throw in those accents (which don't seem to influence how you say the word at all).

My company is owned by a French company so the Fluenz DVDs have been helpful, but they speak French French - once I sat next to a Canadian man and his son on an airplane trip, and I only understood about 1/4 of the words they said. Canadian French must have a strong accent, like American English vs British English. I usually understand Cajun French better than Canadian French, because the Cajuns throw so many English words in there. Actually the person I can understand the best is a Spanish man who works for my company - he speaks French very slowly and deliberately, because it's not his native language, and I understand him much better than my French co-workers.

[justme]

I made it through the first section a while back. I've been meaning to go back to it. For someone who never took French lessons it's easy and I think it works. Hardest part is learning the masculine feminine stuff.

[Deleted]

My daughter (teacher) put it onto my iThing a couple weeks ago. She said french teacher recommended it highly. 

[midwestlily]

I really like Duolingo.  Using it to learn Danish.

[weltschmerz]

May 4, 2015 6:55:31 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Thanks for all of this. We are traveling to French-speaking Canada  this summer. I need to brush up on my french skills, and I want to teach the kids a little as well, so the older two can take care of some basic needs (find a bathroom, get a water, etc) without me when I'm focused on the little one.

You're going to Quebec? Just so you know, everyone in the service industry can speak English. Your kids will be just fine.

(We get about 4 million tourists a year with all our festivals)

That being said, it never hurts to learn a new language and the hosts will appreciate your efforts.

[weltschmerz]

May 4, 2015 7:20:34 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

If you have Netflix, can you watch some French films with subtitles?

I've got the set of Fluenz French DVD's  that I'm working through (slowly - learning languages has always been hard for me) but I like the format and the way they teach it. My problem is I have problems with spelling in English, and those problems are magnified in French, where they throw in those accents (which don't seem to influence how you say the word at all).

My company is owned by a French company so the Fluenz DVDs have been helpful, but they speak French French - once I sat next to a Canadian man and his son on an airplane trip, and I only understood about 1/4 of the words they said. Canadian French must have a strong accent, like American English vs British English. I usually understand Cajun French better than Canadian French, because the Cajuns throw so many English words in there. Actually the person I can understand the best is a Spanish man who works for my company - he speaks French very slowly and deliberately, because it's not his native language, and I understand him much better than my French co-workers.

I was taught Parisian French, and to this day, I understand France French better than the local joual.

The people from places like Maroc and Algeria speak it beautifully. No problems there.

[happyhoix]

May 4, 2015 12:16:15 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

May 4, 2015 7:20:34 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

If you have Netflix, can you watch some French films with subtitles?

I've got the set of Fluenz French DVD's  that I'm working through (slowly - learning languages has always been hard for me) but I like the format and the way they teach it. My problem is I have problems with spelling in English, and those problems are magnified in French, where they throw in those accents (which don't seem to influence how you say the word at all).

My company is owned by a French company so the Fluenz DVDs have been helpful, but they speak French French - once I sat next to a Canadian man and his son on an airplane trip, and I only understood about 1/4 of the words they said. Canadian French must have a strong accent, like American English vs British English. I usually understand Cajun French better than Canadian French, because the Cajuns throw so many English words in there. Actually the person I can understand the best is a Spanish man who works for my company - he speaks French very slowly and deliberately, because it's not his native language, and I understand him much better than my French co-workers.

I was taught Parisian French, and to this day, I understand France French better than the local joual.

The people from places like Maroc and Algeria speak it beautifully. No problems there.

The French have the same problem with English. My French co-workers usually learn British English, and the American dialect in general is harder for them, but the Southern American accent apparently really throws them. My French boss was standing next to me while I talked to one of our good ole boy maintenance men and he later confessed to me he didn't understand a word the guy said. I try to talk like Princess Diana around them, but I think that only makes it worse.

[weltschmerz]

I dated a young francophone guy, hoping to improve my understanding of the local idioms, but we ended up doing very little talking.

[chiver78]

May 4, 2015 7:20:34 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

If you have Netflix, can you watch some French films with subtitles?

I've got the set of Fluenz French DVD's  that I'm working through (slowly - learning languages has always been hard for me) but I like the format and the way they teach it. My problem is I have problems with spelling in English, and those problems are magnified in French, where they throw in those accents (which don't seem to influence how you say the word at all).

My company is owned by a French company so the Fluenz DVDs have been helpful, but they speak French French - once I sat next to a Canadian man and his son on an airplane trip, and I only understood about 1/4 of the words they said. Canadian French must have a strong accent, like American English vs British English. I usually understand Cajun French better than Canadian French, because the Cajuns throw so many English words in there. Actually the person I can understand the best is a Spanish man who works for my company - he speaks French very slowly and deliberately, because it's not his native language, and I understand him much better than my French co-workers.

You would actually understand my family and their neighbors quite well then. the dialect in their area of NB is similar in how much English is peppered through it.

sent from my electronic distraction

[happyhoix]

I downloaded duolingo last night and I like the concept but wish I could fast forward to maybe the beginning intermediate level.

Also got scolded for not using the squiggly c in 'garcon' - not sure my windows phone is capable of that or any of the other letter decorations French requires. But then I am probably better at French than I am at understanding my phone...

[973beachbum]

I kind of do this in reverse.   Summer tourist season is also jokingly referred to as "the invasion of the French Canadians".

As a general rule the younger they are, the closer they are to their school roots, so the better they speak English.  Every now and then I will talk to someone who has almost no accent and is as smooth and free flowing as if they are a native English speaker.  The times I have asked how they got to speak English so well most said they were English teachers.    One man did say he was going to have to tell his mom that so she knew all those years of private school had done some good.

At the GC I made it a point to learn the politeness type words.  I never even spoke French even a little and for some reason Portuguese doesn't do much good.   But I have found that saying hello, good bye. how are you, and thank you in French makes most of them smile and seem happier.

[giramomma]

May 4, 2015 12:12:34 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

May 4, 2015 6:55:31 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Thanks for all of this. We are traveling to French-speaking Canada  this summer. I need to brush up on my french skills, and I want to teach the kids a little as well, so the older two can take care of some basic needs (find a bathroom, get a water, etc) without me when I'm focused on the little one.

You're going to Quebec? Just so you know, everyone in the service industry can speak English. Your kids will be just fine.

(We get about 4 million tourists a year with all our festivals)

That being said, it never hurts to learn a new language and the hosts will appreciate your efforts.

Yup. I'm not sure how many days though. I'm thinking 5 or so days between Quebec and Montreal.

My oldest is still jonesing to go to Europe before he goes to college (though I'm not sure that's in the cards anymore.)  I told him that as good visitors, we learn a few things in the language that others will be speaking. Even if it's "I don't speak french."

Do you mind if I PM you sometime about places to visit, etc?

[Apple]

May 5, 2015 7:04:29 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I downloaded duolingo last night and I like the concept but wish I could fast forward to maybe the beginning intermediate level.

Also got scolded for not using the squiggly c in 'garcon' - not sure my windows phone is capable of that or any of the other letter decorations French requires. But then I am probably better at French than I am at understanding my phone...

You should be able to "test out" of the lower levels (at least you can on a laptop).
I get dinged on accents too. But, I figured out if I hold my finger on a letter long enough that I can get all the different versions of that letter. I use Swype as my phone keyboard.

[happyhoix]

May 5, 2015 9:44:40 GMT -5 Apple said:

May 5, 2015 7:04:29 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I downloaded duolingo last night and I like the concept but wish I could fast forward to maybe the beginning intermediate level.

Also got scolded for not using the squiggly c in 'garcon' - not sure my windows phone is capable of that or any of the other letter decorations French requires. But then I am probably better at French than I am at understanding my phone...

You should be able to "test out" of the lower levels (at least you can on a laptop).
I get dinged on accents too. But, I figured out if I hold my finger on a letter long enough that I can get all the different versions of that letter. I use Swype as my phone keyboard.

Hmm I'll have to poke around a little more on the App and see if I can find a way to test out of some of the early lessons. I have Fluenz on my lap top and it allows you to pick the level and the class you want to do, and that's nice (especially since I have to go back and repeat some of them multiple times - damn passe compose. )

[happyhoix]

May 5, 2015 8:56:02 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

I kind of do this in reverse.   Summer tourist season is also jokingly referred to as "the invasion of the French Canadians".

As a general rule the younger they are, the closer they are to their school roots, so the better they speak English.  Every now and then I will talk to someone who has almost no accent and is as smooth and free flowing as if they are a native English speaker.  The times I have asked how they got to speak English so well most said they were English teachers.    One man did say he was going to have to tell his mom that so she knew all those years of private school had done some good.

At the GC I made it a point to learn the politeness type words.  I never even spoke French even a little and for some reason Portuguese doesn't do much good.   But I have found that saying hello, good bye. how are you, and thank you in French makes most of them smile and seem happier.

I found this to be very true in Paris. If I started out just speaking English I would get a fairly cool but polite response. If I launched into my patchy French instead, they would almost always smile and be very helpful and kind - like you would with an especially backwards and stupid child that needed a little extra help  Most of the time, they would reply back in English (which was almost always much better than my French) but they did it cheerfully, because at least I made an effort.

[weltschmerz]

May 5, 2015 9:10:24 GMT -5 giramomma said:

May 4, 2015 12:12:34 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

You're going to Quebec? Just so you know, everyone in the service industry can speak English. Your kids will be just fine.

(We get about 4 million tourists a year with all our festivals)

That being said, it never hurts to learn a new language and the hosts will appreciate your efforts.

Yup. I'm not sure how many days though. I'm thinking 5 or so days between Quebec and Montreal.

My oldest is still jonesing to go to Europe before he goes to college (though I'm not sure that's in the cards anymore.)  I told him that as good visitors, we learn a few things in the language that others will be speaking. Even if it's "I don't speak french."

Do you mind if I PM you sometime about places to visit, etc?

Not at all. Glad to help. When are you coming up? During the Jazz festival? The Comedy festival? The Fireworks festival? The Circus festival? The Beer festival? The hot air balloon festival? The Grand Prix?

[giramomma]

May 5, 2015 11:05:31 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

May 5, 2015 9:10:24 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Yup. I'm not sure how many days though. I'm thinking 5 or so days between Quebec and Montreal.

My oldest is still jonesing to go to Europe before he goes to college (though I'm not sure that's in the cards anymore.)  I told him that as good visitors, we learn a few things in the language that others will be speaking. Even if it's "I don't speak french."

Do you mind if I PM you sometime about places to visit, etc?

Not at all. Glad to help. When are you coming up? During the Jazz festival? The Comedy festival? The Fireworks festival? The Circus festival? The Beer festival? The hot air balloon festival? The Grand Prix?

Early August. Not for a festival. I'd like to see a Cathedral--I geek out on that, and  DS and DH would like the historical aspect.. Our final destination is very close to Bangor Maine. 

We also do well with seeing 1-2 attractions a day. Anything more is too much. I need to start planning sooner than later, if nothing else to make our hotel reservations. Thank you for letting me bend your ear!

[chiver78]

May 5, 2015 9:44:40 GMT -5 Apple said:

May 5, 2015 7:04:29 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I downloaded duolingo last night and I like the concept but wish I could fast forward to maybe the beginning intermediate level.

Also got scolded for not using the squiggly c in 'garcon' - not sure my windows phone is capable of that or any of the other letter decorations French requires. But then I am probably better at French than I am at understanding my phone...

You should be able to "test out" of the lower levels (at least you can on a laptop).
I get dinged on accents too. But, I figured out if I hold my finger on a letter long enough that I can get all the different versions of that letter. I use Swype as my phone keyboard.

I used to have a cheat sheet for accents shortcuts when using a computer. I'll poke around to see if I can find it since I moved offices. when I was working on the big project in Lyon, I had it tacked to my cube wall. when I'm typing to family, none of us use accents lol...

would that be useful to either of you (happyhoix too) if I can find it?

[happyhoix]

May 5, 2015 12:28:59 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

May 5, 2015 9:44:40 GMT -5 Apple said:

You should be able to "test out" of the lower levels (at least you can on a laptop).
I get dinged on accents too. But, I figured out if I hold my finger on a letter long enough that I can get all the different versions of that letter. I use Swype as my phone keyboard.

I used to have a cheat sheet for accents shortcuts when using a computer. I'll poke around to see if I can find it since I moved offices. when I was working on the big project in Lyon, I had it tacked to my cube wall. when I'm typing to family, none of us use accents lol...

would that be useful to either of you (happyhoix too) if I can find it?

Yes. I have Fluenz installed on my lap top at home, and it tells you what keys to use to make the squiggly C and the other accents, but when I try them at work, they don't work. For instance, hitting "c" and ";" makes the squiggly C at home, but not at work. I'm assuming I would have to go into the symbols menu everytime I want to do one of those, and that takes too long, so when I email my French co-workers I just leave out the decorations, but it would be nice to be able to include them, if it didn't involve a ridiculous amount of extra steps. Although then I would have to remember which accents slant to the right or slant to the left.

[Apple]

That could be cool, so I'd have it ready when emailing family over there.

For the duolingo program, they have a virtual keyboard with all the needed accented letters right there on the screen, so wouldn't need it for that.

I use both, and the program syncs nicely since I just stay logged in.

[weltschmerz]

May 5, 2015 12:19:55 GMT -5 giramomma said:

May 5, 2015 11:05:31 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Not at all. Glad to help. When are you coming up? During the Jazz festival? The Comedy festival? The Fireworks festival? The Circus festival? The Beer festival? The hot air balloon festival? The Grand Prix?

Early August. Not for a festival. I'd like to see a Cathedral--I geek out on that, and  DS and DH would like the historical aspect.. Our final destination is very close to Bangor Maine. 

We also do well with seeing 1-2 attractions a day. Anything more is too much. I need to start planning sooner than later, if nothing else to make our hotel reservations. Thank you for letting me bend your ear!

A cathedral? you can't swing a cat without hitting a cathedral. We're awash in cathedrals. Mary, Queen of the World (replica of the St. Peter's in the Vatican.)

[weltschmerz]

St. Joseph's Oratory, which I can see from my house.