I'm taking this intensive French course.
It's really hard. I come home every day exhausted. Just wrung out by it.
It's really amazing how much I've forgotten.
And how many French verbs there are. Hundreds? Thousands?
I think I use about 10.
And how many tenses there are. I think there are 16?
I use 3.
Anyone want to jump in and sympathize or tell me I'm crazy?
I did this exercise this afternoon. Remember what we used to do in spelling class when we were kids, using the word in a sentence? So my exercise was to conjugate the verbs and use them in a sentence. I think we were working on futur simple. And and I felt like every damn word I said needed correcting.
I don't know if the teacher was sorry for me or just disgusted. Maybe some of both. He sent me home early.
I think French is a difficult language - way harder than Spanish (I speak both, but French no where near as well!). The brain takes a lot of practice before it kicks back into languages you haven't been speaking for a while, or at least mine does. Stick at it, you'll get there! (And find some good french language films with subtitles - a good way to get back into the habit of listening but with the safety net of translation)
ReplyDeleteFrench films might be a good idea!
DeleteOver the years I have tried & tried to learn French but .. well I just suck!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I can almost follow the gists of a conversation but when it comes to trying to speak it my tongue, literally, twists into a pretzel & nothing resembling any sort of language, comes out (and still that is better than my writing).
Good luck sin!
My writing is pretty bad, but you can always check things you write... the oral is so immediate.
DeleteMy daughter made fun of me when I tried to use my pidgin French in Paris a while back. Pronunciation alone is baffling to this old dog.
ReplyDeleteMick
hmmm, Paris sounds way better than French class, even with bratty kids along.
Delete