french vocab

[IB231997]

could you please tell me some tips or ways of increasing my french vocab and grammar ?

[Jeffrey Kayon]

If you are beginner or rather new to the language, I suggest read french books, such as Le Petit Nicolas. When I first started learning french, I was told to read french children's literature, and even though you may not understand the context, it is a great way of building up the vocabulary. Especially as children's books utilize a lot of "common" french words that one would actually hear in the everyday-life.

[Absolutely Positively]

Watching films in French might also help (it worked for me), though it shouldn't be difficult ones.

[ananya.agrawal95]

Watching films in French might also help (it worked for me), though it shouldn't be difficult ones.

can you give me some ideas? I tried to watch dinet de con but it was over my head. Most of the movies i've watched are WAY to fast.

[Smita]

What I find useful is to watch French movies, but with English subtitles. But I started doing that after I was slightly more proficient with French. I live in a prominently French speaking country, so we get daily newspapers, news bulletins, billboards, and everything in French. And the majority of my classmates study French as a first language, so I guess that helps a lot. But I realise that might be a tallish order in India. Just try and get as much exposure to French as you can, and you're good to go.

[aangel]

I did German, and all the above techniques are great.

Another idea is to incorporate new words into your vocabulary everyday.

Learning a small set of new words (variation between- verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc.)

Every couple of days, and try to use these words in your daily practise

Study grammar and some set sentence structure daily using these words

Try to use the words in your daily life (using adjectives to describe things around you, even if just in your head).

Then go back and revise those words at the end of the week. Then end of the month.

Make some flashcards using anki

http://ankisrs.net/

.

Here is a fantastic long list of vocabulary for french, hopefully it is usually. The list is extensive but not exhaustive.

http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/GCSE%20New%20GCSE/French-vocab-book.pdf

[ananya.agrawal95]

What I find useful is to watch French movies, but with English subtitles. But I started doing that after I was slightly more proficient with French. I live in a prominently French speaking country, so we get daily newspapers, news bulletins, billboards, and everything in French. And the majority of my classmates study French as a first language, so I guess that helps a lot. But I realise that might be a tallish order in India. Just try and get as much exposure to French as you can, and you're good to go.

I never knew Mauritius was THAT french-ized I knew it was a french colony, but i've always heard it has a massive Indian population, so I assumed (wrongly) that french isn't all that common.

But yeah, I've been playing a few MMORPGs in French, so i'm forced to comprehend the french. I know I pick up slang/wrong french to a degree by doing this, but better than picking up nothing :|

I did German, and all the above techniques are great.

Another idea is to incorporate new words into your vocabulary everyday.

Learning a small set of new words (variation between- verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc.)

Every couple of days, and try to use these words in your daily practise

Study grammar and some set sentence structure daily using these words

Try to use the words in your daily life (using adjectives to describe things around you, even if just in your head).

Then go back and revise those words at the end of the week. Then end of the month.

Make some flashcards using anki

http://ankisrs.net/

.

Here is a fantastic long list of vocabulary for french, hopefully it is usually. The list is extensive but not exhaustive.

http://www.edexcel.c...-vocab-book.pdf

Thanks I actually used that list for my IGCSEs. The learning wasn't very successful. Luckily IGCSEs went fine

[funny10sport]

Couple options to further your french vocab:

1. Use a Bescherelle. This book is great for conjugation, orthography and grammar

2. Do some exercises. I am sure if you looked around on the internet, you'd be able to find some exercises for french vocabulary. Here is a website from Quebec, with many interactive french grammar exercises : http://www.ccdmd.qc.ca/fr/exercices_interactifs/

3. Watch English movies and put french subtitles (or vice versa) Eventually,, you can catch up to the language used. Even watch the French News!

4. If you are learning this subject, take the extra step by asking your teacher for references. Extra homework and exercises to further your comprehension and learning.

5. Read anything you can in french! Either simple novels, comic books, newspapers etc!

Some free websites you can use:

1. http://www.les-verbes.com/ - This is great for conjugation, verbs and such.

2. http://synonymes.com/ - This is a french thesaurus, to find synonyms.

3. http://le-dictionnaire.com/ - Regular, simple online french dictionary. Quite accurate.

Extra Goodies:

Don't let this different language discourage you! You can do it! When I was younger, I was put in a French school (and I come from a English speaking background). At first they didn't let me take the entrance exam because I wasn't French. But I took it. I passed. Now 9 years later, I am a fluent french speaker and attend a french school in Canada. Not to mention I am taking the IB program in French (I am half Indian and Filipino, and common, it is not everyday you see someone like me speak french!) The things I posted above are stuff I used and still do. Hope they help you like they helped me

[GirlwiththeBlueBox]

I like to listen to French music. Their pop music is very catchy and it helps add words to your vocabulary, not to mention the fact that it helps expose you to new culture and whatnot.

[LeahItIs]

I would say that listening to music and movies YET would not be such a good idea as it would only confuse you. They are fluent in their language, and you would just be like ...

Reading a lot of books help. Whether they are kiddie books or even story books. You can start by reading regular passages in any book and marking the words you are unfamiliar with. How about keeping a vocabulary journal too? Any new words you come across, mark them down in your journal for further reference!

Also there a lot of online sites that help TONS in grammar - it's what I go to always

Hope this helps!

Cheers

[vals]

I would say that listening to music and movies YET would not be such a good idea as it would only confuse you. They are fluent in their language, and you would just be like ...

Reading a lot of books help. Whether they are kiddie books or even story books. You can start by reading regular passages in any book and marking the words you are unfamiliar with. How about keeping a vocabulary journal too? Any new words you come across, mark them down in your journal for further reference!

Also there a lot of online sites that help TONS in grammar - it's what I go to always

Hope this helps!

Cheers

Actually, listening to music and watching movies did work for me.

I agree that getting in touch with a foreign languaguage can be somewhat confusing at first, but confusion can be easily avoided if you:

a) choose your movie conscientiously (i.e. don't go for movies with long monologues on the philosophic side of life, choose movies that are visually easy to understand, like adventure or fantasy movies. Kids movies are amazing for this. YT videos might do, as well). Challenging yourself with "more difficult" movies is okay, but at least choose something you'll be able to guess the meaning of;

b) watch movies with subtitles. In French, of course. It's better if you try watching the movie without them first, though. If after a few minutes you're like , just turn on the subtitles. Use them as a wildcard;

c) don't stress over every single word you don't understand. An extensive vocabulary is not something you gain by gulping down tons of encyclopedias, it comes bit by bit. If you're watching the movie by yourself you could also stop the movie whenever you come across a nice expression that you don't want to forget and/or a word that you just don't get and really want to look up later, and note them down in a notebook;

d) as for songs, you can always look up the lyrics on the internet. I like listening to my favourite french music and actually enjoy it, rather than fret over my shallow knowledge of the language. I can always read the lyrics right afterwards, or two weeks later, who cares. Listening to the language's rhythm is also important: you become more experienced with the cadences of the language, become acquainted with french morphology, and get an overall better pronounciation in the long run.

Everyone is different, of course Just wanted to share a few tips.

[IBKID4lyf]

You can do several things, as long as it is enjoyable for you:

1. Reading is probably the best way to enrich your vocabulary. Books like Oscar et la Dame Rose, le Petit Prince or even cartoons like Asterix and Obelix. But make sure that you have a dictionary next to you and that you record each new word!

2. Watching movies in french or even the french news is very helpful.

3. Speak speak speak, especially to someone who has better french than you.

4. Grammar exercises online are always a great option to improve writing.

5. Go through the dictionary and learn 5 words each night!

GOOD LUCK/BONNE CHANCE