How hard is it to learn French grammar when English is your native language?

Discussion in 'French' started by debutante, Feb 22, 2007.

  1. debutante

    debutante Member

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    I am very passionate about learning French. I am 16 years old and have little foreign language experience (I spoke Spanish as a native until age 5 and then we moved and I took formal Spanish lessons from grade 1-7 and ended up forgetting the language basically.. but it's in there somewhere!), but I am very good with English grammar (doesn't require any effort form me, really) and memorizing vocabulary, and my pronunciation seems to be on par so far. Anyway, I will be teaching myself on my own (I have Rosetta Stone and online sites, etc... I do need a grammar book).

    Do you think it's possible for me to do 2 years of high shcool level French in 6 months and then enroll in a very competitive, rigorous French 3 class? How much of French I & II is grammar and syntax?
     
  2. katja00

    katja00 Member

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    You sound just like me, actually. We are in a similar situation, except I've been through what you're needing to get through to get to French three (and beyond, I'm assuming). Last year, as a sophomore, I started out in French I, skipping the introductory level since it is basically unnecessary. It was difficult to start out with, but by the second week or so, I was excelling moreso than the kids who had been in the class already for a year. I blamed this on my Spanish (as I had been taking it three years prior to beginning French anyway). By midyear however, I was super interested in learning the language, and studied on my own beyond what we were learning in class. This continued to the end of the year, where I had taught myself enough to skip level II and go directly to French III. During the summer, I continued to teach myself the language to the point of boarderline fluency (no, I'm not exaggerating at all). I spoke with native speakers over the phone (to improve the oral aspect), conversed on MSN messenger(to improve the writing aspect, and really became very quick at it), and wrote letters back and forth to people in France, who have all become my close friends. Now, in French III, I am bored out of my mind, as I pretty much know everything which we're "learning" at the moment. There is a lot of grammar and syntax involved, yes, but certainly not as much as is involved in level III. It is rigorous for most students, for sure. I think you can do it though. I'll tell you, I am not the brightest crayon in the box, and quite honestly, it was not difficult for me to do what I did. You seem to be rather intelligent, and should be able to do it with ease. Just don't be lazy. You WILL have to study a little into French III on your own in order to make sure you have a real handle on what you're doing. You don't need to go absolutely crazy like I did, because it's a sure thing that I'm absolutely obsessed (you really have no idea how obsessed I really am), but you will need to get into it a little bit more than you are now, even though you may think you're passionate about it to begin with. However, I do not reccomend using online sites. That results in a broken, sort of half-knowledge of a language, and you can really feel it if it's like that. It's as if you jammed everything in too fast. You can do it quickly, but you will need at least someone to talk to in the language who also knows English to be able to teach you. You can look for someone who does speak French natively, or you could contact me- whichever you prefer. I would love to help you learn, and I'm confident that I could supplement whatever online courses and whatnot you're using. My MSN is le.frein.et.la.mort@hotmail.com and my e-mail address is kate.sands@laposte.net
    Don't heasitate to contact me- in fact, I would love it if you did. I'm glad you asked.
     
  3. budone

    budone Member

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    french is hard, as its grammar works despistes any logic sometimes. even for me. when i was in canada, i took a french class, asuming it would give me good marks easely. But I wasn't even first, as i didn't work at all for it. It's like an history lesson, or irregular verbs in german. you gatta learn it before it makes any sense.
     
  4. boneablaze

    boneablaze Member

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    I'm in French 1 and the grammer is actually fairly easy for me to pick up on (though I've always been quick to pick up language rules in the other 4 languages I've learned to speak), but the rules for conjugating the verbs always throws me off.
     
  5. Heartcore.

    Heartcore. Member

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    I find French I incredibly hard, and I just can't understand the endings. Like danser is "to dance" and I don't know how to make it be "dancing" or "dance" I say French grammar is completely different than English and like 100 Times harder to learn :(
     
  6. drew172

    drew172 Senior Member

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    I've been in a late Immersion Program for french which began in grade 7 til now and though I find french very easy to comprehend whilst reading or listening (i also have to be able to see them) to a person, i find it difficult to wirte when i need to use imparfait or any other non-basic forms of verbs (i dont even understand the concept of conditional or subjunctif) and when i try to speak its brutal. I just cant put things together in my head fast enough to say it...but im getting better with that, i find myself thinking random things in french constantly now
     
  7. vwt2

    vwt2 Member

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    Hi
    French aint that hard, French s my first language cause I was born in belguim, I had to learn English in 3 months before i went to school, Well If u Have any questions leave me a message.
     
  8. alison009

    alison009 Member

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    French I and II is basically all vocabulary and learning different verb tenses, etc. I don't know what kind of programs you'll learn with or how good they are, but I know that French III is more similar to an English class--but in French.
     
  9. jdwooten1

    jdwooten1 Guest

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    si tu veux apprendre francais que tu dois travailler et etudier beaucoup, avoir espoir!!!

    (if you want to learn french than you need to work and study alot, have faith)

    Francais est mon premier langue, j'ai parle francais pour trente ans et j'ai habite en Paris pour vingt et un ans, le grammeur est tre facil si tu pense d'il, je peux parler trois languages (russe, francais et anglais)...russe etait le plus defecile a mon avis. mais le point est si tu veux apprendre francais fais-le, utiliser le langue tous les jours, oui....seul tu vas a la salle de baine :devil: xD....s'amuser!!

    (french est my first langauage, i have spoken french for thirty years and i have lived in paris for 21, the grammer is very easy if you think of it, i can speak three languages (russian, french and english)...Russian was the hardest in my opinion. but the point is if you want to learn french, do it, use the language every day, yea even when you go to the bath room :devil: xD...have fun!!!)
     
  10. TheMistress

    TheMistress Senior Member

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    french grammar is very complicated, at least much more so than english. hopefully you will remember some of your spanish lessons because that will help you alot with french as spanish grammar is very similar to french (french is still more complex than spanish grammar... its the irregular verbs in french, there are so many and feminine or masculine has no formal rule. you just have to memorize it)
     
  11. carolgreen737

    carolgreen737 Guest

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    but the rules for conjugating the verbs always throws me off.
     
  12. oiseaulys

    oiseaulys Member

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    Personnellement, je trouve que l'anglais est bien plus difficile que le français...
    Déjà, pourquoi, en anglais, le "a" se prononce "e", le "i" se prononce "aï" et le "e" se prononce "i" ? C'est pas logique, comment voulez-vous vous y retrouver ?
     
    korikrah likes this.
  13. dixie_pixy

    dixie_pixy HighMandi

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    I took 5 years of French - Highschool and College levels.
    It's not easy but it's easier than other languages!
    Good luck!
    I managed to make mostly B's in my French classes!
     
  14. carolgreen737

    carolgreen737 Guest

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    Don't heasitate to contact me- in fact, I would love it if you did. I'm glad you asked.
     
  15. Muchtooyoung

    Muchtooyoung Member

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    Did the standard French at school and found it was a no-go language for me. Many, many years later I tried French and still no-go, but found that I could learn Norwegian with some ease. It came down to the grammer and pronunciation at the end of the day.
     
  16. Syd222

    Syd222 Member

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    katja00 : si tu cherches un peu de challenge niveau compréhension, tu devrais écouter/regarder les sketch de Pierre Desproges, c'est un humouriste (humour noir, 2nd degrès à fond).

    oiseaulys : t'es serieux quand tu dis ca ?^^
     
  17. oiseaulys

    oiseaulys Member

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    C'est vraiment une volupté de fin gourmet, comme dirait Courteline, de se voir demander si l'on est sérieux par des gens citant par ailleurs Desproges...
     

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