rincewind Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 As you can see by avatar i'm 29. I am trying to finish my education (better late then never) and this is my first semester at UMBC - turns out to graduate you need 3 semesters of a language. I decided to take French, and it is not going well. I'm not used to not getting good grades and i'm getting somewhat frustrate not being able to grasp this. Has anybody else taken up a foreign language late in life? Any tips? Keep in mind my major problem is hearing and talking in French. I also have problems understanding people who speak with accents - even when they speak english. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinstzar Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I am 28 and I learned French at 22. I took two year of french in college and had a fantastic instructor. I then spent some time in Paris. No matter what anyone tells you, French is a tough tough language. There is so much emphasis on pronunciation. You can know the correct words all you want but if you can't pronounce them and carry a sentence to make the true meaning of the words clear, then you will struggle. I recommend spending the heavy coin and buying Rosetta Stone. It is a CD Rom based software and I use it heavily to keep my french up to date. You can get it online. It is a little pricey but it is the best language aid I have ever used and I speak French and Spanish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 As you can see by avatar i'm 29. I am trying to finish my education (better late then never) and this is my first semester at UMBC - turns out to graduate you need 3 semesters of a language. I decided to take French, and it is not going well. I'm not used to not getting good grades and i'm getting somewhat frustrate not being able to grasp this. Has anybody else taken up a foreign language late in life? Any tips?Keep in mind my major problem is hearing and talking in French. I also have problems understanding people who speak with accents - even when they speak english. French is one of the hardest languages to learn. Start with something more simple like Spanish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rincewind Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 I am 28 and I learned French at 22. I took two year of french in college and had a fantastic instructor. I then spent some time in Paris. No matter what anyone tells you, French is a tough tough language. There is so much emphasis on pronunciation. You can know the correct words all you want but if you can't pronounce them and carry a sentence to make the true meaning of the words clear, then you will struggle. I recommend spending the heavy coin and buying Rosetta Stone. It is a CD Rom based software and I use it heavily to keep my french up to date. You can get it online. It is a little pricey but it is the best language aid I have ever used and I speak French and Spanish. Thanks, i actually bought a 8 disc cd-rom that allows you to work on pronounciation - we'll see. Did you know Spanish before you learned French? French is one of the hardest languages to learn. Start with something more simple like Spanish. Too late - i'm enrolled now. Plus i took French because i am a history major, and french at one time was required for history majors due to the amount of medieval documents written if french. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinstzar Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 French can also give you great leverage in future business endevaours. There are so many francophone countries out there. The three hot languages to learn right now are French, Japanese and Hindi. Just stick with it. It is like anything else, you'll have an epiphany one day and things will start to flow. Didn't you say in another thread that you are going to Amsterdam? See if you can find some French speakers over there. If you have any friends who are Senegalese see if they will talk to you in French. Yes, I did speak Spanish before I learned French. Bonne chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rincewind Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 French can also give you great leverage in future business endevaours. There are so many francophone countries out there. The three hot languages to learn right now are French, Japanese and Hindi. Just stick with it. It is like anything else, you'll have an epiphany one day and things will start to flow. Didn't you say in another thread that you are going to Amsterdam? See if you can find some French speakers over there. If you have any friends who are Senegalese see if they will talk to you in French. Yes, I did speak Spanish before I learned French. Bonne chance Amsterdam is for a bachelor party - so i'll be lucky if i remember how to speak english. :laugh: The reason i asked about you know Spanish is because it is supposed to be easier to learn a third language then a second. I really wish i could go back and have learned a second language early in life. Oh well, so is life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I learned Italian at age 20, but that was more so of a function of studying abroad French aint easy, but keep at it, it'll hit you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dks1240 Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 started taking spanish classes when i was 11 (is that later in life?! :laugh: ) and have taken classes since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rincewind Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 started taking spanish classes when i was 11 (is that later in life?! :laugh: ) and have taken classes since Well, you are only 21 so technically it was in the later half of your life. Do you speak it well? Also, for those of you that do speak another language - how long did it take for you to be able to 'think' in that language? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinstzar Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Amsterdam is for a bachelor party - so i'll be lucky if i remember how to speak english. :laugh: The reason i asked about you know Spanish is because it is supposed to be easier to learn a third language then a second. I really wish i could go back and have learned a second language early in life. Oh well, so is life. Well while in Amsterdam you can try a delicacy with a french name. Try a Gateau Du Space (pronounced Spahs) or Space Cake in English. You'll love it. By chosing French you chose a Romance language. Basically meaning it was derived from Latin. English, your primary language is a West Germanic language. Some basis in Latin but mostly based on old Gothic religions. Because the two types of language are so different it is hard to go from English to French. It is easier to go from Spanish to French because they are both Romance languages. I am probably going way more in depth than you wanted but trust me, learning the root to the language is key. Pick up a pocket Latin Dictionary. Glance at it when you have some free time. It will amaze you at much easier it make things for you. If you need a more shady reason to inspire you, I went to a very very small college with a high school type atmosphere. One night I found myself at the bar with the hottest girl on campus. I'm no troll but she was way way out of my league. We started talking and I mentione that I spoke French. She said she loved hearing a guy talked French, so I sweet talked her a for a while and ended up doing things that night that I am sure I will never do again. Hope things work out for you dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rincewind Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 Well while in Amsterdam you can try a delicacy with a french name. Try a Gateau Du Space (pronounced Spahs) or Space Cake in English. You'll love it. By chosing French you chose a Romance language. Basically meaning it was derived from Latin. English, your primary language is a West Germanic language. Some basis in Latin but mostly based on old Gothic religions. Because the two types of language are so different it is hard to go from English to French. It is easier to go from Spanish to French because they are both Romance languages. I am probably going way more in depth than you wanted but trust me, learning the root to the language is key. Pick up a pocket Latin Dictionary. Glance at it when you have some free time. It will amaze you at much easier it make things for you. If you need a more shady reason to inspire you, I went to a very very small college with a high school type atmosphere. One night I found myself at the bar with the hottest girl on campus. I'm no troll but she was way way out of my league. We started talking and I mentione that I spoke French. She said she loved hearing a guy talked French, so I sweet talked her a for a while and ended up doing things that night that I am sure I will never do again. Hope things work out for you dude. Not to in depth - i really appreciate your help, advice and encouragement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinstzar Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 No problem, have fun in Amsterdam, eat the space cake, drink the coffee and get behind the green devil if you can find him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntotoro Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Learning a new language late in life is very, very difficult unless you're completely immersed in it and forced to learn it. If you already know at least the basics of one or two other Latin-based languages (like Spanish or Italian), then French may not be as difficult as it would to, say, someone from Japan who doesn't know a lick of anything other than Japanese. Growing up in a multi-lingual household (English, Arabic, Italian & French), made Spanish easy for me in High School. I still speak great High School Spanish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannonshogs44 Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Try to learn Cherokee late in life like me. Oh my God its hard!!! I dont know what to tell you to help cause im still having a hard time. Just dont give up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dks1240 Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Well, you are only 21 so technically it was in the later half of your life. Do you speak it well? Also, for those of you that do speak another language - how long did it take for you to be able to 'think' in that language? I do speak it rather well. I can do just fine in spanish speaking countries. The good thing about knowing Spanish is I do fairly well with reading Italian, Portuguese, and some French. I didnt start 'thinking' in spanish until i spen a couple of weeks in Honduras and I was forced to speak Spanish every second of everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I was 30 when I went back and finished my degree. One of the advantages of going back after working for 15 years was I had savings. My university offered a program where you went to Mexico for a month, lived with a family and spent all day in an immersive program. It cost about 1500 plus living expenses. It took the place of two semester of classroom spanish and I learned an insane amount more than I would have while living at home. It was also a combo of vacation and school, I snuck to acapulco for a long weekend and met one of my buddies to go sail fishing. Also got to see the pyramids and other ruins. Awesome experience in general. If you want to know specifics pm me. Really, one of the best months of my life. ps. I surprise Mexican American customer I have all the time with my spanish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie4redskins Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I speak three languages (not French), but there is just something difficult about French. I've been to France a few times and I just couldn't get the swing of it like I did with others. I wouldn't be too discouraged. Must be the nuances of the pronunciation I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rincewind Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 I speak three languages (not French), but there is just something difficult about French. I've been to France a few times and I just couldn't get the swing of it like I did with others. I wouldn't be too discouraged. Must be the nuances of the pronunciation I suppose. One of my major problems thusfar is the lack of hard sounds. Hard sounds provide some sort of start and stop that makes language easier. French is soft and rolling - makes it beautiful but hard to pick up. On a positive note, i'm already starting to be able to read it and that is much more important to me and to my field of study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins24 Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I learned French in high school. Not totally fluently, but if France ever invaded the US I could have survived French may be a hard language to learn, but it's extremely easy to forget :doh: Remerciez Dieu des poissons bable http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raub Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 You should have picked German. Very easy to pick up from English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winslowalrob Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Practice about 6 hours a day. No joke. There are no inherently easy languages, unless you speak Latin and are trying to learn the other Romance languages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rincewind Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 Practice about 6 hours a day. No joke. There are no inherently easy languages, unless you speak Latin and are trying to learn the other Romance languages. 6 hours?!?!? The only things i do for 6 hours a day are sleep and troll around this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I took four years in french high school and was able to speak almost fluently... that is American fluently. My hottest teacher in high school was my french teacher. wow! All these years later I remember a plethora of nouns. Unfortunately, I've forgotten how to conjugate all the verbs correctly and tenses drive me nuts. Good luck with that! I'd like to learn Japanese or a dialect of Chinese. I'll do that after I finish the 100 other things I must accomplish in this lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Well, I'm married now so I'm slowly learning to speak female (or at least understand it, as much as that is humanly possible). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Italiano....vent' otto anni fa (sp?)... gotta agree with notoro...immersion is the best way....my Dad was stationed in Naples and we lived there for four years. There were many American enclaves, but Pop moved us into an Italian neighborhood. No Americans for miles. I learned Italian, (though with an admittedly Neapolitan dialect), pretty quickly. My Italian was good enough to pass the tests in college for the credits, w/out having to take the course. I'm no longer fluent, but I can get by...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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