Learn French.....help please.

carpetmojo · 02-19-2012, 05:18 AM

Anyone have any recommendations for decent ( preferably free, or "budget" ) "Learn French" books or courses I can download onto my Calibre/Sony ?
I've had a sudden urge to improve my pathetic knowledge of the language, and
I thought "ah ha, Google this, that'll be quick" - but it wasn't quite as simple !

I've contacted the Open University, but don't know if they have a version I can put on a reader, so I can always have it handy.

I have a couple of old O.K. audio courses, but want something I can just grab and look.

I suppose I could also d/load a course or two onto a card... That'll give me an incentive to learn how use that on the T1 , as well. Education time

Billi · 02-19-2012, 08:36 AM

It's not a course or something like that and I don't know what "pathetic knowledge" means in your case, but another way to learn a language is to read some books in that language.
So, how about browsing our library here, downloading some books you're really interested in (not only to learn the language, but in the book itself), and start reading? Maybe you will need the dictionary very often in the beginning, but you will improve your knowledge of French.
Good luck!

MickeyC · 02-19-2012, 02:57 PM

I have discovered one thing about improving your ability to speak French that really seems to work and I cannot explain why. What I have learned is, and excuse me if this is overly technical, but the more French wine you drink, the better your French gets.

Bilbo1967 · 02-19-2012, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cassidym

I have discovered one thing about improving your ability to speak French that really seems to work and I cannot explain why. What I have learned is, and excuse me if this is overly technical, but the more French wine you drink, the better your French gets.

Works with Spanish and Italian as well in my experience.

ATDrake · 02-19-2012, 03:58 PM

Try the "So You Want to Learn a Language" site, which has a whole bunch of links (including for e-books) to free language learning resources offered on the web. There's a specific disclaimer that the site only links to public domain/copyright-expired/put up by author themself stuff.

Weirdly enough, it's Project Gutenberg Australia which hosts Basic French for Canadian Schools. It's slightly antiquated, but gives a good overall grounding in the basics that's probably a bit more in-depth and structured than most modern courses will give you, and it dates from 1937 with author/editor unknown.

I have no idea what the UK rules are in terms of anonymous publication and the public domain, but it's been over 70 years anyway. And it was a Canadian government publication to begin with. I'm sure the Ministry of Education would have actually wanted it to be used for education, in a non-Orwellian sense of the word.

Hope this helps et bonne chance!

straygator · 02-19-2012, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billi

another way to learn a language is to read some books in that language.

Project Gutenberg Australia also has some public domain French books with fairly basic vocabulary and syntax (Le Petit Prince, etc.) that are fun to read and great for improving reading comprehension.

carpetmojo · 02-19-2012, 05:56 PM

All useful - thanks guys.

And I have tried the Wine Course - it worked btilliantly with Portugese, not quite so well with Spanish, and as for French, well, I always fall asleep before anything sticks in the grey cells.
But I did eat a lot of fish during the Portugese period.....

02-19-2012, 05:18 AM	#1
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	Learn French.....help please. Anyone have any recommendations for decent ( preferably free, or "budget" ) "Learn French" books or courses I can download onto my Calibre/Sony ? I've had a sudden urge to improve my pathetic knowledge of the language, and I thought "ah ha, Google this, that'll be quick" - but it wasn't quite as simple ! I've contacted the Open University, but don't know if they have a version I can put on a reader, so I can always have it handy. I have a couple of old O.K. audio courses, but want something I can just grab and look. I suppose I could also d/load a course or two onto a card... That'll give me an incentive to learn how use that on the T1 , as well. Education time

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02-19-2012, 08:36 AM	#2
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	It's not a course or something like that and I don't know what "pathetic knowledge" means in your case, but another way to learn a language is to read some books in that language. So, how about browsing our library here, downloading some books you're really interested in (not only to learn the language, but in the book itself), and start reading? Maybe you will need the dictionary very often in the beginning, but you will improve your knowledge of French. Good luck!

02-19-2012, 02:57 PM	#3
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,731 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	I have discovered one thing about improving your ability to speak French that really seems to work and I cannot explain why. What I have learned is, and excuse me if this is overly technical, but the more French wine you drink, the better your French gets.

02-19-2012, 03:58 PM	#5
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Try the "So You Want to Learn a Language" site, which has a whole bunch of links (including for e-books) to free language learning resources offered on the web. There's a specific disclaimer that the site only links to public domain/copyright-expired/put up by author themself stuff. Weirdly enough, it's Project Gutenberg Australia which hosts Basic French for Canadian Schools. It's slightly antiquated, but gives a good overall grounding in the basics that's probably a bit more in-depth and structured than most modern courses will give you, and it dates from 1937 with author/editor unknown. I have no idea what the UK rules are in terms of anonymous publication and the public domain, but it's been over 70 years anyway. And it was a Canadian government publication to begin with. I'm sure the Ministry of Education would have actually wanted it to be used for education, in a non-Orwellian sense of the word. Hope this helps et bonne chance!

02-19-2012, 05:56 PM	#7
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	All useful - thanks guys. And I have tried the Wine Course - it worked btilliantly with Portugese, not quite so well with Spanish, and as for French, well, I always fall asleep before anything sticks in the grey cells. But I did eat a lot of fish during the Portugese period.....

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