A Little OT - French Lessons

[thelittlemermaid83]

I just seen them Muzzy sets on Ebay for about £80 i think after i paided off our January trip im going to buy them for Kyra, they will also help me in my French course in September (i hope lol)

 

[karenmoloney]

Where can you get these Muzzy tapes? I'm desperate to teach my DD French.

I bought mine off ebay - the VHS version. Can't remember now what I paid, but it was nothing like £80, but I suppose it was years ago! They are very expensive to buy new.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

I bought mine off ebay - the VHS version. Can't remember now what I paid, but it was nothing like £80, but I suppose it was years ago! They are very expensive to buy new.

Ive just found the website and its expensive but good thing is you can pay monthly so i think next month im going to buy level 1 for Kyra and see how she gets on.

 

[ukstitch]

I can't believe you can still buy Muzzy tapes / dvds etc...

I watched Muzzy when I was learning French at my first school, which was roughly 10 - 15 years ago!!!

 

[ema74]

Kids tend to find learning it fun because it means they know a 'secret' language....!

Very true... There's nothing like talking about people in a different language in front of them Me and Mia/DH do it all the time, I'm embarrassed to say

 

[cookie334]

Very true... There's nothing like talking about people in a different language in front of them Me and Mia/DH do it all the time, I'm embarrassed to say

I would love to do that, but too many people speak english and I so couldn't do it in any other language

I haven't looked into Muzzy or anything, but if any of you are interested in lessons I think they have classes all over the UK, you can check and see if there's one near you here

http://www.lajolieronde.co.uk/

I think the lessons start from as young as 3 years old.

 

[Gareth& Hayley]

I first started learning French while at comprehensive school at around age 13, I hated the lessons so never picked anything up!

Now I'm going to France in September I wish I had paid attention, I believe that French and Spanish lessons should be apart of school lessons from a very young age! That way as the child grows up having French/Spanish lessons become the norm and don't resists them when in comprehensive school.

I've been to a few places on holiday recently and part of me wishes that they didn't really speak English... forcing us to learn or try to speak their language!

I don't see it as a blessing that English is (almost) spoken around the world, if it wasn't we would be forced to learn!

I haven't got the time to take any French lessons, anything anyone could recommend?

 

[cookie334]

I first started learning French while at comprehensive school at around age 13, I hated the lessons so never picked anything up!

Now I'm going to France in September I wish I had paid attention, I believe that French and Spanish lessons should be apart of school lessons from a very young age! That way as the child grows up having French/Spanish lessons become the norm and don't resists them when in comprehensive school.

I've been to a few places on holiday recently and part of me wishes that they didn't really speak English... forcing us to learn or try to speak their language!

I don't see it as a blessing that English is (almost) spoken around the world, if it wasn't we would be forced to learn!

I haven't got the time to take any French lessons, anything anyone could recommend?

I completely agree with you. I think we are very "ignorant" that we don't try to at least attempt to speak the language of the country we're in. Obviously a lot of us do, but you know what I mean. I don't remember much french from when I was at school, but I really encouraged the kids when we went to at least use "bonjour", "au reviour", "si vous plas" and "merci". They loved doing it and they got a few comments and smiles from the cm for trying.

Maybe you could get some cd's or something. My dad was learning spanish at one point and got cd roms for the computer. He would put them on whenever he was on the computer or when he was pottering about the house and he picked it up quite well.

 

[Gareth& Hayley]

Some computer based programs sound possible... we currently have TV5 C799 on Sky (Just bookmarked it!) on the TV. They have music in French on at the minute.... I'm hoping to watch it every now and again and maybe pick some French up!

 

[cookie334]

Some computer based programs sound possible... we currently have TV5 C799 on Sky (Just bookmarked it!) on the TV. They have music in French on at the minute.... I'm hoping to watch it every now and again and maybe pick some French up!

It will probably work, that's the method of teaching children - watching tv and singing songs, so why not for adults too?

 

[ukstitch]

I don't see it as a blessing that English is (almost) spoken around the world, if it wasn't we would be forced to learn!

Personally I'd say that the fact that English is spoken by so many people is a very helpful fallback.

It's always better to attempt to speak the language, but if you run into trouble, then having English as a fallback can often get you out of trouble.

The most helpful thing I'd say when learning a language is to try and do it with somebody. It's an awful lot easier to learn a language if you can practice it in some way, so if you have somebody you are learning the language with, then you can try to talk to each other and bounce things off of each other. If you're like me, then it's almost better if the other person you practice with isn't fluent because it can make you a bit self-conscious and then you worry too much about making mistakes. If the other person is also learning, then you can both just laugh off each other's inevitable mistakes.

 

[Gareth& Hayley]

Personally I'd say that the fact that English is spoken by so many people is a very helpful fallback.

However can promote the attitude "Everyone speaks English wasn't the point in learning French/Spanish/Etc"

 

[ukstitch]

However can promote the attitude "Everyone speaks English wasn't the point in learning French/Spanish/Etc"

Indeed it can, which I agree is a shame.

However, taking that attitude often gets you burnt and I've run into problems once or twice when I can't remember the french for something and the french person I'm talking too doesn't understand the english. I've only got GCSE level french which is now 7 years out of date, so I don't remember it all, but I still try to use French where possible.