Exams? Oh no!

A while ago, I had the goal of attending a French university. This goal is still very much alive in my mind but it has been put on the back burner for just a bit. However, one of the entrance requirements for foreign students is a certain level in French. Most universities, schools, and textbooks are moving towards categorizing levels based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). I am not 100% sure but I believe to enter into French university you should have at least a B2 level. This may depend on the university and what program you are entering into. My intention is to enroll into a program as a regular student not as a student of French as a foreign language.

Currently, you can take two routes. First, there is the TCF-DAP (and/or TCF). The TCF is the Test de Connaissance de Français. The TCF is open to anyone who would like to determine their level in French. The TCF-DAP is intended for those who wish to enter into the first cycle of French university. It seems that this test covers all of the CEFR levels in one exam, you progress through each level and in the end you have an idea of where you stand.

The other option is take a DELF/DALF exam. The DELF (Diplôme d’Études en Langue Française) covers levels A1 through B2 of the CEFR and the DALF (Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française) covers levels C1 and C2 with each level having its own individual exam. This is an official diploma from the French Ministry of National Education and is only for foreign students. This exam can be taken all over the world. Here are some subject examples.

Realizing that I was having trouble structuring my language learning, I thought it might be a good idea to revisit the CEFR levels in order to give myself a short-term goal. (The long-term is goal is to become fluent.) Also, if I have a diploma under my belt, I am all set to enter into French university when the time comes.

But I have no idea what my level is.

I picked up a book called Le Nouvel Entrainez-vous: DELF B1 to see how I did with the exercises. So far the oral comprehension exercises have been easy but I think that the written and oral production sections are not going to go so smoothly. I'll keep you posted.

Lastly, I am considering taking a correspondance/online class through CNED (Centre national d'enseignement à distance). Anyone can take classes through CNED and they offer courses to prepare for each level of the DELF/DALF as well as the TCF. The prices are reasonable and you have a tutor who works with you. For an extra fee, you can participate in forums and discussion boards with other students doing the same course.

Anyone have experience with this?

Even if you feel silly, singing in French is really helpful. I am a fan of the French artist Bénabar and I found a few videos on YouTube that are fairly easy to understand. Elles sont tellement drôle.

Bénabar - Dis Lui Oui

The lyrics to Dis Lui Oui can be found here.

le diner

A few minutes of French everyday

Life has been a bit hectic chez nous so I haven't been able to plunge into some of the bigger projects I have in mind for my french development. Keeping my iPod filled with lots of French podcasts has been a great way to fit a little bit of practice into my life. Basically, I spend all of my metro and train riding time listening to French.

I picked up a few books on tape (along with the books themselves) at our local library so right now I am working my way through La jeune fille à la perle. I thought choosing a book that I had already read in English would give me a little advantage since I already know the basic plotline. At times I think it may be a disadvantage because I don't have to concentrate quite as hard since I can already imagine in my mind what is happening. Also, I have listened to the first CD about three times now and I am ready to do something more with the text but I am not sure where to begin.

Should I first start identifying words that I am not sure about? Should I work on writing down phrases that I want to learn? Should I work on a specific grammar point?

The only two annoying points are: 1) The text is abridged on the CD so suddenly the dialogue jobs ahead 3 or 4 paragraphs and I have to pause the audio in order to find out

La Jeune Fille à la perle

Other than that, the reader speaks French very well and clearly although quite fast. The story is interesting and after reading it one time through with the book and then listening without the book, I found that I understood quite a bit.

Make sure you check out the great links that Lucy left in the comments of the previous post! Thanks Lucy!

book

Like the verb oser, se ressourcer has popped up in 3 different locations this week. It is time to figure out what it means! First, it is a reflexive verb so I know that it must have to do with the self. Une ressource is similar to a resource so I can begin by interpreting this as one's resources. Here are the contexts in which I have seen it in:

Energy Cocoon: Ressourcez-vous!
Ressourcez-vous en Aveyron
Comment se ressourcer?
Club Med: se ressourcer

Any ideas yet?

Just by doing a simple search in Google, I found loads of different versions of the verb in authentic contexts. My guess is that this verb means to rebuild your energies or recharge your battery. All of the different websites above involve activities or actions that help you feel better.

According to Robert & Collins Super Senior:

se ressourcer: (retrouver ses racines) to go back to one's roots; (recouvrer ses forces) to get one's strength back

se ressourcer conjugates like the verb placer (verbes en -cer).

But so far I have only seen this verb used in the imperative or question form. A quick google search with the phrase "je me ressource" comes up with:

Je me ressource seule pour te donner le meilleur de ce que je suis à toi, à mes amis.

Là je me ressource...

J'aurai pu vous dire comme je me ressource à passer des moments en famille, même si la famille en question n'est pas la mienne.

Hmm...still kind of confusing. Perhaps it isn't used in this way very often?

A suggestion from the native French speaker in the house is to search for "j'ai besoin de me ressourcer"

Et Voilà! You can read it here or here or here.

Which completely makes sense. In English, we are more likely to say 'I need to rebuild my strength" rather than "I am rebuilding my strength." Right?

Donc, j'ai besoin de me ressourcer. C'est l'heure de dormir. Bonne nuit!

Taking Notes

While it may seem that all I talk about is listening, I see it as only one piece of any language learning program. Reading, writing, and speaking all carry their own equal weight in importance. It is just that I think those who are trying to learn a language on their own tend to forget about just simply listening.

But this post isn't about listening. Last night, while rocking my son to sleep I realized that the best way for me to improve my speaking and writing is to continue to compile and learn packages of words. Learning grammar is important but when the moment comes and I actually need to use French in a real situation, everything I know about grammar gets tossed away. What I do remember are packages or phrases that I have memorized.

One situation that I keep coming across is my desire to leave comments on blogs but not being completely sure what to write. Sometimes a post catches my eye and I would simply like to let the writer know that I enjoyed it. Often I want to leave a well thought out comment but I don't want to take the time to figure out how to write it correctly in French. In the end, I don't end up saying anything. So, I think I need to begin with something more simple. Just a few phrases to use in blog commenting.

Here is an idea for an exercise:

1. Take a look at some blogs written in French. Blogsearch on Google France would be a good place to start. I entered tricot (knitting) as the subject that interested me. Other ideas could be cuisiner, photographie, voyages, or any other subject that interests you.

2. Choose a blog from the list. I chose the first one on the list and then noticed that the top post on the page had 15 comments. I read the post and then clicked on the comments.

3. I then went through and started a list of the different (and common) phrases that people used in comments. I just wanted those phrases and expressions that were used to express something general and positive. I tried to look for phrases that I could easily alter, for example: la moufle est de toute beauté could be changed to le bonnet est toute beauté.

la moufle est très chouette!
superbe!
c'est bien jolie tout ca...bravo!
La couleur est superbe !!!
Superbes ta moufles et ton châle...
c'est genial comme idée!
genial!
bon courage !
bravo!

4. Then I chose another blog (either from blogsearch again or from the links on the previous blog) and repeated the process.

il est très beau ton nouveau modèle :)
il est très joli
Ce modèle Bonita me plaît beaucoup
ouaaaaaah impressionnant
Super joli Bonita
J'adore ton nouveau tricot !!

5. Along the way, I started to find some blogs that I wanted to continue to read. Reading blogs in French with a subject that interests you is a great way to learn all the appropriate vocabulary. (This could be another exercise in the future.) Also, now that you have made a list of expressions, you need to use them so keeping tabs on different blogs will help you!

6. Leave a comment on a blog. (Mine is at the bottom of this page.) Choose 3 or 4 expressions that you like and don't cut & paste them! Rewriting in an important part of the process for your brain, the more you write them the more they will become part of your natural language. Most of these expressions are not limited to just blogs and commenting. You can use them in your everyday language as well! (Also, be careful with the masculinity and femininity of the words. You can usually figure out the gender by looking for clues in the blog post or other comments.)

Word of warning: Comments aren't always written with correct grammar and spelling. Text-speak is very common on blogs which means that words aren't always written correctly and phrases aren't formed in the right way,

Any other ideas?

book

Does this happen to you? I am moving along, working on a language, feeling pretty good and suddenly a word appears that I have never seen before. Then, it is everywhere I look. (Granted, I live in a french speaking country so this happens a little more often for me.) I wonder how this word escaped my radar if it is so common and then I wonder, what the heck does it mean?

Right now, this word for me is oser. First, I saw it on a poster for one of the presidential candidates, José Bové. (If you don't know who this guy is, read about him here in french or english.) The poster said, Osez Bové. I thought that it was pretty cute because it rhymes and it is catchy but I still didn't know what it meant. Then I saw it on the cover of a magazine, which I can't recall the name of but the tagline was something similar to the one on this page. Yesterday, I noticed in one of my son's books. It was talking about the sharp teeth of a shark...sens comme mes dents sont pointues...si tu l'oses! Feel how sharp my teeth are...if you dare!

oser [oze] to dare

Even though I kept asking my husband what it meant, the meaning just didn't seem to stick in my head and each time I saw it I was left wondering what it meant. So, today I looked it in up in our gigantic Robert & Collins. Here are some expressions they listed:

• il faut oser! one must take risks
• oser fair quelquechose to dare (to) do something
• il voudrais bien mais je n'ose pas I'd like to but I don't dare
• approache si tu l'oses come over here if you dare
• comment osez-vous! how dare you!

oser conjugates like a regular -er verb such as aimer, so that it makes it much easier to use in my everyday language. The next step is to figure out how to do just that.

If you look at the sentance about the shark's teeth, it doesn't say si tu oses. It says, si tu l'oses which would probably be directly translated as if you dare to. My guess is that if previously in the dialogue I have referred to the action which I am daring to do, I need to use this reference when forming my response with oser. Let' see...

Now that I know the definition of oser I can start using it in my everyday language...if I dare!

Maintenant que je sais la définition d'oser je peux commencer a utiliser dans ma langage quotidien...si je l'ose!

Edited to add: So, there are a few mistakes in my translation above.

Maintenant que je connais la définition d'oser je peux commencer à l'utilser dans mon langage quotidien...si je l'ose!

In any case, I don't think I will forget the meaning of oser again!

FIP

In my last post I mentioned the radio show, Les Petits Bateaux. This show is broadcast on franceInter which is part of Radio France. Radio France is the french equivalent of NPR or BBC Radio. There is a lot of great stuff to listen to and most of it can be listened to streaming on the Internet and more and more is becoming available in podcast form. But, perhaps you just feel like listening to some music in French. I suggest checking out FIP. FIP is one of my favorite radio stations. It is truly eclectic, placing classical music next to James Brown...and somehow they make it all work. Listening to FIP will expose you to some new French (and not French) music mixed in with old favorites. They really have something for everyone. Check it out!

(During the day you can track what song is playing as well as what has just played and what is to come but between 11 pm and 7 am France time, this service is not available.)