Well welcome aboard to what "looks" to be new members.

PurpleMistyRain! Did you mean to post a link to your gifs?

One thing i've found helps me alot if i am having any difficulty pronouncing the word or hearing them is to slow the song down to half speed which you can do with many different players .

I'm wondering how many of you had formal education of French language.

Yes. Third grade through 7th grade. I have long since forgotten it all. :)

I had 2 years of it way back in juniour high school. Most of it forgotten, but I took the time to learn at least 12 of Alizee's French songs and the schooling I did have was a tremendous help in understanding how a lot of their sentances are structured and a lot of the major verbs and prepositons and articles they use, quickly came back to me.

If I could go back in time, I would have taken French instead of Spanish back in Junior High. Back then I always felt that French sounded "snobby" but ever since Lilly, I've found it to be a beautiful language. Sigh...so many things I would have done differently if I could do it over again.

I actually think it's more beneficial to have an understanding of Spanish before tackling any other language.


It does a great job at introducing us Walmart-shopping Mare'cans to the concept of language actually having simple, logical rules.

Spanish: Words pronounced exactly how they're spelled, gender, sentence structure (Me llamo vs I am..), and you can get away with a horrible accent.

Yesterday I went to Alliance Française here in Kolkata. I asked them if I could enroll myself in intermediate course. When I told that whatever I learned till now was through online sources mostly, they suggested me to enroll in beginner course only.

One problem is that they don't allow you to join same course in some other city in case you move to different place. Next batch starts soon and I don't think I'll stay here for long time. What to do? :hmm:

I took 2 years of French way back in junior high school. I also took a year of Russian. I think the most valuable experience you can get in trying to learn a new language is to try and get into a converation with someone who speaks the language well.

When I was in juniour high, it was required that we take a language course. I thought it was stupid that it was required and I put no effort into it. We had 5 terms in a school year back then. if you flunked 3 terms in any subject you had to repeat the year. I had never been close to flunking out in a course before. That year I flunked the first 2 terms. At the end of the 3rd term, all I needed was a 35% to pass the term on the last test. I didn't study and I got a 30. I was devestated. Afterwards, my French teacher took me aside and told me if I applied myself, he would give me a passing grade. I couldn't believe it. Well in those last 2 terms I busted my behind and did very well. I was even pissed because the last test of the year was cancelled and I lost the chance to bring my grade up to an A. The following year, I did very well.

In my many years on this earth, I had little chance to use it. I probably would have been much better off learnig Spanish because I was much more exposed to people who spoke that language, but then Alizee came along and I wished I had learned the language much better, but still, I tried to learn several of her songs and I found that what I had learned way back then, was of a tremendous help in learning her songs.

Still I find when I listen to an interview of hers, I can hardly understand a word, mainly because she talks so fast compared to when she sings. A song like Moi Lolita is sung at a slow deliberate pace. It's relatively easy to pick out the words. That's no so when she's having a conversation. So like I said, speaking conversational French with someone who speaks it well, is the best way of learning it.

If you've been studying hard at the language so far, I say skip that basic course that they suggest you take. I'm sure it's just will be a rehash of what you already know well. Take the next course and if necessary, if you run into a stumbling block, be prepared to do some research. Come here and I'm sure our Frech speaking members will do their best to help you out.

I've also heard there are some excellent computer programs for learning the language. I will do some more research on that and get back to you.

Have anyone of you any experience of Aix-en-Provence? I am thinking of study french over there this fall. How is the town?

I had found this French organization here in town and noticed that you can take lessons from them for a nominal fee. When I decide to get serious and I can get the time, it is a extremely valuable asset. You may want to check to see if you have one of these French groups near you.

Meet up/French Lessons

Thanks for the suggestion, but I am interested in going abroad and not study french in my hometown. Moreover, the school in Aix-en-Provence is included in the Swedish school system so there is no fee - I just have to pay for the accomodation.

So, if anyone have been to Aix, please tell me.

I've been to Aix at least two dozen times... it's a beautiful city , but if you're not a middle aged religious person fond of ancient architecture you quickly get bored ...

I say if you wanna have fun while learning I strongly advise big cities of the French riviera , like Marseille or Nice , it might turn out to be quite expensive though, so that's where my town comes in: Bordeaux :P You'll never get bored there and if you ever feel lonely there's people from all over the world there !

and obviously there's paris...

Only a certain number of AAm members have been to France, but Texasbro is there now, I'd ask him if he went there, and if so, what it was like :)

That's strange about Aix, because I've read a lot about it as a town full of students from many countries...?

I have been to Nice every summer since I was 12 and I really love it there, but in Nice the school is not free for me as it is in Aix. Like you say, I have heard only positive things about Bordeaux but I think it will be Aix or nothing for me due to the high costs.

Back in junior high school, I had taken 2 years of French and I have told the story of what happened back then. I never really had much of a need to speak French except for a couple of trips to Montreal and my honeymoon which included time in Paris.

Then at a late stage in my life Alizee came along. I wish I had known French better at that point, but I still didn't regret not learning it well , because I thought at some point soon this Alizee phenomenon would wear off. I did try and learn several of her songs though. But year after year has gone by, and the phenomenon is still there.

I never imagined her music would have such an impact on my life. One of the prime things I regret is not being able to figure out what I think is one of her most beautiful songs, but also one of her saddest songs, Coeur deja pris. I've seen a few interpretations and there are still a few lines I want to fully understand, but to this date can not.

So I urge anyone who wants to understand her music, to learn French to the best of their ability, until they hit that proverbial wall. I don't think it will be time wasted.