Learn French

[HibyPrime]

Originally Posted by Twitch

Hiby also probably doesn't like .exe files because of how many viruses come packaged that way,

Naw, it's the mac thing.

but Darwine is supposed to allow .exe and other native Windows files to open on a Mac, at least certain ones anyway. But I have never used it so no idea if it works, but there are other .exe wrappers as well to let Mac users run them, but again I haven't used any and some only work with intel based Macs.

Darwine is slightly inferior to CrossOver. Also, neither of the two will work (properly) on a non intel-mac. My laptop is a intel-mac but if I'm going to be using either of them (crossover is installed, and it's very buggy), I may as well install windows on it.

The wine project ports the win32 API over to linux and osx, which is basically like rewriting the windows OS, it takes years to perfect. I can run CS 1.6 on crossover, and I've heard of people being able to run HL2 (I've never even tried), so it definately has potential.

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

Of course, I can certify that this one has no virus.

That you know of.

Back on topic:

I bought a $2.99 english-french, french-english dictionary, and while it does not have everything, it's more than enough. The odd time it does not have something, I'll ask someone.

je t'aime alizee!!

i love alizee.. right?

Right! Remember the accent though ééééééé

[Twitch]

Originally Posted by alantas

je t'aime alizee!!

i love alizee.. right?

Technically it's "I love you Alizée"

"J'aime Alizée" would be "I love Alizée"

EDIT: For the record I was responding to Atlantas not trying to correct Hiby, but is it really that hard to type an é for Alizée?

[HibyPrime]

Originally Posted by Twitch

EDIT: For the record I was responding to Atlantas not trying to correct Hiby

How dare you correct me, the all mighty master of the french language!

I can't make a mistake, noobies never make mistakes!

[bt_bird_90]

correct... Hiby?

that's not a very good idea... we're still trying to figure out what happened to the guy that did that last time

[aFrenchie]

Originally Posted by HibyPrime

That you know of.

I use it since years and scanned it again with Kaspersky yesterday...

[HibyPrime]

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

I use it since years and scanned it again with Kaspersky yesterday...

I was joking.

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by Twitch

The easiest to get would no doubt be one by Larousse, but I find the Petit Robert slightly more useful as it contains phonetic spellings for all the words, petit Larousse only contains them for the words that do not follow traditional French pronunciation rules. The petit Robert has also slightly more detailed definitions of each word, but the petit Larousse is packed with tons of colourful illustrations. There is also the Grand Robert, which is an insanely huge French dictionary, similar to the complete unabridged multi volume Oxford dictionaries.
LeRobert
Larousse
I assume since you are looking for a French only dictionary you can navigate these sites.
But Le Petit Robert, and Le Petit Larousse illustré are their most popular dictionaries. Petit Larousse illustré also includes a section with proper names and information on history and culture as well. Le Robert publishes theirs in a separate dictionary.
If not here are two English articles about the major French dictionaries http://french.about.com/library/revi...ngualdicos.htm
and if you prefer electronic dictionaries http://french.about.com/od/vocabular...twaredicos.htm
For the record I have a petit Larousse illustré I bought back when I was 10, and am planning on buying a Petit Robert (which costs well over twice that of the Larousse), for the more detailed and useful descriptions, at the expense of the illustrations and mini encyclopedia included in the Larousse. The new Larousses, especially after the 2005 centenary edition, are so colourful I was almost tempted to buy a new one.
But aFrenchie has access to more French dictionaries than we do in Canada, and can probably give you a more informed decision about what is out there.

Thanks for the pile of information Twitch - that's exactly what I was looking for. I'll have to investigate those dictionaries and see which one to go for. My French-English dictionary a Larousse, and has served me quite well, though it does, of course, lack certain recent slang (it's a 1994 edition) and some alternate uses.

I'm very tempted by the section on cultural history and proper names, as that is one place where I need loads of help - language classes don't teach that stuff, so I need a good source of background information.

As you suggest, I'll be interested to hear if aFrenchie has an opinion on this one.

[rwd716]

Originally Posted by Cooney

If you are seriously looking to buckle down and learn French, I recommend the software known as "Rosetta Stone." It's available for a lot of different languages, and is designed to quickly develop a usable base for a person who is going to be in a country that speaks that language. It's the same program used by the US State Department for its diplomats, and by the US military for its soldiers.

It is, unfortunately, very expensive. The complete 2 level course (100+ hours) is around $350USD, but it's good stuff. I'm saving up for it so I can refresh my abilities.

Yeah, this program is pretty sweet!

[MaiFromSanFrancisco]

here goes nothing

Jamapelle Peter
Yo tengo diesi siete anos..

thats all i know XD ne1 wanna translate it ^^

http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/

This site is good too, they teach you the basic vowels and basic numbers and as well as pronunciation.

[Twitch]

I was looking at the 2007 40th anniversary boxed set by Le Robert, it has the Le Petit Robert (69,50 €), and the Le Petit Robert des noms propres (58 €) which would still give you information in the history and culture section included in the Larousse, while still having the more detailed descriptions of Le Robert (it is listed at 116 €, a Larouse is only 34,50 € or 44,50 € for the version with an included CD-Rom, but I haven't seen those sold in Canada). The electronic version of the current Grand Robert is listed at 250 €, I don't know if you can still purchase an actual printed version of it but would probably cost quite a lot more.

If you are interested in word origins and what not your better off with a Le Robert. But I have used my Larouse for the last 17 years and am quite satisfied with it, being that they usually sell for about half of what just the Le Petit Robert sells for I think it is a great dictionary. Only major complaint is if your learning French there are no phonetical spellings to help you with proper pronunciations except for words that don't follow the standard pronuncitation rules, like the English words. But both sites I believe show actual pages from both the Petit Robert and Petit Larouse so you can see which style you prefer.

And I would recommend getting a good French only dictionary to all those who are seriously trying to learn French, and have moved beyond the basics. They are a lot more useful than the English/French dictionaries, and contain a lot more words. And you get the actual French definition, and not just a bunch of closely related English words.