Considering learning French at school

[Ben.Daly]

Bit of a long post so big thanks to those who read through it

Subject selections for 2021 have begun for my grade, and I have a few weeks to decide on what subjects to choose.

There are 5 slots, though I only need to do 4 subjects. All the subjects I want to do or are considering doing are available on regular campus, except for French. It's one of many subjects that students can do at another school elsewhere in the city.

If French was available at my school specifically I would choose it no question, but because it's available only elsewhere in the city I've got a decision to make over whether the commute to and from town for the one subject is worthwhile.

I've never really had much interest in learning a language, but now because, well...Alizee, it's something I am seriously considering. Perhaps my priorities are out of line learning a language solely for this one reason, though of course speaking a 2nd language is a good life skill to have etc etc.

Just seems like if I'm ever going to learn French, or any language for that matter, it's best to do it now when I'm still young and have it contribute to my tertiary education.

To be fair it would only be a foundation subject, I don't at all expect to be even close to fluent if I do the course, but it's at least a good base to work off. If it goes well and I enjoy it then I could continue learning in my own time, if it doesn't work out so well then at least I had a go.

Would like to hear if there are any native English speakers here who went on to learn French, or anyone really, is it worth it? Would the commute into town and time lost be worth the endeavour? Any thoughts or feedback is appreciated

[CleverCowboy]

I don't think learning a second language is ever a waste if you find use for it. It is also best to learn it while young. It would be nice to be able to practice French conversationally with others. If you do take a class, you might want to make friends with some of the classmates and keep in touch after the class is over to practice.

I took Latin and German in school, which now I regret because it never came to any use and I forgot everything. If I could have seen many years in the future, I would have taken Spanish.

[BroKenSkullDG]

I had French lessons in 7th and 8th grade. Didn't give it much thought then and eventually forgot all about it when I moved and switched school's in between 8th and 9th grade. 5 later I found Alizée and wished I wouldn't have given up on it. You never know.

[Bamagirl]

One of my biggest educational regrets is not becoming fluent in a second language—French, specifically. I very much wanted to learn French. I took French classes in high school as well as college, and even took a night course. I also bought “teach yourself French” books. I tried my hand at writing poetry in a French. All this gave me a good basis, but unfortunately I never built on it. If I had it to do over, I’d definitely still take the school courses, but I’d also figure out a way to practice speaking it regularly with native speakers, even if a long term stay in France or another French-speaking country was not possible. Nowadays, there are various online sites where you can do face-to-face conversational language practice with native speakers, for example.
But in the meantime, my feeling is that taking this class is well worth it for you. Only you know how the commute will affect your life and schedule, though, so of course you need to factor that into it. If it turns out to be impractical to take this particular class, I encourage you to still seriously considering finding a way to add learning French to your education.
You are so obviously a bright person. You write well and seem to be interested in many things. A second language will add enormous depth to your knowledge. French, in particular, is a beautiful language with a very rich collection of great literature.
If you do take this class, please have realistic expectations. It is very unlikely that you will become fluent in French by taking classes. But it should give you a good, solid foundation to build on—and my opinion is that this could be a very important part of your overall education. It will enrich your life.
So...those are my thoughts!

[Aragorn97]

I agree with what others told you. If you think you have time to take classes and it doesn't upset your days too much, then just do it. The more time passes, the more difficult it will be to learn it (because of time, appointments and so on).
If worst comes to worst, you will learn another language.

I studied French when I was 11-13 years old, but at that time I didn't like it and my teacher's method was terrible, so it was boring and useless. It was a pity.
Also, I recommend you to watch videos on YouTube about the matter. I sometimes watch the ones about English (about grammar, useful words, traditions and so on) and they are very useful and entertaining. It is nothing too serious, but it helps your pronunciation and familiarity with native speakers. I think I have seen this kind of videos for Italian too, so I guess there are also for French. They may help you to understand if you really want to learn the language or not, too. You already have the best reason for learning it, though...

[RedRafe]

Originally Posted by Ben.Daly

[I]Would like to hear if there are any native English speakers here who went on to learn French, or anyone really, is it worth it? Would the commute into town and time lost be worth the endeavour? Any thoughts or feedback is appreciated

Hey, Ben…

It would really depend upon what your future “aims” in life are…

From a “global” life context, “French”, as a language, is not really in “widespread” use, apart from in France, or a few of its “ex-possessions”, so, unless you plan on “working”, or “living” in these areas, it is of very limited “practical” use to you…

From a more “personal” point of view, learning it in order to better understand “Alizée, and her works”, I wish it was really that… “simple”…

Let me use my own "experience" as an example…

I was informed by my “Boss” that we had a big “combined op” with one of our “European allies”, coming up, I was going to be the “liaison officer” for this “gig”, and, “by the way, I had a just under a month to get myself to the point where I was beyond “technically fluent” in the French language”…

Well, his very “wish” was “my command”, so within the month, between using “online courses”, having a truly “excellent tutor”, and, from my “previous experience” with the French I had taken at “secondary school", I was deemed to be “beyond technically fluent”, if not “excellent”, with regard to both “written”, and “spoken” French…

Well, that “delightful notion”, didn’t “survive contact” with the first native French speaker that I encountered…

<Hmmph >

She informed me that I had a wonderful “Scot’s accent, with a cute French “burr” to it”, which sounded really “sweet”, she could quite happily “listen to it all day”, but despite all of my efforts, I had just mastered “French Baby talk, 101”...

She was right, the stuff we “learn overseas” really doesn’t “hack it”. You really need to be actively “conversing” with, and “learning” from, a wide range of "actual" “native” French linguists /language sources, continually, for every region in France has its own “dialects”, “usages”, and colloquialisms, none of which bear any similarity to the “Vanilla French” that is taught “overseas”…

So, if you truly want to “understand” Alizée, then take your courses at school, (plus a wee bit of “Italian”, or even “Coriscan”, would be helpful), and then get “online” and do a lot of “conversing” with “actual” French people…

Now, will that help you understand any of Alizée’s works, any better!?

Well, the French are absolutely “in love” with the “notion”, and “art”, of the “double entendre”, often to the point of when even they, themselves, forget about what in the “name of god” they were actually “talking about”, and “referring to”, in the first place…

A “case in point” being a lot of Alizée’s “works”. Very skillfully "written", with an immense amount of “double entendre” “wordplay”, in them. But, often, this “skilled wordplay”, “obscures” the actual “message” and “content” that they are trying to “convey”, and the whole thing ends up being so “ambiguous”, that it appears to make “very little sense”, and ends up just looking like “nonsense”…

Especially to “non native” French language users…

"Bottom line"…

My advice to you would be this. If this is part of a “bigger” life goal, then “go for it”, most especially when you are young, and it’s easier to pick up languages…

However, if this is just a “passing fancy”, aimed at “understanding” Alizée, et al, then this is going to require a lot of really “diligent” study, and very hard, continual work, to get you to where you would “want to be”…

Only you will know if this is “worth it”, to you…

<And at the “end of the day”, we do have “Google Translate”, for the “small” things>

[Scruffydog777]

I had a couple of years of French in my high school days. then just about nothing after that until many years later and Alizee came along. Though it was long ago, when I looked into the meanings of Alizee's songs, there were so many words I didn't know but I still remembered the articles, the pronouns, conjunctions and the prepositions and how their sentences are structured so that once finding out the translation of a few key words, I was quickly able to figure out what was being said.

I agree too with what someone said that to learn it well, you have be able to converse with someone else who knows it very well.

You also have to take a hard look at what you want out of this. Realistically, outside of following Alizee will there be a real need to learn the language and if you do, to what extent? Is your goal that if you happen to meet her someday, you'd like to be able to have a casual conversation without pulling a translator out or do you want to be able to walk into a college classroom in Paris one day and debate French politics?

I would say go ahead and take a year of French. The French history, culture and language have been such a big part of our world, at least in my neck of the woods, that I don't think you will regret it.

[Ben.Daly]

Thanks everyone for all the replies, I've read through them all and it's been interesting to read some of the stories you've shared

Right now I'm still unsure where the lessons would be held in my city, depending on where it is could be the difference between choosing it or not.

In regards to speaking and learning the language among native French speakers, that may be difficult. Of course there's lots of resources online, though regardless of the media consumed, or even joining French speaking forums, what ever it is, it wouldn't fully prepare me for speaking in person. Maybe such an opportunity to converse in person will present itself, we'll see.

Currently my consensus is that if the subject is available at a viable destination, I will choose it, just for the experience and learning opportunity. Once the course is finished, then I'll make a decision on whether to continue learning it, in which case I might even come back to this thread and ask again for advice

[Merci Alizée]

Originally Posted by Ben.Daly

Thanks everyone for all the replies, I've read through them all and it's been interesting to read some of the stories you've shared

Right now I'm still unsure where the lessons would be held in my city, depending on where it is could be the difference between choosing it or not.

In regards to speaking and learning the language among native French speakers, that may be difficult. Of course there's lots of resources online, though regardless of the media consumed, or even joining French speaking forums, what ever it is, it wouldn't fully prepare me for speaking in person. Maybe such an opportunity to converse in person will present itself, we'll see.

Currently my consensus is that if the subject is available at a viable destination, I will choose it, just for the experience and learning opportunity. Once the course is finished, then I'll make a decision on whether to continue learning it, in which case I might even come back to this thread and ask again for advice

I learned more in in short classroom sessions than what I ever learnt online.

You can enroll at Alliance Française if there are any centers near you.

[Mr Coucou]

Originally Posted by Ben.Daly

Would like to hear if there are any native English speakers here who went on to learn French, or anyone really, is it worth it?

I took 4 years of Spanish back in high school-- and I can neither speak it nor understand it.

I discovered Alizee in March 2018, and since then I've been studying French on again and off again. (More off than on, I have to admit.) At this point, I can sort of read French-- sort of.

Anyways...

Here are two suggestions:

1) "Pierre" on youtube.

There are numerous French instructors on youtube, but Pierre is unique in that his videos are in French--- he teaches French in French. There are English (as well as French) captions to help you along.

Search "Francais Pierre" on youtube.


2) "Hacking French" (book)

The book is sort of a crash-course in French. Its an interesting book.

Edit:

Originally Posted by Ben.Daly

In regards to speaking and learning the language among native French speakers, that may be difficult. Of course there's lots of resources online, though regardless of the media consumed, or even joining French speaking forums, what ever it is, it wouldn't fully prepare me for speaking in person. Maybe such an opportunity to converse in person will present itself, we'll see.

Try Pierre. He talks to you in French, and there are French and English captions.