Learning French, free resources.

[pink]

I liked Duolingo, but found that it didn't do a good job of making me relearn old things. So whatever I did learn, I ended up forgetting a few weeks later. How often do you visit places which you'll know for sure speak English when on holiday? Like Starbucks, McDonald's, etc?

[Brussels Slumdog]

I speak French at home an also speak Dutch and German but absolutely useless for any IT SAP contract.
There are three types of language books. One for class learning and one for self learning and the other is plain stupid " assimil where you learn the cat sat on the green mat
Try using the internet and finding lessions on youtube like beginners French in the restaurant etc.

[odpadnik]

The Duolingo app is ideal for starting and you can concentrate on specifics like food, menus, etc

Second that. Duolingo, combine it with google translate on your smartphone. Real-life translations of text and so on, you'll do just fine

[thelastrosbif]

If you work well with audio you can try some mp3/audio packs:

- Pimsleur French for beginners - good for very basic & somewhat repetitive methodology, but you will get it in your head quick enough (*cough* bittorrent it *cough)

- Radio France International has an excellent French-for-beginners news programme - "Journal en Francais Facile"

- If you want to go real hardcore - the foreign service institute has loads of free-to-download resources that diplomats used to use to 'quick start' their language skills. Be warned though a lot of this is super 80s & direct from cassette recordings! proper vintage

- Also recommend wordreference.com rather than google translate for individual words & getting the context of an expression.

[northernladuk]

I had go at learning Arabic using Livemocha: Learn Spanish, French and other languages for free

Seemed to work pretty well including the sound clips of the words which was invaluable. Didn't get that far in so can't say if it was a well structured course that was any use I am afraid. Worth a look I'd say.

[SimonMac]

The Duolingo app is ideal for starting and you can concentrate on specifics like food, menus, etc

+1, using it to better my Spanish, it's basic but its a good start

[Batcher]

The Duolingo app is ideal for starting and you can concentrate on specifics like food, menus, etc

[Lance]

You should learn to say thank you, when provided with useful and correct information you won't get from a book. Especially when it's on-topic, i.e. restaurant French.

Doesn't this entire thread belong in general anyway?

[woohoo]

the only French I can speak fluently is 'restaurant' French. It's OK those fookers are so proud of their language they'll correct you when you get it wrong, as long as you try to speak a bit of Franglais.

Some starters-
il est bouchonner -it is corked- this wine is tulip get me another
il est degolas - it is disgusting and I wouldn't feed it to my dog - this is considered really rude so only use in exceptional circumstances
steak a cheval - this isn't horsemeat, it's steak with an egg on top. cheval is the verb 'to ride' and the egg is riding


EDIT: don't worry about looking a tool, just order and eat it. That's half the fun, and you can often be surprised in the UK anyway when what you expect isn't what you get. If that's not suitable then stick to places with pictured of the food.

Nice story, keep this kind of tulipe in general.

[Lance]

I’m doing a bit of a road trip in a month and I’m looking to learn a bit of the lingo.

Really I’m just after enough French to order drinks, food and understand a French menu. Though might want to expand on it in the future.

I don’t really want to pay for something.

The bbc site is ok but it’s a bit boring.

the only French I can speak fluently is 'restaurant' French. It's OK those fookers are so proud of their language they'll correct you when you get it wrong, as long as you try to speak a bit of Franglais.

Some starters-
il est bouchonner -it is corked- this wine is tulip get me another
il est degolas - it is disgusting and I wouldn't feed it to my dog - this is considered really rude so only use in exceptional circumstances
steak a cheval - this isn't horsemeat, it's steak with an egg on top. cheval is the verb 'to ride' and the egg is riding


EDIT: don't worry about looking a tool, just order and eat it. That's half the fun, and you can often be surprised in the UK anyway when what you expect isn't what you get. If that's not suitable then stick to places with pictured of the food.

[woohoo]

For the menu just install Google translate on your phone and point the camera to the menu, easier than learning the language enough to understand all the various words in a menu.

I've tried that in the past admittedly not with google translate. But the translation when you could get a decent signal was poor and did not make sense of various menus or signs - im guessing there is an offline mode nowadays. I do have a translate app on my iphone and watch but again that's for when I'm really stuck and want to look a right tool, it's my backup plan after speaking slower and louder to the Frenchies.

[sal]

For the menu just install Google translate on your phone and point the camera to the menu, easier than learning the language enough to understand all the various words in a menu.

[woohoo]

https://www.memrise.com

I had a load of beginner mp3s that were useful for listening to on the train or in the car, from Rosetta Stone I think.

The website looks really good, just having a look now. Thanks.

[meridian]

I’m doing a bit of a road trip in a month and I’m looking to learn a bit of the lingo.

Really I’m just after enough French to order drinks, food and understand a French menu. Though might want to expand on it in the future.

I don’t really want to pay for something.

The bbc site is ok but it’s a bit boring.

https://www.memrise.com

I had a load of beginner mp3s that were useful for listening to on the train or in the car, from Rosetta Stone I think.

[woohoo]

I’m doing a bit of a road trip in a month and I’m looking to learn a bit of the lingo.

Really I’m just after enough French to order drinks, food and understand a French menu. Though might want to expand on it in the future.

I don’t really want to pay for something.

The bbc site is ok but it’s a bit boring.