Une conversation avec un ami
First of all.. Did you notice how the title was not capitalized? That is because titles in French do not get capitalized.
What a learning week this has been! I feel this has been my most successful week thus far in the journey! I am absolutely loving the learning project that I have chosen and have learned so much from Apps, the internet and friends. It is clear that I have had a fantastic learning community! I am happy to say I have reached level 41! I am super excited about this and excited to be sharing this with you all.
The first thing I would like to mention is I have to change my semester challenge, as a classmate, Katie Kohuch, made the point to me that Duolingo has an unlimited amount of lessons, so therefore it is not possible to complete the App. Instead, I am making a goal of making it to level 80 by the end of the semester. Do you think this is possible with the two weeks left?
This week I posted a video on Twitter of me speaking French, in hopes to get feedback from peers and other people I have interactions with. However, I did not get as much feedback as I was hoping but a few classmates did reply, saying "I think that sounds awesome!! Good job" and "Wow. Just wow. You sound phenomenal! I'm super impressed! #EDTC300" which did boost my spirits.
Our language habits reveal many different things about who we are and what our minds are thinking. To learn more, check out this video. I never realized this until I began exploring French more in-depth. I believe it is important to learn new languages because then you’re training your brain to think in different ways and you’re not just restricted to one worldview.
The first thing I did this week was FaceTime my friend from Prince Albert, as his first language is French, so I thought this would be a great experience to see how I am doing with learning French… To my surprise, I am doing okay. I am clearly a lot slower than him with talking French, but I am feeling more confident in this language and it is clear I am able to have a conversation, which shows more learning. I was so excited to do this; I had even made a Twitter post before to inform every one of my decision. I cannot post a video due to circumstances but I can post some of the things we discussed with some of my written comments in English and French.
Bonjour! Comme ca va? (Hi, how are you)
Je suis bien et toi? (I am great and you?)
Comment était la météo aujourd'hui? (How is the weather there today?)
Aujourd'hui c'était beau, pas de vent et juste du soleil! (Today was beautiful, there was no wind and just sun)
Qu'as-tu fait aujourd'hui? (What did you do today?)
Aujourd'hui, je suis allé faire du shopping avec ma soeur à Calgary, puis je suis allé au gymnase avec mon autre soeur à Calgary. Finalement, j'ai terminé la journée avec ma classe que j'ai suivie au gymnase. (Today, I went shopping with my sister in Calgary, then went to the gym with my other sister in Calgary. Finally, I finished the day with my class that I followed at the gym.)
Qu'avez-vous acheté? (What did you buy?)
J'ai acheté des chemises et de la nourriture (I bought a shirt and food)
Que fais-tu ce week-end? (What are you doing this weekend?)
Je suis dans une course Spartan samedi et dimanche à Red Deer. (I ran in a Spartan Race in Red Deer on Saturday and Sunday)
Qu'avez-vous mangé aujourd'hui? (What did you eat today?)
J'ai mangé du yogourt, du riz, un burrito et un biscuit (I ate yogurt, rice, a burrito and a cookie)
Parlez-vous demain! (Talk to you tomorrow!)
The app that helped me to be able to pronounce words to the best of my ability was, Larousse English-French, as it would translate a sentence from English to French and would even read it aloud. The strategy I would use would be listening to it 2-3 times and then reciprocate what it said five times. I found this was a helpful strategy that has taught me to speak faster and to understand how each word is pronounced. If I struggled with a word, I would continually replay it.
I found this week I did not really look too much into the podcasts this week as I feel I would begin to be overwhelmed with doing too many things at once, as Daniel pointed out in another semester in regards to a pledge I had made. I am famous for doing too much at once. I am hoping to get back into these podcasts in the next couple of weeks, but I am happy to have found this resource.
If you’re still wondering after all this time why I chose to learn French, check out this video! Although “English is fast becoming the world's universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year,” I feel it is important to challenge myself and continue to learn a new language. It allows me to channel into different worlds and explore a new culture, which I think is important because as an educator I will meet many different people, all from different cultures.
I must “keep swimming” as Katie Kohuch discussed in her post, as she is learning Spanish. There is no time to give up. I have a dream, and it is to learn French. Like my Mom has always said, “It is not a dream if it is not hard.”
This next week I plan to continue trying new Apps, as this is making my learning more valuable and making me a confident learner. The last App I will be trying is: French Vocab. I also will be reading a book I plan to make it to level 63 in Duolingo by then, or maybe even farther. Finally, I will post a video of myself talking French, and I hope I am able to get feedback from you all in regards to how I am doing.
